Every 1/16" rotation is equivalent to 3.26 pulses.
If I gave the figure (1/16" rotation) about half the people I know would assume that thats in deg.seconds and the other half would assume that it represents inches on the circumfrence. Which group does Rocky belong to? Judging from the question, I would bet he's refering to inches on the circumfrence.
I think Rocky needs to find an encoder that will better suit his project to that he gets the correct number of pulses (whole numbers) to do what he wants to do, without having to do floating point.
My faveroite saying: No amount of programming can ever make up for improperly applied field devices, or poorly designed equipment.
Additionally Rocky did not provide enough info on his application for us to help him go about it in the correct manner, (pick the right encoder ppr). In other words what is the cir of the gear? etc..etc..
Regards, Mike.