I really dont think you supplied enough information.

Was the person saying that he has heard (ie listened to an RX) or that
he has heard (anecdotal evidence) that AR seems to be CB?

If the first case I guess you could use that as proof of
licensing/examination inadequecies. If the second this is a
misconception on the part of how AR is presented in the media or by just
general perception. ie if the public knows little about radio then it
can only be a "play thing" or "commercial" and both CB and AR get
incorporated into the former.

I'll repeat to the point of causing nausea though that the examination
doesnt (to my knowledge) tell you how to act/talk etc on the radio. It
is more interested in proving technical and legislation competence and
assumes your "common sense" will prevail. How the person talks/acts is
in a sense the responsibility of the others of the "club". Do you really
think that by keeping the techical competency high you will keep the
"riff-raff" out? I dont.

I hope you suggested to the person that things are not all that bad and
he could still have an enjoyable time experimenting. Just like the rest
of society you can choose who you interact/talk with.

Bob VK2YQA

Slow Code wrote:
I ran into a person at a radio event recently. A non ham. He liked
technical things and I thought he would enjoy getting into ham radio. I
asked him "why not get a license, it's easier now. Some hams are
experimenting in new methods of sending digital signals over radio and
have a lot of fun experimenting."

He said years ago he thought about getting into ham radio and almost did,
but at the time he was just too busy working, and time constraints meant
it wouldn't have made sense for him to spend money on things he wouldn't
get to use much.

Then he said, "I have time and money now to get into the hobby, but I
won't because it sounds just like CB anymore."


After he said that, I felt like I was just punched in the guts.

SC