Hi Richard,
The following circuit has been working for me a long time.
INPUTS
A B C D E F G H
: : : : : : : :
: : : : : : : :
: : : : : : : :
|----------------------------|
| 11 12 13 14 3 4 5 6 |
| |
CLOCK-|2 74LS165 OUT 9|-Q
| |
LOAD -|1 OUT 7|-Q*
| 10 8 15 16 |
|----------------------------|
: : : :
: : : :
: : : :
GND GND GND +5V

The inputs are tied to +5 volts thru eight 4.7K-ohm resistors.

An 8-position dip switch input's are tied to the inputs of the 74LS165. The other side of the 8-position dip switches is tied to ground.

The A51 code:
LOAD .EQU P3.6
CLOCK .EQU P3.5
INPUTQ .EQU P3.7
.ORG 0x00 ; START HERE
LJMP INIT ; JUMP TO INIT
.ORG 0x30 ; ORG AT 30H
INIT: ; INITIALIZE CLOCK, INPUT AND LOAD BITS
SETB CLOCK ; SET P3.5 HIGH
SETB INPUTQ ; SET P3.7 HIGH
SETB LOAD ; SET P3.6 HIGH
ACALL SERIALI ; READ DIP SW'S
SERIALI:
CLR LOAD ; LOAD DIP SWITCHES INTO 74LS165
SETB LOAD
MOV R0, #8 ; CLOCK IN 8 BITS FROM DIP SWITCHES
SERIALIA:
CLR CLOCK ; CLOCK 74LS165
SETB CLOCK ; CLOCKS ON ^EDGE
MOV C, INPUTQ ; P3.7 TO C BIT
RRC A ; REASSEMBLE IN A
DJNZ R0, SERIALIA ; DO FOR 8 SW'S
RET

Regards,

Charles Bannister