{"id":45816,"date":"2020-10-07T09:10:40","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T13:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=45816"},"modified":"2020-10-07T12:15:01","modified_gmt":"2020-10-07T16:15:01","slug":"anyone-sorted-out-how-to-calibrate-the-tecsun-pl-990","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/10\/anyone-sorted-out-how-to-calibrate-the-tecsun-pl-990\/","title":{"rendered":"Anyone sorted out how to calibrate the Tecsun PL-990?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tecsun-PL-990x-PL-990-7.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-44937\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tecsun-PL-990x-PL-990-7.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tecsun-PL-990x-PL-990-7.jpeg 1600w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tecsun-PL-990x-PL-990-7-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tecsun-PL-990x-PL-990-7-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tecsun-PL-990x-PL-990-7-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tecsun-PL-990x-PL-990-7-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Tecsun-PL-990x-PL-990-7-624x468.jpeg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I mentioned in a previous post that one of the &#8220;hidden features&#8221; of the PL-990 series is the ability to calibrate the radio so that the frequency display is correct when say, you zero-beat an AM broadcaster\/carrier in SSB mode.<\/p>\n<p>For normal AM broadcast listening, you&#8217;d never notice the frequency discrepancy on the display. When I used the PL-990 in <a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/frugal-swling-investing-little-but-getting-a-lot-out-of-your-radio\/\">ECSS<\/a> mode, though, my frequency display is a few Hertz off pretty consistently across the spectrum.<\/p>\n<p>Our friend Gilles Letourneau (at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/OfficialSWLchannel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Official SWL Channel<\/a>) recently told me that after a couple hours of tinkering with his PL-990 last weekend, he was able to calibrate it but was so deep into the process, he wasn&#8217;t able to document exactly <em>how<\/em> he achieved it. Of course, now that it&#8217;s accurate, he doesn&#8217;t want to inadvertently harm the calibration. I don&#8217;t blame him.<\/p>\n<p>Big news is he&#8217;s confirmed that it&#8217;s possible.<\/p>\n<p><del>I&#8217;m curious if any PL-990 or PL-990x owners have successfully calibrated their receiver. If so, please consider <a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/10\/anyone-sorted-out-how-to-calibrate-the-tecsun-pl-990\/#respond\">sharing your procedure with us!<\/a><\/del><\/p>\n<h1><strong>UPDATE<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p>Gilles comments&#8230;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>&#8220;Tune a strong signal in AM .. like WWV then use LSB USB modes to fine tune the receiver as close to zero beat as possible. Then simply press and hold the USB key until display light flashes two times \u2026 you will be all set and calibration will work !&#8221;<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dkZEdelmA9A?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I mentioned in a previous post that one of the &#8220;hidden features&#8221; of the PL-990 series is the ability to calibrate the radio so that the frequency display is correct when say, you zero-beat an AM broadcaster\/carrier in SSB mode. For normal AM broadcast listening, you&#8217;d never notice the frequency discrepancy on the display. When [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,43],"tags":[7811,479,7810,8863],"class_list":["post-45816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-shortwave-radio","tag-pl-990","tag-tecsun","tag-tecsun-pl-990","tag-tecsun-pl-990-calibration"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-bUY","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":45895,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/10\/tecsun-pl-990-hidden-feature-toggling-ferrite-bar-and-telescopic-whip-antenna-on-mw-lw-bands\/","url_meta":{"origin":45816,"position":0},"title":"Tecsun PL-990 Hidden Feature: Toggling ferrite bar and telescopic whip antenna on MW &#038; LW bands","author":"Thomas","date":"October 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to Anna at Anon-Co who recently shared an interesting \"hidden feature\" of the Tecsun PL-990 which allows the user to toggle between the internal ferrite antenna and telescoping whip antenna while on either the mediumwave or logwave bands. Procedure: 1) Turn on the radio and then select either\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antennas&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antennas","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/antennas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Tecsun-PL-990-Hidden-Feature-Mediumwave-1-e1602339081219.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Tecsun-PL-990-Hidden-Feature-Mediumwave-1-e1602339081219.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Tecsun-PL-990-Hidden-Feature-Mediumwave-1-e1602339081219.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Tecsun-PL-990-Hidden-Feature-Mediumwave-1-e1602339081219.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48145,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/michael-pairs-the-tecsun-pl-990-and-the-aor-la400\/","url_meta":{"origin":45816,"position":1},"title":"Michael pairs the Tecsun PL-990 and the AOR LA400","author":"Thomas","date":"March 10, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Michael Ye (BD4AAQ), for the following guest post: In the Loop:\u00a0PL-990 and LA400, a Perfect Match by Michael Ye (BD4AAQ) I have been a happy owner of Tecsun\u2019s PL-880 world band receivers for years. In fact I have two PL-880 radios, one sitting at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;AM&quot;","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/PL-990-and-PL-880-scaled-e1615376264103.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/PL-990-and-PL-880-scaled-e1615376264103.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/PL-990-and-PL-880-scaled-e1615376264103.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/PL-990-and-PL-880-scaled-e1615376264103.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/PL-990-and-PL-880-scaled-e1615376264103.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":40291,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/10\/photo-of-the-new-tecsun-pl-330-pl-990-and-h-501\/","url_meta":{"origin":45816,"position":2},"title":"Photo of the new Tecsun PL-330, PL-990, and H-501","author":"Thomas","date":"October 18, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Lee, who writes: Hi Thomas, I just found this photo [above] on Reddit of three new radios from Tecsun: the PL-330, the PL-990, and the H-501. I knew about the PL-990, but I didn't realize there was a PL-330 or H-501. Any inside info?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;New Products&quot;","block_context":{"text":"New Products","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/new-products\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Tecsun-PL-330.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":45288,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/09\/field-notes-comparing-the-tecsun-pl-990x-and-pl-880\/","url_meta":{"origin":45816,"position":3},"title":"Field Notes: Comparing the Tecsun PL-990x and PL-880","author":"Thomas","date":"September 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Many of you have been asking about the new Tecsun PL-990, especially as compared with the venerable PL-880. If you haven't checked out Dan Robinson's post yet, I highly recommend you do so. His long-format video will also give you a good indication of how both radios compare. Also check\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Tecsun-PL-990-and-Tecsun-PL-880-1-4.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Tecsun-PL-990-and-Tecsun-PL-880-1-4.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Tecsun-PL-990-and-Tecsun-PL-880-1-4.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Tecsun-PL-990-and-Tecsun-PL-880-1-4.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Tecsun-PL-990-and-Tecsun-PL-880-1-4.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":38092,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/06\/the-tecsun-pl-990-the-next-full-featured-portable\/","url_meta":{"origin":45816,"position":4},"title":"The Tecsun PL-990: The next full-featured portable?","author":"Thomas","date":"June 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"[Update: Please check out this post about the Tecsun PL-990.] Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following image originally posted in the Shortwave Radio Listener Appreciation Facebook group: This looks like a solid iteration of the venerable Tecsun PL-880. While the previous photo we posted\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;New Products&quot;","block_context":{"text":"New Products","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/new-products\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/PL-990.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/PL-990.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/PL-990.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/PL-990.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":40048,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/10\/tecsun-pl-990-unboxing-video\/","url_meta":{"origin":45816,"position":5},"title":"Tecsun PL-990 unboxing video","author":"Thomas","date":"October 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Marty, who shares a link to the following video (in Chinese) of the new Tecsun PL-990: https:\/\/youtu.be\/9asB3keMrE0 Click here to view on YouTube.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;New Products&quot;","block_context":{"text":"New Products","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/new-products\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Tecsun-PL-990-Video.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Tecsun-PL-990-Video.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Tecsun-PL-990-Video.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Tecsun-PL-990-Video.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45816\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}