I think we've found a way to block the ******* Russian spammers (assuming they are Russian, which I do believe but....).
Bob got the new forum software to accept an add-on package that shows letters and asks the users to type them in when they register. For 24 hours now, we haven't had a spammer register. A few posts were done by spammers who registered before the change, but that's a big WHEW!!!
Knocking on wood now.