Tecsun PL-660 Frequency Offset Calibration

[@michaelturner4457]

My Pl-660, that was bought January 2019, was off frequency exactly the same as yours. And I was able to recalibrate it using this method. Thanks for the info

[@billyoung4364]

Thank you for this video!!! 2 years later and its still relevant. Going to verify and re-calibrate if needed.

[@chicopintudo3443]

Your video is very good and your tips are of extreme interest to everyone in love with TECSUN radios. Thank you and big hug from Brazil 🇧🇷👍😎

[@soldierloz]

Superb video Mike! Works on the 680 too. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this and you explain it SO well!! Great! Laurie

[@TheMajkla]

Thank you, I just recalibrated my PL-680 using your method. I bought it recently and it has a firmware version 215 6622

[@jisa98]

How did u get the firmware number?

[@TheMajkla]

@@jisa98 With the radio off, press and hold the AIR button. After 10s or so the display will show a test screen showing all items on it, after a few seconds it will briefly show “2-15” where usually the frequency display is, and the firmware version number in the top right corner.

[@ksaboda]

I have a 680 and this works for the FM band. Thank you so so much for making this video.

[@karlbel4992]

Mine PL660 the same only works for FM

[@jeffking291]

Finally got my replacement PL-660 ( the last one was bad). So , it came to me, off frequency, so I’m having to come back to this video, to do my new radio. Again, thanks for the video. 📻🙂

[@madwelder8490]

Спасибо, это очень полезная информация. Некоторые знакомые разбирали приёмник и крутили отвёрткой... это было глупо)) Благодарю что научили!👍🤝

[@AlbertoRiomao]

Thank you so much Mike for sharing this, it saved my PL 660 bargain.

[@IgorShevtsov]

Майк, благодарю Вас! Нашёл только Ваше видео и решил проблемму смещения на своём PL660! Круто!!!

[@garylane2986]

Really excellent video. I just purchased a PL680 where FM was way off and this is solved the problem perfectly. Thank you so much Mike. Gary L

[@pip07200]

Thank you ! I've notice some frequency drift in the FM band. Will calibrate this evening 😀

[@MrRadiouser]

Brilliant ! You just saved me sending back a newly received PL660 - THANKYOU !

[@ditto1958]

Thank you for this video. I’m getting one of these radios, and I’ll be sure to try this out.

[@df26925]

It works great! My Tecsun PL-660 arrived today and the calibration saved my day. Thank you very much!

[@cvcoco]

Maybe this only works on the newest 660s? People below who say it doesnt work may have old models.

[@junyap5610]

Thank you very much!..My Tecsun 660 FM is now properly calibrated. 5 stars

[@thomasmorrison8011]

Very cool. Nice video. I've loved my PL-660 for years and this is a great feature. Just one more reason to enjoy this receiver. Thanks.

[@BulletButle]

Very good information Works for FM, not for MW & SW for my pl680.

[@iw6cpk]

thank you vert mutch. It works on my new pl-680 (september 2018)

[@ΑπέχαλοςΣανελωτός]

What about offset in airband? My 680 is 4khz offset. Is there a way to calibrate airband? I made some combinations with buttons but nothing.

[@JohnWhittle]

Just wanted to give feedback that this does work on my recently purchased PL-660

[@Slime_Head]

Thank you very much, this works on my tecsun PL-680 too

[@maneroification]

Perfect! Thank you so much for this.

[@raibek4818]

Hello. I calibrated PL-680 in range FM, but pushed a button ' sync '. You calibrated range SW and pushed a button AIR. The separate button means for each range. Maybe you know what buttons it is possible to calibrate MW and LW? Thanks. PS: I Am sorry for my bad English - is a translator.))

[@SmorodinovyMors]

I accidentally turned on some strange mode at Tecsun680. The frequency count from 000khz appeared on the screen. I started turning the encoder - the frequency reached 100 kHz. Is this also a correction mode? I was unable to replicate my accidental clicks. I can only say for sure that my receiver does not need correction. It was perfectly tuned at the factory before shipping. No problem! Firmware 6620. Once 4 years ago, the valcoder jammed. The problem was solved in 10 minutes with the help of a micro drop of liquid "WD40" and synthetic oil. Works great.

[@kr0000w]

Very nice! Just recalibrated FM on mine. Thank you.

[@albertarnold4898]

I have an issue that was wondering if you could comment? My PL-660 for some reason when I am on MW band, the frequency will only go up to 1620 and down to 522, I no longer have the range of 520 to 1710. Any thoughts?

[@maddog57ful]

This did not work for my 680. Sorry. Sold it, was a 2015 model. Will Order another another because it is the best I've found for SSB. Will be a 2020 Production unit or later.

[@InvincibleViolinist]

I have a Sangean 909X2 which is appears to be off calibration, but only on wide bandwidth. It's right on the money in narrow. No calibration method that I'm aware of. I'm wondering if this is normal operation, as it appears that the radio simply offsets the passband when going wider.

[@jisa98]

Awesome tip!! Thanks! Love my PL 660!

[@dlvh007]

Thanks for this. Do the new ones that are currently for sale, still have this issue?

[@1fanger888]

Very helpful, thanks. I noticed this right out of the box.

[@DarrenN72]

My Tecsun pl-660 will not calibrate like that doing those steps. It's a brand new one. Any idea why?

[@radellaf]

Not sure this works for a 1khz offset. 5001 sounds better than 5000. I put it on 5000, get blinking, go to 5001, hit 1. now 4997 sounds best. it went the wrong way and 3khz vs 1. anyway, I think 5000.5 would be ideal so it doesn't make much difference 5000 or 5001. Still, odd.

[@emiln1977]

Thanks, it's very useful information

[@Alenx80]

My new pl680 is about 4 khz off, do I have to calibrate every radio station signal or just one and then rest of them will be all properly calibrated?

[@DavidPMiller]

Thank you for this information ... I got a 660 last week, and it was off by about 5kHz too low on Wide, but spot-on with Narrow. While the calibration method shown here does work, it doesn't seem to remain calibrated when I turn it off and back on again, although the frequency error does seem to be shrinking. First 5kHz, then 4kHz, then 3kHz, now 2kHz ... but I still need to re-cal it each time, or live with the offset. Another problem is that sometimes, not always, when I turn the radio back on, the FM band will jump to the beginning of the band, and lose the last station I was listening to. Sometimes, not always. It makes me wondering if their might be a fault with the backup battery? Again, thanks for the information, and Keep up the Good Work!

[@АндрейОдежкин]

Ты дебил батареи поставь!!! И не вытаскивал их! Вовремя заряжай! И косяков не будет! Правильно Задорнов говорил! Какие же вы американцы тупыеее!

[@jeffdowner2378]

My Pl-660 which is an earlier model will not respond to holding the air band button down Touch the airband button anyway you like & all that happens is that it switches to airband. However I was able able to calibrate the fm band by pressing & holding the synch button. Does anybody know of a procedure that works with the earlier model for am shortwave calibration?

[@Columbocops]

Same with me. Any solution yet? :(

[@User-DX-radio]

What is the width of filters in SSB narrow/wide for Tecsun pl660? Firmware 6622

[@KB2CWN]

Ok Mike. And for those of us who have the version that by holding the air button it goes directly to the air band, whats the solution for us?

[@Broskibrother]

Were you able to figure it out? Mine does the same

[@KB2CWN]

@@Broskibrother no

[@Broskibrother]

@@KB2CWN I think i found you can take it apart and adjust it manually but I really don't wanna deal with that

[@KB2CWN]

@@Broskibrother I ended up selling that one and purchased a new one from that place in California. No off frequency issues whatsoever.

[@diegosti]

I have the same pl660, but I cannot calibrate FM, press sync for many seconds and nothing. If I press air it shows an airplane. Can somebody help me calibrate fm in this pl660? Thanks

[@ibgeorgeb]

SW & AM recalibration don’t work on my 660. I push & hold “air” as you instruct & the radio immediately goes to the air frequency. No blinking light. FM recalibration works just fine on my 660.

[@macchi205]

The calibration works also in SSB mode ?

[@MasaoNarihira]

Unfortunately, I was not able to calibrate by using this method. To begin with, it is impossible to hold Air and Sync. Pushing them, no change. Is there any different version?

[@garyhorn8614]

I have owned many radios over the years and never had one where the frequency drifted like just happened on this one. Why does this model have frequencies that drift?

[@doublecrossharp]

Mine does not calibrate. I tried for fm with sync Button, but nothing happens.

[@thestatenislander4755]

How is the battery life with good batteries bough on speaker and headset?

[@old-timeangler5356]

Thank you, that was very helpful.

[@juliocesarpereira4325]

This method of calibration does not work with my PL-660.

[@alaska3333]

Julio Cesar Pereira Same problem here. No blinking screen!

[@TheChdiamo]

Hi Julio. This method does not work for me either. If I push and hold the "Air" button, it activates the air band. If I go to the FM band and push and hold the "SSB" button, the dial light is activated. I think Mike Mander has a special Tecsun PL-660. OR there is an additional step to take before pressing and holding the AIr or SSB buttons that Mike knows but we don't.

[@t0nito]

Same here

[@jeffking4176]

Julio Cesar Pereira See my comment on this

[@jeffking4176]

t0nito Please se my comment about this problem 🙂

[@franciscole3039]

Should I get a spare antenna for mine? I just received the radio yesterday? Do you think the antenna will last through normal use? How do I prevent the corona ball from falling off?

[@Elzweiler]

Although I have become accustomed to poor quality control from Chinese products, I am looking forward to trying this on my 660 which suffers from this problem. Oh for the days of quality workmanship with Telefunken or even Sony. Incidentally, why did Sony stop making SW radios?

[@Hidden_Destinations]

Excellent video!

[@doublecrossharp]

Calibration does not work on mine. Is there a different method?

[@maddog57ful]

Agreed, did not work on mine. All it would do is go to Air band.

[@jeffking4176]

please NOTE: If you can NOT re-calibrate ,It May need a “FIRMWARE “upgrade. I called “Kaito.U.S.” directly from their website. They will do the upDATE for free, if it’s under warranty. Mine was not, so they gave me a repair code#, I sent them the radio with letter, and $ 20.oo Money Order ($10.oo for update-$10.oo for return post) as directed. 10 days later (today) I received the radio, and on my letter, they wrote me the directions. IT WORKS ‼️ I’m able to re-calibrate. (I made mistake by holding the “AIR” button while trying-doesn’t work that way)

[@soldierloz]

Mike, can the Airband be calibrated? Mine is out by .1

[@paulkowalski5578]

Well I have been upset since my friend ordered this for me, (I live in a nursing facility) and I found it faulty to a fault and this offset was one of them. I was heartened to find others had the same problem and when such a quick fix was at hand I was purely ecstatic! Droop back to sad... It did not work for me either, so if anyone can reverse-engineer this otherwise good receiver to make it live up to its potential, please help. AGC needs a on-med-off switch and the AM or USB levels need a variable R.F. gain control. It would seem a simple thing to do but alas here I sit still awaiting a truly portable communications receiver...and I cannot even solder anymore! Someday we will all need Shortwave, heck we use it everyday and many do not even know it. Love the old ICR-70 with a gel-cell but it does get a bit weighty after a time! Antennas are no problem, HI! HI!

[@KrissDucky95]

thank you very much that helps me a lot for my new toy ! take care of you

[@maddog57ful]

Worked for yours but not mine. Push and hold the Air button and it stays on Air Band. Mine is off 5. I have one Mfg. Around 2015.

[@jeffking4176]

....And thanks for the video 🙂📻‼️👍

[@DonzLockz]

Brilliant! Thank you!👍🤓

[@DarrenN72]

Do you know if the tecsun pl-600 has this feature?

[@luissimmons654]

thank you mike

[@bahorized]

Thanks for the video, very helpfull!

[@wu2u]

Does it retain the correction?

[@veli782000]

Not very good build quality, still have problems with factory quality control. I got rid of my mine Pl-660 after 6 months of use, not satisfied overall with this radio.

[@David_Granger]

My 660 is 5 MHz too high on FM, sadly, it's too old to support calibration.

[@kenmcfarlane226]

Great video.Thanks.Does calibration stay same when radio is turned on/off?

[@TheMajkla]

I did it on my PL-680 which is nearly identical to the 660 and it stays. I'm so happy because I returned the 660in the summer because of its wide BW offset.

[@ubcxlt]

On my PL-660 it goes straight into Air band. I have the 2014 version, which does not seem to have the off frequency issue. I tested this with WWV here in South Australia at night time (can't receive it during the day here) and switching between narrow and wide worked fine. One issue I do have with my PL-660 is that I cannot tune (by direct entry on the keypad) any frequency between 1711 and 2999 kHz. It will accept the entry for a few seconds, and then flick back to where it was - you have to press the Enter key after typing in the frequency within a couple of seconds. Why you have to do this seems a bit weird as you don't have to press the Enter key for other frequencies.

[@ge48421]

the reason you have to push 'enter' is because you could add another digit and still end up with a valid frequency, say, 29990 kHz. From 3000 kHz up this ambiguity disappears because the radio won't tune beyond 29999 in SW.

[@zorka4098]

Just got my PL-660 today and I tried this, but as with others, it doesn't work on mine. Anybody know how this will work?

[@jeffking4176]

zorka4098 You may need a “firmware update “ I did, Kaito.U.S. Did it for me and it worked ❗️🙂

[@macchi205]

what firmware needs ?

[@jacobmorgenstein6788]

Very useful. Thank you

[@ofthedawn]

Is it safe to use radio in alkaline mode with a.c. adapter and no batteries?

[@1fanger888]

I just found out, if there is a problem with the radio, like keypad or even turning it on and off, pushing in on the reset will clear the radio and it will function properly again.

[@BobPrivacy]

Great video! But another question: On AM or SSB (never used FM on this thing) i have a huge amount of frequency-shifting. From peak to peak i would say it takes 30 seconds. I don´t mean fading were the signal is weaker and stronger, its more like the signal is shifting maybe around 200Hz or so. Is the oscillator broken? Is this common with these devices, I mean it is not t a professional ham-device.

[@mikemander4030]

Hi Bob, sorry but I am not quite sure what you mean? If you are saying the strongest reception of any given station (all stations?) drifts over a wide range of frequencies, then that does sound like there is something seriously wrong with the radio. I did not experience that on my PL-660, nor on my PL-880, and I've not personally heard of anyone else having a similar problem, so that is certainly not normal in my view. Hopefully your radio is new enough still that you can make a warranty claim? For those who have made other comments and have specific questions about the PL-660, sorry but I have not owned one for quite some time now, having replaced it with a PL-880, so I also won't be discovering any new tricks. I am glad my video has helped some tweak their radios, but for those it doesn't seem to work for, you likely have radios with older firmware and unfortunately there is no way to update it as far as I know.

[@BobPrivacy]

@@mikemander4030 Jap drifting is a better word. Thanks.

[@PP-ob8zr]

Nice job. 😊👍

[@HH-os7zh]

I have an older PL-660. I bought mine in 2011. It collects dust because I have this exact problem. However, since it's an older version, I cannot do this alignment. If I could i would use the radio, but I never do now, a shame really.

[@alaska3333]

This doesn't work on my PL-660. After pushing the Airband button the radio immediately jumps to airband. The sync button for FM calibration also doesn't work. No display blinking. Could it be the firmware version? Any thoughts?

[@mikemander4030]

Yes, yours is very likely just an older version that does not have the recalibration capability. As far as I know, it is unfortunately not possible to update the firmware on these radios either.

[@ringfinger7314]

Same here... holding air button simply takes you to the air stations. My problems are even worse as I’m not able to receive any SW / Air PERIOD. Doesn’t work with built in whip or 3rd party 30ft external antenna, even outside. I have my laptop USB SDR receiver tuned to local airport ATIS and ground stations and hear them loud and clear but nothing on the Tecsun pl-660. Same on SW, Nothing on 2.5 / 5 / 10 MHz even outside. Very disappointed. Minimal reception on AM / MW. Anyone having the same issue.??? Tried reset, pulled batteries overnight. Have had the issue since right out of the box.

[@Razimg2299]

Is this radio rechargeable?

[@fredfeldmeier8228]

Nicely done.. valuable nfo..thanx👈😎👍

[@chengzhiliu]

Thanks for your helpful share!

[@stephenwilliams5201]

Ah! The world's longest ping pong game. Thanks for info.

[@medo123345]

👍 Tks, very interesting video

[@canalsemnomeadinfinitum5416]

Unfortunately it not works in AM, just in FM. But your video is very nice. Thanks a lot. 73 from Rio de Janeiro.

[@RobVK3BVW]

Great tip, Mike. Thanks! 73, Rob VK3BVW

[@chuggachuggawoowoo]

This procedure only works on FM when I try it on my PL-660. I bought mine very recently, so I guess they shipped me an old one.

[@willowsloughdx]

Say you do a 3 kKz frequency offset correction for the wide filter setting at 7545 kHz. Will the wide filter calibration remain accurate across all of the HF spectrum as well, say at 17930 kHz?

[@mikemander4030]

As far as I've been able to tell, at least on my PL-660, the calibration is linear and works across the entire band, the same way that I found the 5 KHz offset to be same, whether it was at 5000 KHz or 25000 KHz.

[@Пользователь-р3ю8щ]

Mike Mander Hello! the air range is activated immediately. fm from calibrated. happened. Short-wave range is the offset between the narrow and wide 5kHz band. What do you advise?

[@mikemander4030]

Please see my "Update 2/2/2018" in the video's description above. This procedure doesn't seem to work on older units unfortunately.

[@Пользователь-р3ю8щ]

Mike Mander Thank you! It is a pity that so! I bought mine in October last year.

[@Пользователь-р3ю8щ]

Mike Mander.I tried to hold the air band button when the receiver was off. the entire display will light up and the number 215 will be displayed.

[@cvcoco]

Thats a nice trick, thank you. What other things dont we know?

[@andrewpitt6870]

Thanks, great tip

[@Bodooke77]

Great video! Is this offset calibration also possible on the PL-600 receiver?

[@mikemander4030]

I'm honestly not sure. I believe it works on the PL-680 as well, but the PL-600 is an older model, even though it can still be bought today and might still be in production. The PL-600 lacks the Air band button that is used in this case for initiating the calibration, but maybe there is another button on the PL-600 that does the same thing? I don't have one to experiment with, but maybe someone else can try?

[@Bodooke77]

I have the PL-600 with this same problem, the frequency indication on the LCD display is always from 2KHz to less. For example, a MW station with a frequency of 890KHz: With the radio filter in Narrow you can even listen cool, but if you turn on Wide you already realize that it is out of tune. So I have to start the tuning steps at 1KHz and fine tuning, when the tuning is correct the display shows 888KHz! I've tried all the buttons on the PL-600, but none worked as an offset setting, unless there's some secret programming on the numeric keypad or you have to press more than one key simultaneously.

[@mikemander4030]

Well that's too bad. I suppose once you know how the radio behaves, it's not that big a deal to tweak the frequency a little. I bought my PL-660 knowing that many have the problem but was then happy to discover this adjustment trick. A friend of mine has bought my PL-660, so I cannot experiment with it any longer. I now have a PL-880, and while I like it better in most ways, I do miss having the effective sync-lock of the PL-660. I know that compared to older PL-880s, the previous models like the PL-600 and PL-660 often seemed to outperform it on SW, but apart from sync-lock, my recently manufactured PL-880 is easily as good as the PL-660 was on SW. Tecsun seems to make quite a few improvements on radios as years go by (and add features!), so it is really hard to judge how good a particular model of Tecsun radio will be, based on reviews that are several years old. Now if only I could find the time to film some more reviews...

[@Bodooke77]

I accessed the Tecsun website, but I did not find a way to contact technical support to question this issue. Well, the PL-660 is on my next acquisition list, it will soon open an airline here in my city, so it will be perfect for listening to communications between the aircraft and the control tower. I was very happy to know that if the PL-660 comes with this problem I can fix it without having to open the receiver and make some modification in its circuit.

[@Bodooke77]

Thanks for answering. Well, I had a PL-660 a few years ago, but it was the first version. It showed the lcd display on the frequency of 2KHz above the correct frequency, but I do not know if this trick could do it. I live in Brazil and the big problem in buying the Tecsun radios is to find who sell receivers of more current manufacture. You see an advertisement for sale on the internet but you do not know if the advertised receiver is current or is a very old version. I know that Tecsun introduces improvements to its receivers. Anyway, I will save money and buy again a PL-660, but of current manufacture.

[@dutchgoonie]

In your video you press the Air button. I live in the Netherlands myself and discovered that I have to press the SYNC button on my PL-660 instead of the AIR button. I thought this supplement would be valuable. Greetings.

[@albertarnold4898]

Works for MW band!

[@ΔημήτρηςΤσαφαράς-γ8θ]

PERFECT!!!

[@solojinglesradio1]

How about MW or LW?

[@mikemander4030]

Please note my comments on LW in the video. On my PL-660, MW (AM) can also be calibrated and is not affected by the SW calibration.

[@solojinglesradio1]

Mike Mander thanks, my 660 only calibrates FM frecuencies, doesn't works pressing air band button

[@solojinglesradio1]

I've put 1 by 1 slow pass, with 10 khz band because if i do that i can go until 1700 khz in mw, if i put 9khz does not works until 1700 and i could not get special usb frequencies

[@mikele5756]

I have an older version so it doesn't work with mine. Thank you for the information anyway.

[@Columbocops]

Did you find a way to calibrate?

[@mikele5756]

@@Columbocops No, it only works with newer versions of this radio. It's still a very good radio though.

[@migalito1955]

Nice and thanks! Mike @ KC2WVB

[@richardchicoine]

Tnx you so much Mike, 73 ! 👍 📻

[@komntator]

It also affect ATS.

[@АлександрВладимирович-щ9в]

вскройте свой приемник и по кажите всем какая ревизия вашего приемника, там где динамик на плате написано!

[@Psychonaut1974]

😀👍