Check serial port every x seconds

Hello guys,

I have an app that has to goes and checks the (serial) port every 1, 2 or more seconds (user's choice), then it retreives whats there. So far I have managed to open the port with a timer and when the comEvReceive is done I close it. This has some drawbacks since I receive a "framing error" every once and awhile (maybe every 25 seconds). I want to improve this, is there a better way to check the port that way?

What Im trying to opening and closing the port so much isto fire the OnComm event just once, retreive whats in there and go back to sleep for a second or two...(not with sleep but with a timer)

XVB