Windows and AirPort's Equivalent Network Password

A reader saddled with a numeral for a last name is puzzled by his inability to connect his Windows box to an AirPort Extreme Base Station. Jaybe45 writes:

You need to give your Windows machine the base station's Equivalent Network Password--the hex code interpretation of the base station's password. To learn that password do this:

Launch AirPort Utility (found in the Utilities folder within the Applications folder), select your base station, and click the Manual Setup button. From the Base Station menu choose Equivalent Network Password. True to the command's promise, a sheet will appear that gives you the equivalent password. Write it down and the next time Windows prompts you for a key code, enter this string of numbers and letters. Your Windows PC and the base station should now see eye-to-eye.