Abstract. Using several lines of evidence we show that the scale values of the geomagnetic variometers operating in Helsinki in the 19th century were not constant throughout the years of operation 1844–1897. Specifically, the adopted scale value of the horizontal force variometer appears to be too low by ~ 30% during the years 1866–1874.5 and the adopted scale value of the declination variometer appears to be too low by a factor of ~ 2 during the interval 1885.8–1887.5. Reconstructing the heliospheric magnetic field strength from geomagnetic data has reached a stage where a reliable reconstruction is possible using even just a single geomagnetic data set of hourly or daily values. Before such reconstructions can be accepted as reliable, the underlying data must be calibrated correctly. It is thus mandatory that the Helsinki data be corrected. Such correction has been satisfactorily carried out and the HMF strength is now well constrained back to 1845.