An apparently bored-to-death Plod's Conscience wrote:

Radio Hams are in a unique privileged position in that
they can construct and operate their own equipment! No-one
else has this privilege. Users, such as broadcasters,
the po lice and armed farces, CBers and mobile phone
users have to purchase ready-made gear.

They *can* construct it, but I don't know even one that does.

The technical excitement motivates Radio Hams to compete
with each other to determine who has designed and manufactured
the best-quality station. This competitiveness is found in DXing,
competitions and fox-hunts.

Same applies to many CB operators.

However, beware! A Ham Radio licence is such a
desirable thing to have that there are large
numbers of people who wish to be thought of
as Radio Hams when, in fact, they are nothing
of the kind! Usually such people are a
variation of the CB Radio hobbyist; they buy their
radios off the shelf and send them back to be
repaired

Wow. You actually REPAIR the modern
processor-SMD-memory-menu-submenu-miniature-components crap we have
now?

they are not interested in technical discussion
and sneer at those who are; they have no idea how
their radios work inside and have no wish to find out;

20 years ago, yes. Nowadays, all those people don't bother about
placing an antenna, they just use MSN messenger. What's left on CB
today are people that love radio.

they are free with rather silly personal insults;

You should listen to some of our Dutch 2-meter repeaters. And you
should listen to yourself when you talk about CB operators.

* lots of crap cut out *

One infallible way to disambiguate the CB Radio Hobbyist
from the _REAL_ Radio Ham is to solicit their view of the
difference between CB Radio and Ham Radio. A Radio Ham will
perceive Ham Radio to be a technical pursuit and will
perceive CB Radio to be a social communications facility
no different in essence to a land-line telephone or a
GSM mobile in the hands of a 6-year-old.

Your views are obscured by ignorance. I know many CB operators who are
appealed more by technology than all those HAM's who, after passing
their exam, never touched a soldering iron in their life anymore.

* Lots of insults cut out *

Fortunately, we have a different view on CB here in Holland. One
channel on CB is even an official VRZA home frequency, where official
HAMs and CB operators come together to talk about their hobby. The
result: they attend our meetings and start to study for the 'real' HAM
status.

Don't repell them, attract them.

Hans (PD0AC), Almere, the Netherlands