diff --git a/internal/qso/orderedids_test.go b/internal/qso/orderedids_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e9bfc94
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/qso/orderedids_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+package qso
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"database/sql"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	_ "modernc.org/sqlite"
+)
+
+// OrderedIDs against a real SQLite file, with qso_date stored the way the repo
+// actually writes it.
+//
+// The first version scanned that column straight into a time.Time. It compiles,
+// it reads correctly, and it fails at run time — the column holds a formatted
+// STRING. The error was swallowed into "the column will be empty", which is
+// exactly what shipped: a column that was always blank.
+func TestOrderedIDsAgainstRealSQLite(t *testing.T) {
+	conn, err := sql.Open("sqlite", "file:"+filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "t.db"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(func() { conn.Close() })
+	if _, err := conn.Exec(`CREATE TABLE qso (
+		id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
+		callsign TEXT NOT NULL,
+		qso_date TEXT NOT NULL
+	)`); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	// Inserted NEWEST first, so the ids run opposite to the dates — what an
+	// imported ADIF produces, and the whole reason the id is not the number.
+	for _, row := range []struct {
+		call string
+		at   time.Time
+	}{
+		{"NEWEST", time.Date(2026, 8, 13, 10, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)},
+		{"MIDDLE", time.Date(2020, 1, 1, 10, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)},
+		{"OLDEST", time.Date(1999, 5, 5, 10, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)},
+	} {
+		if _, err := conn.Exec(`INSERT INTO qso (callsign, qso_date) VALUES (?, ?)`,
+			row.call, row.at.UTC().Format(isoMillis)); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+
+	ids, newest, err := NewRepo(conn).OrderedIDs(context.Background())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("OrderedIDs: %v — this is the failure that emptied the column", err)
+	}
+	if len(ids) != 3 {
+		t.Fatalf("got %d ids, want 3", len(ids))
+	}
+	// Rows 1,2,3 were inserted newest→oldest, so chronological order is 3,2,1.
+	if ids[0] != 3 || ids[1] != 2 || ids[2] != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("order = %v, want the oldest contact first (3,2,1)", ids)
+	}
+	if newest.Year() != 2026 {
+		t.Errorf("newest = %v, want the 2026 contact", newest)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/qso/qso.go b/internal/qso/qso.go
index 3bfbe58..fe3dfea 100644
--- a/internal/qso/qso.go
+++ b/internal/qso/qso.go
@@ -3195,15 +3195,22 @@ func (r *Repo) OrderedIDs(ctx context.Context) ([]int64, time.Time, error) {
 	}
 	defer rows.Close()
 	out := make([]int64, 0, 4096)
-	var newest time.Time
+	// qso_date is stored as a formatted STRING, not a driver date. Scanning it
+	// into a time.Time silently fails on SQLite, which is how this returned an
+	// error and left the whole column empty.
+	var lastDate string
 	for rows.Next() {
 		var id int64
-		var at time.Time
+		var at string
 		if err := rows.Scan(&id, &at); err != nil {
 			return nil, time.Time{}, err
 		}
 		out = append(out, id)
-		newest = at // ascending, so the last row read is the newest
+		lastDate = at // ascending, so the last row read is the newest
 	}
-	return out, newest, rows.Err()
+	if err := rows.Err(); err != nil {
+		return nil, time.Time{}, err
+	}
+	// Parsed once, for the newest row only — the ordering came from SQL.
+	return out, parseTimeLoose(lastDate), nil
 }