The authors consider frequency-hopped spread-spectrum multiple-access communications using M-ary modulation and error-correction coding. The major concerns are multiple-access interference and the network capacity in terms of the number of users that can transmit simultaneously for a given level of codeword error probability. Block coding is studied in detail. The authors first consider the use of Q-ary Reed-Solomon (RS) codes in combination with M-ary modulation with mismatched alphabets so that Q>M. It is shown that the network capacity is drastically reduced in comparison with the system with matched alphabets. As a remedy, the use of matched M-ary BCH codes is proposed as an alternative to mismatched RS codes. It is shown that when the number of users in the system is large, a BCH code outperforms an RS code with a comparable code rate and decoding complexity. The authors consider the use of a robust technique for generation of reliable side information based on a radio-threshold test. They analyze its performance in conjunction with MFSK and error-erasure correction decoding. It is shown that this nonideal ratio-threshold method can increase the network capacity in comparison with the system with perfect side information.>