Question: Hexadecimal question

I am trying to write a question which asks the student to convert a random decimal number into hexadecimal. I can't get MapleTA to recognize that a correct result is input. I think the problem is that I am not correctly dealing with the hexadecimal number which is represented as a symbol from convert.  

In the algorithm section I use:

$dec=range(100,200,5);
$hhh=maple("convert($dec,hex)");

The question was:

Convert the decimal bumber $dec into Hexadecimal.   

In the text input section I use:

is(($RESPONSE)-($hhh) = 0);

in the grading section of a Maple graded part of the question. I have tried converting the $RESPONSE to decimal and comparing with $dec.

I allow the students 4 attempts at each question, so I don't want to do a multiple choice question.