>A solution (although I'm not certain how good it is; feedback DEFINITELY
>appreciated before I try it myself) would be to stick a FET in there to
>switch the current through the LED.  You have the advantage of minimizing
>the current flow into the PIC, which also gives you a nice spot of
isolation
>from that 14-V source.  With the current design, if that LED goes and the
>voltage suddenly drops, you'll see a significant voltage/current spike,
even
>with the 50k resistor in place.  With the FET, it'll smoke, but the PIC
will
>(probably) be protected.

If going this way, just use a logic level FET to drive the LED. My current
favourite is the Philips PHN210 - 30V, 3.5A logic level input dual FET in
SO-8 package 0.66p from RS components in the UK RS stock #198-4195 for those
interested.

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