not sure i fully understand what ur trying to say... (my mind is just ready to explode... not ur fault just stressed out atm)
String to Byte Array - won't that just convert ASCII rubbish directly into a byte array, what i need is ASCII input from the VISA serial to convert to Hex string...and then process it from there (i'll take a look at this function when i get a chance)
Also, quote "One change I would make is to cast the string to an array of U16s as soon as possible" /unquote.
if entire data string is converted to U16 before i process it, i forsee a problem:
unwanted header bytes = 11 bytes< 7E 00 1C 83 56 78 22 00 05 06 00 > <useful data begins here> <unwanted byte>
if I convert to U16 (hex format) = 7E00, 1C83, 5678, 2200, 0506, 00... first byte of useful data would be attached here and that would just screw up the rest of the sampled data...