Getting rid of Mumbo Jumbo in preparation for availability long range CB radio equipm

[Jonas]

BeardyMan, you'd be better getting your ham license and having solid communications. This CB change will allow you to cover most of your needs and probably be a whole lot cheaper too.

I would think that the 12 watt SSB AM CB would be much better than the 2 meter FM hand-helds for a number of reasons, the primary reason being that you're not dependent on someone else's repeater system working. I would also expect that "aftermarket" SSB AM CB antennas will hit the stores about 30 seconds after the new radios do. Your antenna in an AM SSB QRP mode will have to be good, but on 12 watts you should be able to transmit from the top to the bottom of the UK and back. There's a lot of "shake out" to come as procedures must be allowed to evolve or be developed, and I'm not a big fan of the 10-12 meter bands where I presume your CB frequencies are located, but these rigs should do the job for most preppers in the UK.