Yesterday

[chef]

I've just been reading about these. I hope you are not flying

Sir, did you pack this yourself?– No.

What’s inside?– I have no idea.

Can you open it please?– Nope.

nope No flying involved

the island has a ferry to get to it and it's off the north coast of germany which we'd drive to

[chef]

Have you built this yourself or bought it ?

built circuitry myself, bought the box, cut a hole in it for the lcd which sits very flush to the box and used a wood drill for the button hole which also sits flush, so presentation wise it looks very good and not "knocked up in a shed in 5 mins"

Jesus, who are you getting engaged to, Mata Hari's grand-daughter? All sounds a bit "Mission Impossible". Good luck with it anyway, hope the box does not self-destruct!!

She know's I'm a bit geeky in building pc's etc. I know she'll appreciate the effort in making the thing and it is definately a unique way to do it.

[FiveTimes]

I've just been reading about these. I hope you are not flying

Sir, did you pack this yourself?– No.

What’s inside?– I have no idea.

Can you open it please?– Nope.

[chef]

You're going to give the ring and then propose later, or was that a typo? If you've got some crazy magic box, definitely propose at the time I'd say.

I never heard of one of those boxes though, I hope it's reliable

yes, you read correctly, the ring is inside the box, I got the idea a "Monday Links from the fireside/bed/sofa" that nick posted
The Reverse Geocache™ Puzzle Box*|*Arduiniana

the box is built in the way that it has a working circuit that works as expected, I've bought an antique victorian walnut burr jewellry box (similar ish to this) to house the stuff in with the circuitry hidden in the lid with a false lid inner (so it looks good). The box has been adjusted with a barrel jack in the lower left side, a 16x2 LCD and a flush stainless steel button (like you find inside a lift). Press the button and you get a message

"This is attempt 1 of 50"
Distance 451km
*Access Denied*
Powering Off"

press it again you get "Attempt 2 of 50" etc.

the distance is the distance fromthe current box position to some hardcoded gps co-ordinates of the island. There is 10km of tolerance in the end location so it isn't required to be to the meter accurate in the opening location. the island is 9km wide and 2km from the shore, so if you're on the island the box will open.

Im currently in testing phase with it. changing the destination co-ords to 1km away the box opens, once I have the circuitry housed in the box and neatly arranged I can test further by setting destination co-ords to work etc.

[d000hg]

I was thinking it sounded more like entering the numbers in Lost.

[shaunbhoy]

the actual proposal might happen a few weeks later given that the ring is inside a Reverse Geocache box i.e it can only be opened at a certain GPS location, that location is a small island off the north coast of Germany which is approx 400km away from home and so we would need to plan a weekend away. The location is special to her and not just some random faraway island in the North Sea.

Jesus, who are you getting engaged to, Mata Hari's grand-daughter? All sounds a bit "Mission Impossible". Good luck with it anyway, hope the box does not self-destruct!!

[FiveTimes]

yes, I've added a 5v barrel jack in the lower side of it, if it detects power for a few 10 secs then it displays a message on the LCD saying "Excess Voltage! Remove Power", after 30 more secs the LCD displays "3y↑בּ#* Vθц<%^&", after 3 mins the message flashes once and again at 4 mins, if you press the button twice in the 3-4min window it triggers the servo lock switch

Have you built this yourself or bought it ?

[EternalOptimist]

yes, I've added a 5v barrel jack in the lower side of it, if it detects power for a few 10 secs then it displays a message on the LCD saying "Excess Voltage! Remove Power", after 30 more secs the LCD displays "3y↑בּ#* Vθц<%^&", after 3 mins the message flashes once and again at 4 mins, if you press the button twice in the 3-4min window it triggers the servo lock switch

dont forget to cut the red wire before the blue
otherwise

BOOM!!

[chef]

Congrats

Can you override the geocache box ?

yes, I've added a 5v barrel jack in the lower side of it, if it detects power for a few 10 secs then it displays a message on the LCD saying "Excess Voltage! Remove Power", after 30 more secs the LCD displays "3y↑בּ#* Vθц<%^&", after 3 mins the message flashes once and again at 4 mins, if you press the button twice in the 3-4min window it triggers the servo lock switch

that should prevent her from over-riding the box but allow me to get access to it if I need to.

[d000hg]

Christmas is the planned date to give her the ring, the actual proposal might happen a few weeks later given that the ring is inside a Reverse Geocache box i.e it can only be opened at a certain GPS location, that location is a small island off the north coast of Germany which is approx 400km away from home and so we would need to plan a weekend away. The location is special to her and not just some random faraway island in the North Sea.

You're going to give the ring and then propose later, or was that a typo? If you've got some crazy magic box, definitely propose at the time I'd say.

I never heard of one of those boxes though, I hope it's reliable