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The Enigma Machine: Part 1 Mystery Cache

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Gat R Done: --------

CACHE OWNER ACTION REQUIRED PLEASE


I've noticed this cache is in need of some maintenance which really does need to be addressed by the cache owner.

The guidelines indicated that periodic visits to check on the cache, as well as prompt attention to any logs that indicate there is a problem, are part of the cache owners responsibilities. If you can't attend to the issue promptly, then you need to Disable it - I have Disabled it for you this time.

Can you please respond to this situation (or indicated your intention) within 28 days, so others know exactly what is happening with this cache?

You have lots of choices so pick the one that applies from this handy list:

  • Check on the cache, repair and/or replace the cache or do whatever else is needed, post an Owner Maintenance log indicating the cache has been checked and ENABLE your cache. Then sit back and wait for the praises.

  • If it is the cache page that needs maintenance, please make the necessary updates and post an Owner Maintenance log indicating the cache page has been updated and ENABLE your cache.

  • If you really hope to get it fixed but there is some unusual reason why you can't do it soon, then at least post a Write Note log (within 28 days). Be sure to indicate the actual date that you expect to have it fixed so that everyone knows you are on top of it. For ongoing issues (where you don't have an actual date) please ensure you visit the page and post a note every 28 days so as to keep everyone up to speed.

  • If you don't plan on fixing it then you need to Archive it, so it is removed from searches and someone else can have the spot. Don't forget to remove any remnants of your previously enjoyed cache too.

You might wonder what happens if you don't pick one of those. Well, if nothing happens, then a few weeks from today, when I next look at the cache page, it is likely that I will, unfortunately, have to de-list (Archive) it on the basis that it has been abandoned.

Honestly, I'd rather you decide so please do something before then. Please don't send me an email but instead follow the information/advice posted above.

Gat R Done
Geocaching.com Community Volunteer Reviewer

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More
Hidden : 2/17/2017
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

*** Not at the posted Coordinates ***

This is a four part series.  Please make a note of the word(s) written in the last line of the log.  This will be used in the final, unless you decide to do this the “hard way”.


The Enigma Machine:

The Enigma machine was an electro-mechanical rotor cipher machine utilized extensive by the German military during WWII.   Like other rotor machines, the Enigma machine is a combination of mechanical and electrical subsystems. The mechanical subsystem consists of a keyboard; a set of rotating disks called rotors arranged adjacently along a spindle; and one of various stepping components to turn at least one rotor with each key press.

The mechanical parts act in such a way as to form a varying electrical circuit. When a key is pressed, one or more rotors move to form a new rotor configuration, and a circuit is completed. Current flows through various components in the new configuration, ultimately lighting one display lamp, which shows the output letter. For example, when encrypting a message starting ANX..., the operator would first press the A key, and the Z lamp might light, so Z would be the first letter of the ciphertext. The operator would next press N, and then X in the same fashion, and so on.

Current flowed from the battery through a depressed bi-directional keyboard switch to the plugboard (also called the “steckerbrett”). Next, it passed through the entry wheel, through the wiring of the installed rotors, and entered the reflector. The reflector returned the current, via an entirely different path to light the appropriate lamp. The repeated changes of electrical path through an Enigma scrambler created a polyalphabetic substitution cipher which was thought unbreakable at the time.

For a message to be correctly encrypted and decrypted, both sender and receiver had to configure their Enigma in the same way; rotor selection and order, plugboard connections and starting rotor positions must be identical.

The following message was encrypted using the standard Army Enigma using the following configuration: Rotor Numbers:  I, II, III;  Starting Configuration: C,O,W;  Plugboard: not used.  Please use the related webpage to solve. 

DWBP KBTV FFQN ESKL WPMN RXOX QSOQ GQZB FKOV FVNI XWMX UAOC JPKH JRYR SDDP SKDB HZWZ ZKHP IKJ


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