If I understand your question correctly...yes, 3 characters- no more - no less. I did discover the 16 bit word size after my post...newbie move, i admit . How about me changing the command to:

LETTER LETTER NUMBER NUMBER NUMBER

Easier coding that way? The ultimate goal is to run the LETTER LETTER through
a select case statement like:
Code:
Chk_Cmd:
    select case Ser_Cmd_word
        case TT    'Torch Target
            TTV_val = Ser_Cmd_Val
        Case XX    'Another Command
            'SomeByteVar = Ser_Cmd_Val
        Case else
            LCDout $fe, 1, " COMMAND NOT IN "
            Lcdout $fe, $c0, " DEFINED SCOPE! "
    END SELECT
RETURN
Am I on the right track?
Thanks again.