The R4020 Mini Travel Kit is a small but complete low-power, CW-only, two-band HF station in a rugged and waterproof and weather-resistant case that is optimized for motor-vehicle transport and impromptu HF field operations.

The R4020 Travel Kit is currently under development. Photos may not represent the current state of the station. This page will change as various ideas are tested and accepted or rejected.

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The heart of the R4020 Mini Travel Kit is a Ten-Tec R4020 low-power, two-band, CW transceiver.

The Ten-Tec R4020 is a CW-only transceiver with coverage of 40m and 20m, a built-in electronic keyer with one "CQ" memory, selectable IF filter bandwidths, and general-coverage receive in a true Trail Friendly Radio package.

The R4020 is designed to operate using an internal AA battery-pack or external voltage in the range of 9-14VDC. My R4020 came to me without the internal AA holder, so the R4020 Mini Travel Kit includes a Bioenno (link) 3Ah LiFePO4 battery to power the radio.

Given the R4020's extremely low power consumption, I've not yet felt the need to carry a second battery.

The antenna in the R4020 Mini Travel Kit is an LNR EF-10/20/40 Mark II QRP end-fed wire antenna that I purchased on speculation at the Athens Hamfest in the Spring of 2024. This 41' antenna is resonant in the CW sub-bands of the 10, 20, and 40m bands and is a perfect match for the 40m/20m R4020.

I feed the antenna with a 20' RG-316 coax assembly from ABR Industries. This coax assembly includes an RF choke near the radio and the outside of the coax shield serves as a single counterpoise wire for the antenna, so no additional counterpoise wires are required.

Although I am not yet well-practiced in the art of using these items, the R4020 Mini Travel Kit includes a 12oz Weaver arborist's throw-weight and a 25-meter length of Marlow 2mm arborist's throw-line which I can use to throw a line into a tree to support the antenna.

The R4020 Mini Travel Kit includes a rather travel-worn Whiterook MK-33 single-lever paddle that I bought (already travel-worn) at a small local hamfest. Despite being travel-worn and, quite frankly, rather ugly, this MK-33 still feels comfortable, still functions well, and still keys the radio nicely.

The R4020 lacks any sort of a speaker so the R4020 Mini Travel Kit includes a pair of yard-sale Phillips headphones that make the R4020 audio sound quite nice, indeed.

The R4020 Mini Travel Kit includes a printed copy of the downloaded R4020 manual, log-sheets, CW copy-paper, a Rite in the Rain spiral-bound notebook, a Koh-I-Noor Versatil drafting pencil, and a Pental drafting eraser.

The R4020 Mini Travel Kit lives in a bright yellow Pelican 1300 waterproof weather-proof case, the same case that originally housed the now-retired KX3 Travel Kit. This case is rugged enough I don't need to worry about it or its contents being damaged when it gets tossed around in the car or smashed by other items in the car.