Dim s As String
Dim chars() As char
chars = s.toCharArray
Dim i1, i2 As int16
i1 = convert.toint16(chars(0)) -64
i2 = convert.toint16(chars(0)) -64
i1 *=16
Dim temp As int16
temp = i1 + i2'Byte
Dim bc As bitconverter
bytes = bc.getbytes(temp)

Mfg

Michael