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Steve Herschbach

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  1. Steve Herschbach
    As a high end user I wish the Ace Apex had more horsepower, and look forward to a future model that does. It is an Ace model though and Garrett is in no way overselling it as being anything but that. I do very much appreciate it's physical design however, as it is close to what seems perfect to me. Very solid, easy to swing, compact control box with large visible display that is easy to navigate, good affordable coil options, rechargeable, wireless, etc.
  2. Steve Herschbach
    This is a brand specific forum for people who own and appreciate Garrett metal detectors, or who want to learn more about them. It is not for people to point out how they think some other brand is a better choice. We have a forum for advice, criticism and comparing, the Metal Detector Advice & Comparisons Forum so take it there if that is what you want to do. This applies to all the brand specific forums in general - dropping in on them to say that brand or model sucks will be considered trolling, and such posts moved or deleted. Let people enjoy what they have without the negative commentary please. I don't go to the Ford Forum to tell them they should should have bought a Subaru, and the same general rule apples here when on a brand forum, be it Garrett, Nokta, Minelab, or whatever.
  3. Steve Herschbach
    New members now have limited access until they reach Full Member status. There is no ability to include links or to edit their own posts until they have made 10 posts and been a member more than 30 days. There is no access to posting classifieds until after 10 posts and 30 days. Finally, the PM function is disabled until Full Member status is attained. To many scammers joining just to PM people junk. Any account that has not posted at all in the 30 day period will be deleted. Anyone with more than one but less than 10 posts will simply remain in the regular Member account status indefinitely. The accounts that make at least ten valid posts and have been a member at least 30 days will automatically be promoted to the new Full Member status. This will give access to the Classifieds, remove the PM block, allow links and post editing, preset "signatures" and more. This does not affect any existing accounts!! Any current members with less than 10 posts etc need not worry as all accounts as of this morning were promoted to Full Member status. Anyone with no posts however should at least post once or lose your account after 30 days have passed. This was done to stop the excessive spammer activity after consulting the current membership over the last month. It should pretty much put a complete halt to that sort of thing, while also encouraging new members to be more active. Lurkers are welcome, but will need to post at least once. Thank you everyone for the valuable feedback on this subject. I will monitor the new setup but if anyone experiences anything odd due to the new setup, please let me know. I changed quite a few forum settings and hopefully got it all right. Finally, I want to say why I am doing this. It is to protect the core participating members from spammers and scammers. It is to help insure that you are dealing with good people on the Classifieds. The idea of this forum has never been about having lots of members, it is about having high quality members. In that I think it is succeeding - kudos to you all.
  4. Steve Herschbach
    I don’t disagree with your evaluation Jeff. I disagree that the Garrett Forum is the place for it. There are people who actually own the Apex and like it, and don’t care about other detectors or what they cost. Can’t they have a place to discuss their detectors without being told they could have owned this or that instead for whatever the reason may be? Value is in the eye of the beholder. Maybe a person just wants to buy a detector made in the U.S. and is willing to spend more money to do it. Maybe they just like the design. Maybe they just like yellow. Point is what you value is not what everyone values. Garrett is a very popular brand in the country, and the absence of activity on the Garrett Forum has gone on long enough. Despite some people having issues or not liking the price, there are also lots of very happy owners. I'd like them to feel welcome here, not drive them away. If people don’t like or appreciate the brand or the models, feel free to voice it here on the Comparisons Forum. But avoid the Garrett Forum. Seems like a simple ask. Thanks.
  5. Steve Herschbach
    It would be nice to have a Garrett Forum for Garrett users. It’s not the place for comparing brands. We have a forum for that specifically, and so what started as a thread for Garrett people on the Garrett Forum has been split and moved to the Comparisons Forum. The original thread can still be found here. Most people just buy what they want since these are trivial purchases for many people. Relative value is in the eye of the beholder. Garrett has a huge fan base, and I’d ask that people that prefer other brands, for whatever reason, avoid the Garrett Forum. Let the people that own the brand have a place to share information and stories. Thanks.
  6. Steve Herschbach
    You'd be amazed how big the market is for basic detecting. Of course the Apex is not for you Jeff - that was never its intention. And of course there are not a lot of Apex users on this forum. Nor Ace users nor Garrett users in general. People here make them quite unwelcome. If you are not running what people deem to be the best (what THEY use) then you are a second class citizen. Threads like this always end up making it clear at some point. I tried twice to start forums here focused on budget detector users, but they went nowhere, as the high end owners just hung out and kept saying how they could not own those machines, because, god forbid, they lacked a ground balance, or certain custom tone settings. No focus on simply how to get the best out of whatever a person owns. I could own an Ace detector and still do better than most because I know the dirty secret. It’s not the magic detector. It’s the user, the hours, and the right location for whatever detector it is you own. People should go to the Garrett Searcher Archives and spend an hour just looking at finds made by Ace series detectors. These detectors have been hugely popular and make tremendous finds for people. I used an Ace 300 versus a Vanquish on numerous “found target comparisons” and what impressed me most was how good the Ace was, just the opposite of what you’d think reading comments on this website.
  7. Steve Herschbach
    Welcome to the forum. I think it is hard to find a better retirement activity than metal detecting. Lots of walking and lots of getting up and down, something we need to keep doing as we age. It gets a person out of the house for sure. It can be a great activity for loners, and also for social types via clubs and group outings. I think starting with a PI is not a bad idea as it focuses a person less on the whiz bang technology in new detector, and more about just getting and digging targets. How well you do is more about finding the right locations and then get with the program recovering targets. You don't have to overthink PI detecting. So yes, good luck with your new hobby!
  8. Steve Herschbach
    These are reviews on metal detecting and prospecting equipment I have personally used over the years. In the last 50 years I have used a lot of metal detectors and prospecting gear! A lot of items are not made any longer but may be found used. In each instance my goal is to provide details and commentary not found anywhere else. For more user reviews of metal detectors visit the new Metal Detector Database. Do not miss Steve's Guide to Gold Nugget Detectors for honest opinions on gold nugget detectors updated on a regular basis. Visit the Detector Prospector Forums for expert advice. User Guides & Catalogs here. Fisher CZ Models - Some old favorites. Fisher CZX - Speculative new detector model.... Fisher F19 - General purpose VLF detector with prospecting mode. Fisher F75 - Flagship VLF model with prospecting mode. Fisher Gold Bug 2 - Dedicated VLF prospecting detector, extremely hot on small gold. Fisher Gold Bug Pro - Excellent value general purpose VLF prospecting detector. Fisher Manta - New pulse induction beach detector in the works at First Texas. Garrett AT Gold - Excellent value waterproof VLF prospecting detector. Garrett ATX - High performance pulse induction beach and prospecting detector. Garrett Infinium LS - Pulse induction beach and prospecting detector. Minelab Equinox 800 - General purpose detector with prospecting mode. Minelab Eureka Gold - Dedicated VLF prospecting detector, three selectable frequencies. Minelab Gold Monster 1000 - Dedicated VLF prospecting detector, extremely hot on small gold. Minelab GP 3000 - High performance pulse induction prospecting detector. Minelab GPX 4500 - High performance pulse induction prospecting detector. Minelab GPX 5000 - High performance pulse induction prospecting detector. Minelab GPZ 7000 - New high performance professional prospecting detector. Minelab SDC 2300 - Pulse induction prospecting detector, extremely hot on small gold. Minelab X-Terra 705 Gold - General purpose detector with prospecting mode. Nokta/Makro AU Gold Finder - Dedicated VLF prospecting detector, extremely hot on small gold. Nokta/Makro FORS Gold - General purpose VLF detector with prospecting mode. Nokta/Makro FORS Gold Plus - Excellent value VLF prospecting detector. Nokta/Makro Gold Kruzer - General purpose waterproof gold prospecting detector. Nokta/Makro Gold Racer - General purpose gold prospecting detector. Nokta/Makro Impact - Flagship VLF detector with prospecting mode. Nokta/Makro Racer - General purpose detector with prospecting mode. Teknetics T2 - Flagship VLF detector with prospecting mode. Tesoro Lobo SuperTRAQ - General purpose VLF prospecting detector. White's GMT - Dedicated VLF prospecting detector, very hot on small gold. White's GMZ - Dedicated VLF prospecting detector, hot on small gold. White's Goldmaster 24K - Dedicated VLF prospecting detector, extremely hot on small gold. White's MXT - General purpose VLF detector with prospecting mode. White's MX Sport - General purpose waterproof VLF detector with prospecting mode. White's TDI - Pulse induction beach and prospecting detector. White's V3i - Flagship VLF model with prospecting mode. XP DEUS V5 - Flagship VLF model with prospecting mode. XP ORX - New model from XP with an emphasis on gold prospecting. Comparison Reviews Garrett ATX vs Minelab GPX 5000 Waterproof Pulse Induction Detectors Compared For more user reviews of metal detectors visit the new Metal Detector Database.
  9. Steve Herschbach
    Welcome to my free "book" about metal detecting and gold prospecting. Each chapter is a "how to" or explanatory guide, on metal detecting and gold prospecting themes. Many were written in response to questions asked on this websites forum. Each article focuses on a single subject, and they are meant to be relatively short, but to also cover the topic well. In many cases you will not find more in-depth coverage of any of these topics anywhere else. The answers were created expressly to eliminate having to answer common questions repeatedly, creating this reference for use in future threads. There is information both for beginners, and advanced topics for the pros. All articles are copyrighted, and may not be duplicated in any form without my express permission. Steve Herschbach Metal Detecting Steve's Guide to Headphones for Metal Detecting Steve’s Guide to How Deep Metal Detectors Can Go Steve’s Guide to VLF Metal Detectors and “More Depth” Steve’s Guide to Testing Metal Detectors Steve's Guide to Metal Detector "Air Tests Steve's Guide to Metal Detector Search Coil Compatibility Steve's Guide to VLF Concentric vs DD Search Coils Steve's Guide to "Search Coils Are Not Antenna" Steve's Guide to Variations in Coil Performance Steve’s Guide to Detecting Depth Vs Coil Size and Shape Steve’s Guide to Metal Detector Sensitivity Steve's Guide to Sensitivity vs Target ID Stability Steve's Guide to Threshold Autotune, SAT & V/SAT Steve's Guide To Why GB Numbers Do Not Indicate Mineralization Levels Steve's Guide to Metal Detector Mixed Modes Steve's Guide to Metal Detectors with Reliable Target ID Numbers Steve's Guide to the Best Target IDs For Rings Steve's Guide to Detecting Gold Jewelry Versus Aluminum Steve’s Guide to Why Detecting Thin Gold Chains Is Difficult Steve's Guide to Detecting Tiny Gold Jewelry In Saltwater Steve's Guide to Small Item Testing "The BIC Pen Test" Steve's Guide to Testing Weak Gold Targets & Ground or Salt Settings Steve's Guide to Selectable Frequency & Multifrequency Metal Detectors Steve's Guide to Why Target ID is About Size, Not Type of Metal Steve’s Guide to Metal Detector Discrimination Basics Steve’s Guide to Recovery Speed Steve’s Guide to Target ID Normalization Steve's Guide to Target Masking Differences Euro vs U.S. Steve’s Guide to Why Weak Non-Ferrous Targets Read As Ferrous Steve's Guide to Why Some Ferrous Reads Non-Ferrous Steve’s Guide to Iron Bias (Bottle Cap Reject) Steve's Guide to Waterproof VLF Metal Detectors Steve's Guide to Beach Detecting For Gold Prospectors Steve’s Guide To Why Detecting Tiny Gold In A Bottle Is Difficult Steve's Guide to VLF vs PI Depth Difference Steve's Guide to Pulse Induction Ground Balance Steve's Guide to Pulse Induction Discrimination Steve's Guide to Ground Balancing PI and "The Hole" Steve’s Guide To More About The PI “Hole” Steve's Guide to Long Range Locators (LRLs) Steve's Guide to the Fisher CZ Series Metal Detectors Steve's Guide to Fisher Gold Bug Models Steve's Guide to The F75 Ferrous Tone Quirk Steve's Guide to Minelab BBS, FBS, FBS2, and Multi-IQ Steve's Guide to Minelab E-trac, CTX 3030, Excalibur, and Equinox Steve's Guide to Differences Between Minelab SD, GP, & GPX Steve's Guide to Minelab GPX Timings Steve's Guide to Tuning the Minelab GPX 5000 Steve's Guide to Insanely Hot Settings For The GPZ 7000 Steve's Guide to Ground Tracking As A Filter Steve's Guide to White's Goldmaster Models Steve's Guide to White's SignaGraph Display Steve's Guide to White's Electronics GMT versus MXT Steve's Guide to White's TDI Coin Settings Steve's Guide to Rebuilding The White's GMT Steve's Guide to Some Nugget Detectors of Note Metal Detector Database with User Reviews Prospecting Steve's Guide to How to Pan for Gold Steve's Guide to Suction Gold Dredges Steve's Guide to Where To Prospect For Gold Steve’s Guide to Getting A Mining Job In Alaska Steve’s Guide to Metal Detecting for Gold Nuggets Steve's Guide to Gold Nugget Detectors Steve's Guide to a Brief History of Gold Nugget Detectors Steve's Guide to Gold Nugget Target ID Numbers Steve’s Guide to Glaciers & Gold Steve’s Guide To Detecting Gold In Quartz Rock & Mine Dumps Steve's Guide to Finding Gold Veins With A Metal Detector Steve’s Guide to Nugget Detecting Kits Gold Prospecting Research Material For Alaska General Steve's Guide to Successful Rock Tumbling Metal Detecting & Prospecting Library Catalogs, Brochures, User Guides, & Owner's Manuals Thread Hall of Fame Nail Board Tests & Sensitivity
  10. Steve Herschbach
    The numbers change depending on the mode you are in and possibly the coil you use.
  11. Steve Herschbach
    Thanks for all the feedback. Looks like a go. I will implement this over the weekend to reduce my workload due to excessive spammer activity. There will be a New Member account. There will be no ability to include links or to edit their own posts until they have made 10 posts and been a member more than 30 days. There will be no access to downloads or posting classifieds until after 10 posts and 30 days. There will be a limit of one Personal Message conversation per day so they can contact people with ads in the Classifieds. Any account that has not posted at all in the 30 day period will be deleted. Anyone with more than one but less than 10 posts will simply remain in the New Member account status indefinitely. The accounts that make at least ten valid posts and have been a member at least 30 days will automatically be promoted to full Member status. This will give access to the Classifieds and Downloads and remove the PM limit. This does not affect any existing accounts!! Any current members with less than 10 posts etc need not worry. Anyone with no posts however should at least post once or lose your account after 30 days have passed.
  12. Steve Herschbach
    The new AI coming online is really making things interesting. It used to be you could spot spammers due to poor spelling or grammar, since many are based overseas. Now it's the other way around. Perfect English, perfect grammar is how I spot some. I figure that can't be a real gold prospector - and it's not! But they will fine tune even that, toss in a misspelled work and some slang to where an AI based bot can post and you can't tell. I actually get emails almost daily from people wanting to sell me on AI posters to keep the forum active - an army of robot posters! I can see where all this is going. All the real people leave, and we end up with bots chatting with each other online!
  13. Steve Herschbach
    I'm glad I did this as it was good to find out the 16" mono only weighs 48 grams more than the 13 DD. But get this - if you leave the scuff cover off the 16" mono, it's lighter than the 13" DD with scuff cover, 766g vs 906g! I think this might be a case where I just set the cover aside. Having said that however, it is the 13" mono that I'm thinking will be my go to coil this summer. The 13" DD is a bit nose heavy, and the 11" mono perfectly balanced, but small for covering ground. For open ground I think I'll be going 13 mono and tight areas 13 mono this year, and 13 DD when after the tiniest bits. Info on Garrett exclusive Focused Core DD coils.
  14. Steve Herschbach
    Well that weigh in was worth it. The 16" mono only weighs a tenth pound more than the 13 DD, making it a better option for patch hunting than I thought.
  15. Steve Herschbach
    16 DD Coil 948g SC 188g = 1136g (2.504 lbs) 16 Mono 766g SC 188g = 954g (2.103 lbs) 13 DD 750g SC 156g = 906g (1.997 lbs) 13 Mono 598g SC 156g = 754g (1.662 lbs) 11 DD 518g SC 74g = 592g (1.305 lbs) 11 Mono 424g SC 74g = 498g (1.098 lbs) Coil Bolt + Two Rubber Washers = 10g (0.022 lbs) Garrett Axiom 16”, 13”, and 11” search coils, both DD and mono
  16. Steve Herschbach
    As a rule nuggets tend to stay centered. Nails and other elongated ferrous targets will often move, since in reality they are like two targets, like a bar magnet, with a signal off each end. Long story short I rarely see a nugget do that, but a weird nugget type or ground/hot rocks could certainly do it.
  17. Steve Herschbach
    There is a long thread about issues I have been having with new members here. Long story short there are spammers who can evade automated spam checks by setting up endless new email accounts. They often join, post once, then edit the posts later to include links. This means I spend way too much time now reviewing new members who only post once or twice, going back for months. More obvious have been the spam attacks where we get hit by a bunch of new members who post dozens of crazy links in very short order. So here is my plan. I will create a New Member account. New members will not be able to include links in their posts. They will not be able to download from the Downloads area, or post in the Classifieds. They will have a limit of three PM messages a day - enough to contact somebody with an ad in the Classifieds who has not included contact info. I am looking for feedback on this. People may only want to be contacted by longtime members, and don't want to hear from some person who just joined. If you want that, well, then include contact info in the ad. But maybe you don't want to put your contact info out for people to know? Not sure, but allowing a new member to PM while limiting the number keeps them from spamming the entire forum with junk mail, so works for me. The system allows for automated promotion, so after ten posts and 30 days, the person will automatically be promoted to the full member account. So this is easy to set up and requires no ongoing work on my part. It will get rid of both the sleeper spammers, and the massive spam attacks. Very few spammers are going to spend a month and ten posts when so much easier marks exist out there. One might argue this penalizes lurkers by not allowing them to download owner manuals or use the classifieds. The simple reality is those are rewards for participating members. It's the people who post regularly and help answer questions that make this forum what it is. People who join just to sell stuff or download stuff are using the forum while not contributing anything in return. That being the case they can't be missed since in a way they really are not here anyway. I've not done this yet but the more I think about it the more I like it, and just wanted to toss it out one last time for review or suggestions before implementing it. And I will use this as an opportunity to thank all of you who do post interesting content for others to read, and most especially thank those of you who answer questions for those that have them. That is what the forum is all about, and it is you all that make it happen. Without you, there is no forum, so again, my heartfelt thanks.
  18. Steve Herschbach
    That's a tough call at the moment, I'm really hoping we will see some more coils very soon, so best bet might be to use the coils you have for now. I'd love a 14" x 9" mono for patch hunting, but right now it's either the 13" mono or 16" mono. In theory the 16" mono covers the ground, but I kind of hate going that large as it screws up the balance. It would be ok in flat terrain, but I'd not want to use it in the hills for a long day without harness support. I guess if it was me right now given the options it would be the 13DD or 13 mono since I have both. In your case though I just feel like buying a 13" mono is not the answer - I'd hold out at least a bit longer in hopes of more options. It would help if I put all my coils on a postal scale for a weigh in. Most are prototypes so I was putting it off, but I can't see the weight being any different on the production coils. I'll get on it and report back by end of today.
  19. Steve Herschbach
    I employ commercial spam email and ip filtering or the task would be overwhelming. However, spammers create endless new accounts so there are always some that pass the filters, and those are the issue. I've avoided having to give manual approval to each new member, but that certainly is an option at this point, since I am manually reviewing and watching them anyway. This discussion has allowed me to focus however. What is the goal here? Why did I set this forum up? It was to attract the kind of people I want personally to hang out with. Drama free people who just want to talk about gold prospecting or metal detecting. And to help people who have questions about those subjects. That's it, plain and simple. People who join and never post are not contributing to that goal. They are not asking for help with a question. They are not engaging in the conversation or helping answer questions for others. The only reason I have been given to allow members to join and not post is so they can PM people who place ads in the Classifieds. Well, that's nice for the people placing the ads, but pretty thin otherwise, as most members do not place ads at all. "(which is down to almost none now that we took your lead and deleted the zero posters.THX for the idea ! ) We now require 1 post within a month and 10 posts before allowing links. All newbs have to be approved before posting access is granted. (I think the 10 post minimum was the most effective part of our effort.)" Speaking of the Classifieds I had a real problem there, and it never went away until I imposed a 10 post requirement on placing ads. So yeah, that works. Getting rid of the zero posters older than 90 days has had no ill effects, and if it's just to support people who want to PM on an ad, then 30 days will still be fine. Anyway, thank you for that feedback. It's good to know the one post in 30 and 10 post rule is working for you.
  20. Steve Herschbach
    I am not doing anything at this point, just looking for suggestions, and I appreciate your comments. Welcome to the forum. The software is robust but it only allows so much. Most stuff, like posting photos is all or nothing, so it's not a matter of allowing just two photos. But spamming the forum with photos is not the problem really, and that was just an example, one that I would probably forgo. Forum membership is not required to be a lurker. Anyone can view the forum without joining. I am not the normal forum owner. Having members purely for the sake of having an inflated membership number is not something I seek. I'm not trying to sell ads to anyone, so that number serves no purpose. The forum exists for one reason only - good drama free conversation between decent humans with the goal of enlightening and informing. Anyone who is joining and not contributing to that goal does not need to be a member, and so this last year I began deleting accounts older than 90 days where the new member has not posted, and will continue to do so. I may take that down to 30 days.
  21. Steve Herschbach
    I'm not sweating it at all and as long as you all are liking the Rocks, Minerals, Gems & Geology Forum that's all that really matters. Consider the question answered, and thanks!
  22. Steve Herschbach
    Hugh (Chase Goldman) has been a big help. Moderators are great at taking care of old fashioned fights and such. Watching for and chasing down these spammers is what is getting to be more problematic. I'm pretty sure on lots of forums the solution is just ignore it. So what if a post made a month ago suddenly spouts a link to some "write college papers for free" website? It's not noticeable in current conversation, which is where most moderator efforts are focused. But yeah, being a detail oriented control freak I do all the background and more tedious stuff. Maybe I'm part of the problem as I just don't like spammers.
  23. Steve Herschbach
    The detector portion has for sure downsized, many oldtimers quitting or being shown the door. It all smells like Tesoro did at the end, just milk the old stuff for as long as it sells, and when a model stops selling, discontinue it. Models are going away, with nothing to replace them. It all just reeks of a business in decline. Again, I am talking only the detector portion of the business, not the high tech custom circuit portion of the business. That's where Tom has bet the big bucks, and no doubt is where his focus is. People should not confuse First Texas with Fisher, as Fisher could be shut down tomorrow, and First Texas do just fine. And what about Teknetics folks? You'd swear they don't even exist anymore. Nobody ever mentions their products anymore, though they still have dealers. I can see Teknetics and Fisher going away entirely, with just Bounty Hunter remaining. Tom does not have to make it happen so much as just let it happen. Sell existing models until the numbers of any model get low enough you just don't make any more. And that appears to be what is happening. The Impulse has already been forgotten as work proceeds on more advanced bi-polar tech in hopes of pulling off a late game miracle, but in the meantime the rest of the industry is moving on. The current battle lining up between Minelab, Nokta, and Quest is likely to leave no survivors in the U.S. and in ten years I'd not bet on First Texas being in the detector business at all. Garrett is at least trying, but even them I'd not want to bet money on, unless they replace their entire VLF lineup in the next year. The Minelab XTerra Pro and Nokta Legend alone obsolete nearly every model that First Texas and Garrett makes. From a tech standpoint the Axiom is the only new made in U.S. detector worth discussing in the last couple years.
  24. Steve Herschbach
    Well, we just had a Nigerian join and pull the classic Nigerian scam. He sent PM messages to I do not know how many members about needing help with collecting some funds, you get a lot of it for helping, blah, blah, blah. Luckily he sent me one so I shut it down in 20 minutes, but in twenty minutes he could have spammed a lot of people. If I had not caught him, in a couple days he could have really went wild. At least one new member asked that his account be deleted after getting it, as he thought getting it was a consequence of joining the forum. Over 30% of first time posters are now spammers. The worst are the "sleeper" spammers, who post, then go back and edit the post a week or two later to include a spam link. They like to quote somebody, then go back later and bury a link in the quote - makes it look like the person the quoted put in the link, not them. And a few are just burying a link in a line that looks like this: ______ just somewhere it might not be noticed. Obviously not a "click on this link" so much as trying to boost Google ranking by making it look like this site links to their site. We are getting lots of one time posters on the Rock forum who post a bunch of photos saying "what is this" and never respond to the people who take time trying to help identify the photos. I suspect they are just using this site to host photos for use elsewhere, since it's often ten photos, not one. To sum up, maybe one or two out of a hundred new members actually hangs around and posts more than once or twice. The rest are spammers or lurkers. Long story short is I am again considering creating a "New Member" account for new members, that basically only allows them to post text. No links, no photos, no PMs, no editing of posts, nothing but text, until they have made 10 posts over a 30 day period or more. That eliminates somebody just slamming out ten junk posts quick. After proving they are a person who really is interested in being a participating member, then they can have access to the other stuff. It's either that or at some point I'll just stop accepting new members unless it is by request or recommendation, which would obviously tend to suppress new membership. But oh well. Right now every day first thing I have to review all new members, plus periodically do a deep dive into older new members going back for months to catch the sleeper agents. I'm not particularly busy at the moment and it's all fine, and in a way I'm just whining a bit at the moment. But if my life does get busier for some reason, or I just get tired of the sheer volume of the nonsense, I may put some sort of brake on things. That does not affect any of you per se, other than the possibility new members do not replace members that leave fast enough, and the forum does not grow like it has been, or even starts to slow down. People might think that prospect would be something I would care about, but it's much less so than people might imagine. I'm not a social media butterfly chasing eyeballs and outside of this forum can't be found online anywhere else, and being offline entirely is more a dream than a threat.
  25. Steve Herschbach
    I admit I am getting tired of the folks that join, post a bunch of "what is this" photos, and then never respond when people take the time to answer. No thank you, nothing. I've wondered if it is some sort of scam, but I follow up and watch, and most seem to be hit and run members - one post, gone forever. And a few sleeper spammers. Maybe people posting photos here to use elsewhere, as it always seems to be a bunch of photos at once. So I'll ask the longtime members - what do you think of this forum? Is it worth having? People ok with it in general? I'm only asking because these one time posters of whatever they found in the driveway are kind of putting me off answering here. But as long as you all are happy I'm happy, so just checking in.
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