So I went to give it a try on my 9600. Whoa boy, pack a snack cause you're gonna be hitting buttons for a while. Fourteen frequencies get tested at four different power levels. The 40 watt tests were a problem on UHF frequencies since the radio doesn't seem to be able to do that much power (I did upgrade to a 30 amp power supply, for those that recall my previous power issues). So when turning up the PA value didn't seem to actually increase power, I just tried to settle on a number that seemed to trigger the best the radio could do (about 20 watts). I recall seeing something somewhere here about not overdriving the PA and I certainly don't want to break anything.VK3KYY wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 6:46 amThe manual probably needs to be updated, because the calibration feature has been on all radios for about 6 months or more.
It is safe because it never actually changes the official calibration data. When the firmware is first run, after its first installed, it makes a copy of the official data and uses that. So any changes you make in the calibration screen change things in the copy
And the calibration screen has an option of "Factory reset" which re-reads from the official / master data.
The documentation doesn't cover the 9600 yet, so it took a bit of guessing to figure out how to go from "Calibration 1/4" to "Calibration 2/4" but SK2(P1) + Up/Down rotates through he screens. I couldn't figure out what screens 2 & 3 did, so I left them alone. A factory reset option is available on screen 4.
The calibration really improved the VHF side, the 5W setting used to be a little over a watt. Now each setting is pretty close to what the radio is putting out. UHF is less exciting but I attribute that to TYT.
I'm one of those amateur radio operators that knows just enough to be dangerous but not enough to be helpful, so I wanted to share my experiences for others that may be in the same boat as me.