Skip to content

Punched Cards Mystery Cache

Hidden : 8/13/2018
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:


Geocaching Puzzle of the Day!


There is absolutely nothing wrong with the coordinates above, with the exception that they would put you in the middle of an interstate. Thus, if you want to find this cache, I don't recommend going there; I recommend solving the puzzle instead.


In the spring of 1980, I took my first computer programming course (anyone remember FORTRAN?) and my fascination with coding began. Command strings based solely on logic and operators were "foreign languages" I could understand. No exceptions to pluralization, no tenses to deal with, and the code never had masculine or feminine versions of a variable. My classmates had more difficulty which provided me the opportunity to trade doing their assignments for computer lab time to just play.

Punch Cards

Card PunchCoding was done using punched cards read by an IBM mainframe computer. You could punch up to 80 characters of letters, numbers, and punctuation per card. Each character coded into twelve possible punch locations in a vertical column. With the character per card limitation, even the simplest of programs could take dozens or even hundreds of cards. And God forbid you got them out of order or had to figure out which card had a typo!

 

Punch Card ReaderThe standard IBM punched card, originally invented by Herman Hollerith, was first used for vital statistics tabulation by the New York City Board of Health and several states. After Hollerith had perfected his first series of electromechanical punched-card machines, including a punch, a tabulating machine to accumulate statistics from the information punched on cards, and a sorting machine, he founded a company, originally the Tabulating Machine Corporation. As with many high-tech startups of today, it had a somewhat rocky start until an experienced manager entered the scene. Thomas Watson, previously working for NCR, took over. One of Watson's moves was to rename the company International Business Machines. You know the rest.

I'll bet the web has some clues for solving this puzzle. Gotta be careful, though, because web histories might discuss many different punch card formats. The cards below are plain old IBM just like the ones I first used, so don't get confused by Remington Rand information or any of the others.

 

Punch Cards

Punch Cards

Enjoy, happy hunting and good luck spilling your ink. Cache ya later!
Ol'Fogie


Tennessee Valley Geocachers

(click to visit our website or find us on Facebook)
As the geocache owner, I ensure that these links are to a local geocaching group that is active in the community and contributing to geocaching in positive ways. These links have not been checked by Geocaching HQ or by the reviewer.

 

Logging Etiquette: Geocache hiders sometimes go through a great deal of planning and effort to create and place their caches. As a result, they'd like to hear your feedback on whether you liked or disliked any aspect of the hide, the journey or location, or if you feel that some cache maintenance is required. Single word, acronym, or "copy and paste" logs may be easier when you have a lot of caches to log, but it doesn't tell the hider or other finders anything about your adventure (or lack thereof) in finding the cache. Please keep this in mind when entering your log.

Travel Bug Etiquette: Cachers pay good money for Travel Bugs and Geocoins. If you take a TB or GC from a cache will you PLEASE ensure it is correctly logged in and out. If you take one that still shows it is somewhere else, please be patient before “grabbing” the item; it does not get its mileage by being grabbed before the last person to drop it has had time to log their placement. This is particularly important on busy and new caches. If you have an issue with a bug or coin, please e-mail or message the owner through their profile and advise them of the issue; they will be pleased to hear from you.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Abg va gur ohfu yvar; onpx fvqr bs ybar zhygv-gehax gerr.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)