Binary Blaster Assembly Guide
QCPete 
How to Play the Game
First, turn on your Binary Blaster. The power slide switch is located on the top left side of the PCB. Slide it to the "ON" position - to the left.
You may also want to check the sound switch. You can slide this to either the left or right, depending on if you would like to play with sound or not.
If nothing happens, it may be that your batteries are placed incorrectly. Please make sure to double check the polarity.
When you first power up your Binary Blaster, you should notice that the buttons light up quickly from right to left, and then the display begins blinking a circular pattern. These blinks are part of "boot up" in order to ensure that the LEDs and displays are working properly.
While the displays are blinking the circular pattern, your Binary Blaster is ready to begin a new game.
To begin a new game, simply press one of the buttons.
The display will now show you your first value. Note, this can be different every time.
You must now press the binary equivalent on the four buttons. Here is a chart to help you get started:
"1" = 0001
"2" = 0010
"3" = 0011
"4" = 0100
"5" = 0101
"6" = 0110
"7" = 0111
"8" = 1000
"9" = 1001
"10" = 1010
"11" = 1011
"12" = 1100
"13" = 1101
"14" = 1110
"15" = 1111
Here's a few examples to help show how the buttons work.
Example 1:
If you see the number "1" on the display, then you must press the binary equivalent, which is "0001". This means that you must press the "BIT 0" button (this is the button furthest to the right). You must also leave the other three buttons alone (don't press them!) In this way, you are setting only the "BIT 0" (aka making it a "1" instead of leaving it a "0").
Example 2:
If you see the number "2" on the display, then you must press the binary equivalent, which is "0010". This means that you must press the "BIT 1" button (this is the middle-rightside button). In this way, you are setting this bit (aka making it a "1" instead of leaving it a "0").
Example 3:
If you see the number "5" on the display, then you must press the binary equivalent, which is "0101". This means that you must press the "BIT 0" and the "BIT 2" button at the same time.
If you do not press the correct value within a few seconds, the Binary Blaster will time out, and this effectively means you have lost this round. To start another, simply press any button.
When you press the correct binary equivalent, then you will move on to the next random value. There are 15 total. Once you convert all 15 (without timing out) you have won!
Each time you begin a new game, the order will be different. It does this to help encourage learning conversion rather than muscle memory of a pattern. Also, when you have completed all 15 possibilities, the display will show you your "score". This is the amount of seconds it took you to complete the game. As you practice your conversions, you should be able to get this number lower and lower. Good luck!!
When you have mastered the default playing mode (decimal conversion), you may like to challenge yourself to convert from hexadecimal notation to binary. In hexadecimal mode, your Binary Blaster will display the values 10-15 in hexadecimal. Note, the lower values (1-9) will still be shown as decimal values, because these are the same in both value notations.
HexadecimalMode
To play in Hexadecimal mode, follow these three steps:
(1) Turn your Binary Blaster off.
(2) Press and hold the "BIT 0" button.
(3) While continuing to hold the "BIT 0" button, turn your Binary Blaster back on again. You should see the display show "A b C d E F". You are now in hexadecimal mode. To go back to default decimal mode, simply cycle power without any buttons pressed.
Here is a hexadecimal chart to help you get started:
"1" = 0001
"2" = 0010
"3" = 0011
"4" = 0100
"5" = 0101
"6" = 0110
"7" = 0111
"8" = 1000
"9" = 1001
"A" = 1010
"b" = 1011
"C" = 1100
"d" = 1101
"E" = 1110
"F" = 1111
We hope you enjoy your Binary Blaster. After a bit of practice, please feel free to post your best score in the discussion area of this tutorial. Thanks for your support of SparkFun and have fun blasting binary values!