DOH!  I'm afraid if I change the name of the direct link from the main page of the forum to "chat.html", then that's just going to get spammed somehow too. I think I now understand why they don't allow access to the count any longer.

Long story w/o a happy ending I can imagine. It is what it is. Going directly to:
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may help. Best I can do. Maybe those who do chat can help you. I could change it to a more reliable format but then a record can be kept and I'm sure no one wants that - least of all me.