char c='a';

byte bytevalue=(byte)c;

char charvalue=(char)bytevalue;

byte mask1=1; //0000 0001
byte mask2=2; //0000 0010

byte firstdigit= mask1&bytevalue;
byte seconddigit= mask2&bytevalue;

so what was the problem?

dude that would have been so useful if it came like 2 days ago!!!!