Hi Squiggler
The offer of code to browse through / help me is always welcome.
My real lack of understanding is with how to connect my bare bones board that does not have the USB to bread board arduino connection as it has the bare components to run the project.
I was looking for advice on how to make the connection. So far investigation has turned up either
1)USB cable with FTDI built in
2)RS232 chip in the project
3)USB breakout board from Sparkfun etc.