Like many of us, even those with experience, the R20's out-of-box experience can be frustrating. Thought I'd toss in some tips about programming from the keyboard, as cuddling up with the manual for a few days is not my idea of fun. 
So here is the Pre-Flight check. Maybe you lost the manual, got it used, or have futzed with it to the point that it is in an unknown state and you can no longer hear anything. One key item to remember is that a TAP is different from a HOLD. I guess I had to be hit on the head with this one.
To simplify things at first, turn off Dual-Watch if it is on.
#1 DUAL-WATCH: HOLD the Dual-Watch button to toggle between normal and a dual monitoring setup.
IMPORTANT: The Dual-Watch is also your ESCAPE KEY. If you find yourself too deep into a menu, or just want to stop something, TAP (don't hold!) Dual-Watch. More on this later.
#2 SQUELCH: HOLD the rubber button on the upper left side, and then rotate one of the two knobs and choose between Open, Auto, or your own 1-9 setting.
I always forget this for some reason. It is especially frustrating when I'm going back and forth between HF and normal scanning where I need to toggle between Open and Auto. Burn this into your memory if you walk away from the radio for a year or so.
#2 RF-GAIN: HOLD down the rf-gain button and typically set it for MAX gain - at least to start out with. Changing the value with one of the two knobs.
This has bitten me before when accidentally playing with the IC recorder and messing this setting up. I was doing all the programming right, but couldn't hear anything with my rf-gain set to MIN! While you are here, check that you haven't ATTenuated the radio too. ATTenuation is easier to find since it shows up in the lower left of the display.
Here again, you have to HOLD on ATTenuation to activate it.
IC-RECORDER: If you start the ic-recorder with the REC button, you have to stop it with, um, the stop button with the square stop silkscreened on the button next to it. Without glasses, I couldn't see it right next to REC, and my favorite trick of tapping Dual-Watch will NOT dump you out. I should have eaten more carrots.
DIRECTLY ENTERING A FREQUENCY:
Get into VFO mode by a quick TAP on VFO. Since there is no enter key, enter the frequency WITH the decimal point. It also needs to be the FULL frequency for it to take. In other words, 146.52 will need a zero after it for 146.520
GOTCHA !!!
It is easy to be off by one key and mistakenly hit the MODE key and not know it. Doublecheck this since you don't want to be sitting on 146.520 in AM mode by mistake for instance. Watch for this one - it bites me all the time.
Well, that's it for the very simple things to make or break your R20 day. The big tip here is that if you get into a menu structure (HOLD on SET, 8 key) and need to get out, TAP (don't hold!) the Dual-Watch key - multiple times if necessary to back out. Now that I know this, it made it far easier for me to just explore menus in the R20 and set things on my own without using the manual - although I still have to refer to it from time to time.
So here is the Pre-Flight check. Maybe you lost the manual, got it used, or have futzed with it to the point that it is in an unknown state and you can no longer hear anything. One key item to remember is that a TAP is different from a HOLD. I guess I had to be hit on the head with this one.
To simplify things at first, turn off Dual-Watch if it is on.
#1 DUAL-WATCH: HOLD the Dual-Watch button to toggle between normal and a dual monitoring setup.
IMPORTANT: The Dual-Watch is also your ESCAPE KEY. If you find yourself too deep into a menu, or just want to stop something, TAP (don't hold!) Dual-Watch. More on this later.
#2 SQUELCH: HOLD the rubber button on the upper left side, and then rotate one of the two knobs and choose between Open, Auto, or your own 1-9 setting.
I always forget this for some reason. It is especially frustrating when I'm going back and forth between HF and normal scanning where I need to toggle between Open and Auto. Burn this into your memory if you walk away from the radio for a year or so.
#2 RF-GAIN: HOLD down the rf-gain button and typically set it for MAX gain - at least to start out with. Changing the value with one of the two knobs.
This has bitten me before when accidentally playing with the IC recorder and messing this setting up. I was doing all the programming right, but couldn't hear anything with my rf-gain set to MIN! While you are here, check that you haven't ATTenuated the radio too. ATTenuation is easier to find since it shows up in the lower left of the display.
Here again, you have to HOLD on ATTenuation to activate it.
IC-RECORDER: If you start the ic-recorder with the REC button, you have to stop it with, um, the stop button with the square stop silkscreened on the button next to it. Without glasses, I couldn't see it right next to REC, and my favorite trick of tapping Dual-Watch will NOT dump you out. I should have eaten more carrots.
DIRECTLY ENTERING A FREQUENCY:
Get into VFO mode by a quick TAP on VFO. Since there is no enter key, enter the frequency WITH the decimal point. It also needs to be the FULL frequency for it to take. In other words, 146.52 will need a zero after it for 146.520
GOTCHA !!!
It is easy to be off by one key and mistakenly hit the MODE key and not know it. Doublecheck this since you don't want to be sitting on 146.520 in AM mode by mistake for instance. Watch for this one - it bites me all the time.
Well, that's it for the very simple things to make or break your R20 day.
The big tip here is that if you get into a menu structure (HOLD on SET, 8 key) and need to get out, TAP (don't hold!) the Dual-Watch key - multiple times if necessary to back out. Now that I know this, it made it far easier for me to just explore menus in the R20 and set things on my own without using the manual - although I still have to refer to it from time to time.
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