David Swearingen wrote:Evan, I'd be interested in any information you have specific to Best coding.
@David Swearingen:
Best has its own way of identifying keys in the hierarchy of their keying systems...
Top Master Key = "Grandmaster" Or as stamped on the keys: GM - xxxx
Where "xxxx" is some identification code not used elsewhere in the system except on the control key...
Control Key = "Control" Or as stamped on the keys: C - xxxx
How Best defines the Hierarchy below the top master key depends on the system and whether the keying system was defined using Letters or Numbers to identify the level of keys beneath the "Grandmaster"/TMK...
Using letters:
Ex. "H" The master key would be stamped M-H
Master key groups below "H" would have a number suffixed to the Master Key Letter:
"H1", "H2", "H3", etc stamped on the keys as S M - H1, S M - H2, S M - H3, etc...
Individual keys withing those groups would be prefixed with their "sub-master" group identification then their number:
H1-32, H1-1, H2-22, H2-64, H3-10, etc...
The fact that you have a "Master Key" marked "H" in your system implies that it is the 8th key of that level in the system and that at least 7 others exist (or were planned for in the system design) even if they are not divided up into sub-groups at all or may have more or less sub-groups than the "H" key has...
Using numbers:
Ex. "2" The master key would be stamped M-2
Master key groups below "2" would have a letter suffixed to the Master Key Number:
"2A", "2B", "2C", etc stamped on the keys as S M - 2A, S M - 2B, S M - 2C, etc...
Individual keys withing those groups would be prefixed with their "sub-master" group identification then their number:
2A-1, 2A-32, 2B-18, 2B-64, 2C-14, etc...
The fact that you have a "Master Key" marked "2" in your system implies that it is the 2nd key of that level in the system and that at least 1 other exists (or was planned for in the system design) even if they are not divided up into sub-groups at all or may have more or less sub-groups than the "2" key has...
Let's also consider a "Master Key" which has no sub-groups underneath it...
Using Numbers: "M-1" and the change keys would be 1-1. 1-4, 1-32, etc...
Using Letters: "M-F" and the change keys would be: F-2, F-8, F-64, etc...
The information explained above refers to keying systems designed and furnished by Best Access Systems... If you see a Best SFIC key with SKCS markings on it, that system was designed and keyed in the field by someone not following Best protocols...
Why would you use letters or numbers to identify the level of keys directly below the Grandmaster: Letters are ideal for smaller systems with less than 23 groups at that level planned... Numbers allows for more groups...
If you see Best marked keys in a system which are:
30F-64 which is the highest numbered stamped key,
what does that tell you about the system ?
That there are 30 groups directly below the Grandmaster
that were designed for and/or deployed, that the 30th
group is divided into 6 sub-groups of 64 possible change keys...
T8-32 which is the highest numbered stamped key,
what does that tell you about the system ?
That there are 17 groups directly below the Grandmaster
(remember than using I, O or Q is discouraged because
those letters are easily misread as either 1 or zero)
that were designed for and/or deployed, that the 17th
group is divided into 8 sub-groups of 32 possible change keys...
~~ Evan
... Now I have to stamp and serialize them... 
