The AM Forum

You've practically killed your own site by continuing to let it be nearly impossible to access. What's the problem? Somebody on another site you were relegated to very low priority on their rented server space, whatever that means. Or maybe you just plain don't care. All I know is there's no point in even coming here. If I were to make a post asking a question, or answering one, it could be months and months or a year, 2 years before anybody even sees it. Either get busy fixing your access problems or shut it down. What you've got going on now is one big fat nothing. Ban me if you don't like what I'm saying. Who cares?

Today only three registered users accessed the board, but 378 total users were logged.  If bots are scraping the forum for data, and that is the root cause of the server error 500 normally encountered when the bot usage is extreme, it seems there might be a very easy fix that the admin might apply.

Simply alter the access capability such that anyone who is not logged in with a valid account can only access the login menu.  Without entering a valid username and password, no other access would be allowed, effectively locking the bots out of the forum.  Currently the forum allows unlimited access to EVERYONE, and a valid login is needed only to post replies or start new threads.  Even QRZ.com requires a valid login in order to obtain any valid information about users, etc.   Access without a login and password is extremely limited, as it should be.

That change would be a minor inconvenience for regular users.  The user database could be filtered (one time task) such that only valid calls, matched against the FCC license database, would be approved for access.  Separately, SWL and CB users could be granted access on an exception basis, but if nothing on the forum is accessible without a valid login, the bots would just "go away".   This would mean folks could not browse without a login, but this would be a minor compromise in order to keep the forum alive for bona-fide users.

This was my #1 site. I wish that whatever the problem is, it would be fixed?..

Ye Gods, admittedly I've not been here in a hot minute; what did I miss? 😲

Well, folks, it appears the forum is still available and functional in the wee hours.   We also seem to still have a following, as 9 bona fide users logged in to see what is new.  But the last post is a week old; not much new to see.

Here is the clincher from the current stats:
Most Online Today: 268. Most Online Ever: 24504 (May 16, 2026, 01:05:31 AM)

It is obvious the bot crawlers are consuming this forum, as they are allowed to roam freely, albeit with only read access.

Of the 268 users online today, only 9 are legitimate, 259 are imposters.

It is amazing that 24, 504 unique "unregistered" users demanded resources from the server on May 16th, a bit more than two months ago, but long after the forum became mostly unavailable to the registered members.

Is it time yet to consider a minor change in access rights, requiring any browsing beyond the login prompt, to provide a valid user ID and password to do any reading or posting? In the past, login has only been required to post, but read access is granted to everyone, registered or not.  This minor change could allow the forum to continue, until a point at which the content and user base might migrate to other resources. 

Does anyone wish to comment and/or take positive action?  Or will the site just wither on the vine and decompose?

Moderators (i is one) don't have administrative functions or control on the site.
You need to address the Staff, http://amfone.net/Amforum/index.php?action=staff
Of those listed, only three have been active here since 2025 (K4HX, KA1KAQ, W3JN).
I would suggest contacting one of them, or all of them, directly.

Thank you Pete.  I have forwarded my suggestion via email to Steve and Todd.  I was not able to obtain an email address for John.  Hopefully my suggestion may be helpful to all the AMfone forum members.

Best regards,
Rick Maxwell   W8KHK