I need to convert a list of 16 bit hex values to decimal. The list contains
both positive and negative numbers.

hex2dec works for a 10 digit but for anything less the number appears to be
padded with zeros and doesn't come out negative as it should. Example,
0xFFE6 comes out 65510 instead of -26(correct)

Is there a fix for this? The list is very long.

thanks,
tim