Spectral index distribution in J2202+4216 (left) calculated between 2.3 GHz and 8.6 GHz with the 8.6 GHz total intensity contours overlaid. White dots represent the total intensity ridge line, along which we plot the profiles of total intensity (top right) and spectral index (bottom right). The lowest contour is plotted at 0.18% of the peak brightness of 1395 mJy beam^-1. The shaded ellipse represents the FWHM of the restoring beam of 2.34 × 1.74 mas at PA =+−14.0°, derived as the average between the corresponding interferometric restoring beams at 2.3 GHz and 8.6 GHz. The vertical orange dashed line shows the convolved radius of the VLBI core calculated along the inner jet direction.