diff --git a/app.go b/app.go
index 9bad169..6abeb4a 100644
--- a/app.go
+++ b/app.go
@@ -6096,37 +6096,31 @@ func (a *App) extShouldUpload(svc extsvc.Service, id int64) bool {
 // tells the frontend to refresh that row's confirmation columns.
 func (a *App) markExtUploaded(svc extsvc.Service, id int64, logID string) {
 	date := time.Now().UTC().Format("20060102")
+	// Use a fresh background context, NOT a.ctx: this stamp often runs during
+	// the on-close upload, and a.ctx is cancelled as the app shuts down — which
+	// would silently abort the UPDATE and leave the QSO at "R" forever despite a
+	// successful upload.
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	if a.qso == nil {
+		return
+	}
+	var err error
 	switch svc {
 	case extsvc.ServiceQRZ:
-		if a.qso != nil {
-			if err := a.qso.MarkQRZUploaded(a.ctx, id, date); err != nil {
-				applog.Printf("extsvc: mark qrz uploaded %d: %v", id, err)
-			}
-		}
+		err = a.qso.MarkQRZUploaded(ctx, id, date)
 	case extsvc.ServiceClublog:
-		if a.qso != nil {
-			if err := a.qso.MarkClublogUploaded(a.ctx, id, date); err != nil {
-				applog.Printf("extsvc: mark clublog uploaded %d: %v", id, err)
-			}
-		}
+		err = a.qso.MarkClublogUploaded(ctx, id, date)
 	case extsvc.ServiceLoTW:
-		if a.qso != nil {
-			if err := a.qso.MarkLoTWUploaded(a.ctx, id, date); err != nil {
-				applog.Printf("extsvc: mark lotw uploaded %d: %v", id, err)
-			}
-		}
+		err = a.qso.MarkLoTWUploaded(ctx, id, date)
 	case extsvc.ServiceHRDLog:
-		if a.qso != nil {
-			if err := a.qso.MarkHRDLogUploaded(a.ctx, id, date); err != nil {
-				applog.Printf("extsvc: mark hrdlog uploaded %d: %v", id, err)
-			}
-		}
+		err = a.qso.MarkHRDLogUploaded(ctx, id, date)
 	case extsvc.ServiceEQSL:
-		if a.qso != nil {
-			if err := a.qso.MarkEQSLSent(a.ctx, id, date); err != nil {
-				applog.Printf("extsvc: mark eqsl sent %d: %v", id, err)
-			}
-		}
+		err = a.qso.MarkEQSLSent(ctx, id, date)
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		applog.Printf("extsvc: mark %s uploaded %d failed: %v", svc, id, err)
+	} else {
+		applog.Printf("extsvc: marked %s QSO %d as sent", svc, id)
 	}
 	if a.ctx != nil {
 		wruntime.EventsEmit(a.ctx, "extsvc:uploaded", map[string]any{
diff --git a/frontend/src/App.tsx b/frontend/src/App.tsx
index 237385a..03b65da 100644
--- a/frontend/src/App.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/App.tsx
@@ -597,6 +597,9 @@ export default function App() {
   const [cwText, setCwText] = useState('');
   const [cwStatus, setCwStatus] = useState<{ wpm: number; pitch: number; level: number; active: boolean }>({ wpm: 0, pitch: 0, level: 0, active: false });
   const cwOn = cwEnabled && mode === 'CW';
+  // Keep the decoded line scrolled to the newest text (left-aligned, no scrollbar).
+  const cwScrollRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
+  useEffect(() => { const el = cwScrollRef.current; if (el) el.scrollLeft = el.scrollWidth; }, [cwText]);
   useEffect(() => {
     const offT = EventsOn('cw:text', (t: string) => setCwText((s) => (s + t).slice(-200)));
     const offS = EventsOn('cw:status', (st: any) => setCwStatus(st));
@@ -3202,7 +3205,7 @@ export default function App() {
 
       {/* ===== CW decoder strip (only when enabled AND mode is CW) ===== */}
       {cwOn && (
-        <div className="mx-2.5 mb-1 flex items-center gap-2 rounded-md border border-emerald-300/70 bg-emerald-50/60 px-2 py-1 text-xs">
+        <div className="ml-2.5 mb-1 w-[45%] flex items-center gap-2 rounded-md border border-emerald-300/70 bg-emerald-50/60 px-2 py-1 text-xs">
           <Ear className={cn('size-4 shrink-0', cwStatus.active ? 'text-emerald-600' : 'text-muted-foreground')} />
           {/* Input-level meter — if this stays flat with a strong signal, the RX
               audio device is wrong/silent rather than a decode problem. */}
@@ -3212,18 +3215,18 @@ export default function App() {
           <span className="shrink-0 font-mono text-[10px] text-muted-foreground tabular-nums">
             {cwStatus.wpm > 0 ? `${cwStatus.wpm} WPM` : '— WPM'} · {cwStatus.pitch > 0 ? `${cwStatus.pitch} Hz` : '— Hz'}
           </span>
-          {/* Single-line rolling ticker — no scrollbar; newest text stays
-              pinned to the right, older text scrolls off the left. */}
-          <div className="flex-1 min-w-0 overflow-hidden font-mono leading-5">
+          {/* Left-aligned single line, no scrollbar; auto-scrolled to the newest
+              text (see cwScrollRef effect) so the latest stays in view. */}
+          <div ref={cwScrollRef} className="flex-1 min-w-0 overflow-hidden font-mono leading-5">
             {cwText.trim() === '' ? (
               <span className="text-muted-foreground italic">listening…</span>
             ) : (
-              <div className="flex justify-end whitespace-nowrap">
+              <div className="inline-flex whitespace-nowrap">
                 {cwText.trim().split(/\s+/).map((tok, i) => (
                   <button
                     key={i}
                     type="button"
-                    className="ml-1 shrink-0 rounded px-1 hover:bg-emerald-200/70"
+                    className="mr-1 shrink-0 rounded px-1 hover:bg-emerald-200/70"
                     title="Use as callsign"
                     onClick={() => onCallsignInput(tok, { force: true })}
                   >
diff --git a/internal/cwdecode/cwdecode.go b/internal/cwdecode/cwdecode.go
index 6623d5b..193b7d1 100644
--- a/internal/cwdecode/cwdecode.go
+++ b/internal/cwdecode/cwdecode.go
@@ -1,15 +1,15 @@
 // Package cwdecode is a real-time CW (Morse) decoder: it turns a stream of
 // mono PCM samples into decoded text. The pipeline is the classic one — a bank
 // of Goertzel tone detectors, a pitch LOCK that follows a single tone (so QRM
-// at other pitches is ignored), an SNR-based key-down/key-up detector measured
-// against the broadband noise floor (so QRN bursts that lift every bin are
-// rejected), an adaptive dot-length (WPM) estimate, and a timing state machine
-// that maps marks/spaces to Morse and then to characters.
+// at other pitches is ignored), an adaptive envelope/threshold on the LOCKED
+// tone (level-independent, so weak or strong signals both key cleanly), an
+// adaptive dot-length (WPM) estimate, and a timing state machine that maps
+// marks/spaces to Morse and then to characters.
 //
 // It is deliberately self-contained and dependency-free so it can be unit
 // tested with synthetic signals. As with every audio CW decoder, weak signals
-// and very heavy QRM still degrade it; the lock + SNR gate trade a little
-// sensitivity for far fewer false decodes.
+// and very heavy QRM still degrade it; the pitch lock keeps QRM on other tones
+// out of the decode.
 package cwdecode
 
 import (
@@ -39,17 +39,17 @@ type Decoder struct {
 	mags []float64 // per-bin magnitude this hop
 	nbuf []float64 // scratch for the noise percentile
 
-	// Pitch lock + noise.
-	lockIdx    int // index of the locked tone bin, -1 = unlocked
-	candIdx    int // current argmax candidate while unlocked
-	candHops   int // consecutive hops the candidate has been dominant
-	unlockHops int // consecutive low-SNR hops while locked
-	noise      float64
+	// Pitch lock.
+	lockIdx    int     // index of the locked tone bin, -1 = unlocked
+	candIdx    int     // current argmax candidate while unlocked
+	candHops   int     // consecutive hops the candidate has been dominant
+	quietHops  int     // consecutive key-up hops while locked
+	noise      float64 // broadband noise estimate (percentile of bins)
 	relockHops int     // quiet hops before the lock is released
-	onSNR      float64 // SNR to call key-down / to acquire a lock
-	offSNR     float64 // SNR below which it's key-up
+	acqSNR     float64 // minimum tone/noise ratio to acquire a lock
 
-	// Keying / timing.
+	// Adaptive keying envelope, on the LOCKED bin's magnitude.
+	peak, floor float64
 	state       bool // true = mark (key down)
 	stateHops   int
 	dotHops     float64 // adaptive dot length, in hops
@@ -90,8 +90,7 @@ func New(sampleRate int, onChar func(string), onStatus func(Status)) *Decoder {
 		hop:         sampleRate / 250, // ~4 ms resolution
 		win:         sampleRate / 62,  // ~16 ms Goertzel window
 		dotHops:     15,               // ~20 WPM seed
-		onSNR:       4.0,
-		offSNR:      2.5,
+		acqSNR:      1.8,              // mild: just enough to ignore pure noise
 		lockIdx:     -1,
 		candIdx:     -1,
 		statusEvery: 25, // ~10 Hz
@@ -117,7 +116,8 @@ func New(sampleRate int, onChar func(string), onStatus func(Status)) *Decoder {
 func (d *Decoder) Reset() {
 	d.ring = d.ring[:0]
 	d.acc = 0
-	d.lockIdx, d.candIdx, d.candHops, d.unlockHops = -1, -1, 0, 0
+	d.lockIdx, d.candIdx, d.candHops, d.quietHops = -1, -1, 0, 0
+	d.peak, d.floor = 0, 0
 	d.state = false
 	d.stateHops = 0
 	d.dotHops = 15
@@ -141,8 +141,8 @@ func (d *Decoder) Process(samples []int16) {
 	}
 }
 
-// analyze runs the Goertzel bank over the current window, estimates the noise
-// floor, and maintains the pitch lock.
+// analyze runs the Goertzel bank, estimates the noise floor, and maintains the
+// pitch lock (which tone the envelope detector then follows).
 func (d *Decoder) analyze() {
 	n := float64(len(d.ring))
 	var sumSq float64
@@ -166,34 +166,23 @@ func (d *Decoder) analyze() {
 	}
 	d.lastRMS = math.Min(1, math.Sqrt(sumSq/n)/32768*4)
 
-	// Noise floor = 40th percentile of the bins (robust to a few strong tones,
-	// so one or two QRM signals don't inflate it).
+	// Noise floor = 40th percentile of the bins (robust to a few strong tones).
 	copy(d.nbuf, d.mags)
 	sort.Float64s(d.nbuf)
 	d.noise = d.nbuf[int(0.4*float64(len(d.nbuf)-1)+0.5)]
-	eps := d.noise + 1e-9
 
 	if d.lockIdx < 0 {
-		// Acquire: lock once the same bin has been dominant for a few hops and
-		// is clearly above the noise.
+		// Acquire: lock when the same bin has been dominant for a few hops and
+		// is at least mildly above the noise (so we don't lock onto pure noise).
 		if maxIdx == d.candIdx {
 			d.candHops++
 		} else {
 			d.candIdx, d.candHops = maxIdx, 1
 		}
-		if d.candHops >= 4 && maxMag/eps > d.onSNR {
-			d.lockIdx, d.unlockHops = maxIdx, 0
-		}
-	} else {
-		// Hold the lock through key-up gaps; release only after a long quiet so
-		// we can retune to a new signal/pitch.
-		if d.mags[d.lockIdx]/eps < d.offSNR {
-			d.unlockHops++
-		} else {
-			d.unlockHops = 0
-		}
-		if d.unlockHops > d.relockHops {
-			d.lockIdx, d.candIdx, d.candHops = -1, -1, 0
+		if d.candHops >= 5 && maxMag/(d.noise+1e-9) > d.acqSNR {
+			d.lockIdx = maxIdx
+			d.peak, d.floor = maxMag, d.noise // seed the envelope to this bin
+			d.quietHops = 0
 		}
 	}
 	if d.lockIdx >= 0 {
@@ -203,15 +192,42 @@ func (d *Decoder) analyze() {
 	}
 }
 
-// step advances the keying detector + timing state machine by one hop.
+// step runs the adaptive envelope on the locked bin and the timing state
+// machine, one hop. The envelope adapts to the signal level (not an absolute
+// threshold), so weak and strong signals both key correctly.
 func (d *Decoder) step() {
 	on := false
 	if d.lockIdx >= 0 {
-		snr := d.mags[d.lockIdx] / (d.noise + 1e-9)
-		if d.state {
-			on = snr > d.offSNR // hysteresis: stay keyed until it clearly drops
+		m := d.mags[d.lockIdx]
+		// Fast-attack / slow-release peak; fast-drop / slow-rise floor.
+		if m > d.peak {
+			d.peak += (m - d.peak) * 0.4
 		} else {
-			on = snr > d.onSNR
+			d.peak += (m - d.peak) * 0.02
+		}
+		if m < d.floor {
+			d.floor += (m - d.floor) * 0.4
+		} else {
+			d.floor += (m - d.floor) * 0.01
+		}
+		span := d.peak - d.floor
+		if span > d.floor*0.3+1e-9 {
+			onTh := d.floor + 0.55*span
+			offTh := d.floor + 0.35*span
+			if d.state {
+				on = m > offTh
+			} else {
+				on = m > onTh
+			}
+		}
+		// Release the lock after a long quiet so we can retune to a new signal.
+		if on {
+			d.quietHops = 0
+		} else {
+			d.quietHops++
+			if d.quietHops > d.relockHops {
+				d.lockIdx, d.candIdx, d.candHops = -1, -1, 0
+			}
 		}
 	}