One thing to be careful of: Amateur radio must *not* use codes or cyphers to obscure meaning. All information transmission must be in the clear (not necessarily English, but no encryption of data). The one exception is this: codes and cyphers *may* be used to provide checksumming, error correction, and/or authentication. (examples- repeater control codes, autopatch codes, OSCAR control codes, etc. ) The meaning must still be in clear but you are allowed to send a authenticating "signature" in code, as long as the signature contains no information other than authentication itself that was not also transmitted in clear. That's why autopatch protocol requires you to say "I'm turning on the patch" before you transmit the (hopefully secret) autopatch control codes. Please keep this in mind- and be able to prove it to the FCC should they request it. It might even be worth announcing the "authentication only" mode at the start of your net, so both other amateurs and the FCC itself know what to expect. Posting software on a packet BBS for others to download and verify a "no hidden codes" status would probably be a reasonable action and a good protective measure. -Bill, N1KGX