[KenWittlief]

I know that most PIC processors have internal counters that can count transistions on input pins - I dont know if they are available on the one in the RC - if so it would be much easier to use than an external device - and the counters dont need interrupts for each count - only when they have reached their terminal count.

if they are present on the PIC chip, they can count at 1/4 the clock frequency - what is the clock in the RC? is it 20 or 40 MHz? (I forget)

counting at 8kHz would be a breeze for the PIC