C/C++ :: Number Conversions Using Bitwise Operators

I have a project assignment for school to write a program that does number conversions using bitwise operators. The premise is that the user enters a number with one of three letter prefixes -- Q1232, O6322, H762FA, etc. -- and the program will take that number and convert it to the other two number bases. Q is for quarternary, O is for octal, and H is for hexadecimal. The transformations should be done using bitwise operators and bit shifting. I am guessing I need to scan the number, convert it to binary, then convert it to the other two bases.

However, I am completely new to bitwise operators and bit shifting, so how to convert numbers of different bases to binary and then binary to other bases using these bit and bitwise functions. I don't have much code done yet, since I am still unsure of how to approach it, but I'll post what little I have.

Here it is:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main() {
char numType;
printf("
The user will enter a number up to 32 digits in quarternary
");
printf("(base 4), octal (base 8), or hexadecimal (base 16). If in
");

[Code] ....

I figure in each case I can write a function that converts the entered number to binary, then maybe two more functions that convert said binary number to the other bases. For default in the switch I will tell the user they entered an invalid number. I don't have the program looping until the user types 'EXIT' yet, but I will once I figure out anything about these bitwise operators.