diff --git a/internal/cat/yaesu.go b/internal/cat/yaesu.go
index 062e07f..8e82927 100644
--- a/internal/cat/yaesu.go
+++ b/internal/cat/yaesu.go
@@ -184,6 +184,15 @@ func (y *Yaesu) ReadState() (RigState, error) {
 	s := RigState{Backend: y.Name(), Connected: true, Rig: y.model}
 
 	faRaw, err := y.ask("FA;")
+	if errors.Is(err, errYaesuUnsupported) {
+		// A "?;" here is almost never about FA — the rig answers frequency queries
+		// perfectly well. It is a rejection left over from the PREVIOUS command
+		// that our read then attributed to this one. Retrying once costs a few
+		// milliseconds; treating it as "lost the rig" tore the CAT link down and
+		// reconnected it, which is what the operator saw on every CW macro.
+		debugLog.Printf("yaesu: FA; got a stray rejection — retrying once")
+		faRaw, err = y.ask("FA;")
+	}
 	if err != nil {
 		return RigState{}, err // the rig stopped answering — let the Manager reconnect
 	}
diff --git a/internal/cat/yaesu_cw.go b/internal/cat/yaesu_cw.go
index 67175ea..23e838b 100644
--- a/internal/cat/yaesu_cw.go
+++ b/internal/cat/yaesu_cw.go
@@ -59,6 +59,16 @@ func (y *Yaesu) SendCW(text string) error {
 		}
 		y.mu.Lock()
 		err := y.write("KY " + chunk + ";")
+		if err == nil {
+			// KY produces no reply when it is accepted — but a rig that REJECTS it
+			// answers "?;", and that frame then sat in the buffer until the poll
+			// loop's next query picked it up, failed, and the Manager tore the link
+			// down. That is the CAT dropping for a few seconds on every macro click.
+			//
+			// Reading here does two things: it keeps the stray frame off the poll
+			// loop, and it turns a silent non-transmission into a stated reason.
+			err = y.drainCWReply()
+		}
 		y.mu.Unlock()
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -74,6 +84,47 @@ func (y *Yaesu) SendCW(text string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// drainCWReply reads for a moment after a KY write.
+//
+// An accepted KY says nothing at all, so silence here is success. A rejection
+// answers "?;" — and left unread, that frame was picked up by the poll loop's
+// next query, which failed to parse it and took the whole CAT link down with it.
+// Reading it here keeps the link up AND turns "nothing was transmitted, no idea
+// why" into a stated reason.
+//
+// The caller holds the mutex.
+func (y *Yaesu) drainCWReply() error {
+	if y.port == nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("yaesu: not connected")
+	}
+	deadline := time.Now().Add(200 * time.Millisecond)
+	buf := make([]byte, 0, 32)
+	tmp := make([]byte, 32)
+	for time.Now().Before(deadline) {
+		n, err := y.port.Read(tmp)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil // a read problem here is the poll loop's business, not ours
+		}
+		if n == 0 {
+			continue
+		}
+		buf = append(buf, tmp[:n]...)
+		for {
+			i := strings.IndexByte(string(buf), ';')
+			if i < 0 {
+				break
+			}
+			frame := strings.TrimSpace(string(buf[:i+1]))
+			buf = buf[i+1:]
+			if frame == "?;" {
+				return fmt.Errorf("the radio rejected the CW keying command (KY). On an FTDX10, check MENU → CW → PC KEYING")
+			}
+			debugLog.Printf("yaesu cw: rig answered %q to KY — ignoring", frame)
+		}
+	}
+	return nil // silence = accepted
+}
+
 // cwStatusUnsupported reports whether this rig refused the KY status query.
 func (y *Yaesu) cwStatusUnsupported() bool {
 	y.mu.Lock()