diff --git a/changelog.json b/changelog.json
index a1a1b30..386301c 100644
--- a/changelog.json
+++ b/changelog.json
@@ -1,4 +1,16 @@
 [
+  {
+    "version": "0.27.1",
+    "date": "",
+    "en": [
+      "Elecraft console: the S-meter is calibrated against a real K3 — S9 and the +dB readings now match the radio’s own display (they read about two S-units low).",
+      "Elecraft console: an SWR spike (the K3’s own blip at the end of an FT8 frame) no longer fades over twelve seconds — the peak shows briefly, then the meter returns straight to the live reading."
+    ],
+    "fr": [
+      "Console Elecraft : le S-mètre est calibré sur un vrai K3 — S9 et les +dB correspondent désormais à l’affichage de la radio (il lisait environ deux points S trop bas).",
+      "Console Elecraft : un pic de ROS (le sursaut du K3 en fin de trame FT8) ne s’estompe plus pendant douze secondes — le pic s’affiche brièvement, puis le ros-mètre revient directement à la valeur réelle."
+    ]
+  },
   {
     "version": "0.27.0",
     "date": "",
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/ElecraftPanel.tsx b/frontend/src/components/ElecraftPanel.tsx
index 0ec38ad..0908c7e 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/ElecraftPanel.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/ElecraftPanel.tsx
@@ -42,18 +42,22 @@ const ZERO: KenwoodState = {
 // nobody notices are missing.
 const FILTERS = [200, 400, 700, 1000, 1800, 2400, 2800, 4000];
 
-// Raw S-meter → S units. The K3 answers 0-21 across S0…S9+60; S9 is taken at
-// raw 9 and each step above it as 6 dB. PROVISIONAL, like the rest of the
-// scaling: the raw value is on screen and in the log, so a real radio settles
-// it rather than this comment.
-const S9_RAW = 9;
-const DB_PER_RAW = 6;
-function sParts(rawV: number): { s: number; over: number; label: string } {
-  if (rawV >= S9_RAW) {
-    const over = Math.max(0, Math.round((rawV - S9_RAW) * DB_PER_RAW));
+// Raw S-meter → S units, CALIBRATED against a real K3 beside its own display
+// (2026-08): raw 5 reads S7 on the radio, raw 9 reads S9+20. So S9 sits near
+// raw 6.5 — not 9, which showed everything two S-units low — and each raw step
+// above it is worth ~8 dB, shown in the 10 dB steps the K3's own meter uses.
+// A Kenwood answers 0-30 on the same command and keeps the simple 1-per-raw
+// scale until someone calibrates one against a real radio too.
+const K3_S9_RAW = 6.5;
+const K3_DB_PER_RAW = 8;
+function sParts(rawV: number, elecraft: boolean): { s: number; over: number; label: string } {
+  const s9raw = elecraft ? K3_S9_RAW : 9;
+  if (rawV >= s9raw) {
+    let over = Math.max(0, Math.round((rawV - s9raw) * (elecraft ? K3_DB_PER_RAW : 6)));
+    if (elecraft) over = Math.round(over / 10) * 10;
     return { s: 9, over, label: over > 0 ? `S9+${over}` : 'S9' };
   }
-  const s = Math.max(0, Math.min(9, rawV));
+  const s = Math.max(0, Math.min(9, Math.round(rawV * (elecraft ? 9 / K3_S9_RAW : 1))));
   return { s, over: 0, label: `S${s}` };
 }
 
@@ -211,10 +215,10 @@ export function ElecraftPanel({ onReportRST }: { onReportRST?: (rst: string) =>
       <div className="grid grid-cols-1 sm:grid-cols-3 gap-2">
         <MeterBar label="S-METER" value={view.transmitting ? 0 : view.s_meter} lo={0} hi={100}
           accent="#16a34a" segColor={sSegColor}
-          display={view.transmitting ? '—' : sParts(view.s_meter_raw).label}
+          display={view.transmitting ? '—' : sParts(view.s_meter_raw, view.elecraft).label}
           onClick={() => {
             if (view.transmitting || !onReportRST) return;
-            const sp = sParts(view.s_meter_raw);
+            const sp = sParts(view.s_meter_raw, view.elecraft);
             onReportRST(sMeterRST(sp.s, sp.over, view.mode));
           }}
           title={t('k3.sMeterHint', { raw: String(view.s_meter_raw) })} />
diff --git a/internal/cat/kenwood_panel.go b/internal/cat/kenwood_panel.go
index f1b6604..72657f2 100644
--- a/internal/cat/kenwood_panel.go
+++ b/internal/cat/kenwood_panel.go
@@ -349,7 +349,7 @@ func (k *Kenwood) readTXMeters() {
 	if v, ok := k.askNum("SW;", "SW", 3); ok {
 		k.panel.SWRRaw = v
 		if v > 0 {
-			k.panel.SWR = float64(k.swrPeak.update(v, now)) / 10
+			k.panel.SWR = float64(k.swrPeak.updateSnap(v, now)) / 10
 		}
 	}
 	if k.metersLogged >= 20 {
diff --git a/internal/cat/yaesu_panel.go b/internal/cat/yaesu_panel.go
index 82db697..7683671 100644
--- a/internal/cat/yaesu_panel.go
+++ b/internal/cat/yaesu_panel.go
@@ -905,3 +905,22 @@ func yaesuSplitCommand(cmd, vfo string, on bool) string {
 	}
 	return cmd + "0;"
 }
+
+// updateSnap is update for a meter where lingering is misinformation: the peak
+// stands for the hold, then the display returns to the live sample AT ONCE.
+// Made for the K3's SWR — the radio throws a brief SWR spike as an FT8 frame
+// ends, and the quarter-of-the-gap decay above turned that one bad sample into
+// twelve seconds of alarming red on the next transmission. A needle's inertia
+// suits a power meter; an SWR reading is a warning light, and a warning that
+// fades slowly reads as a fault that is slowly getting better.
+func (m *meterPeak) updateSnap(sample int, now time.Time) int {
+	if sample >= m.val {
+		m.val, m.at = sample, now
+		return m.val
+	}
+	if now.Sub(m.at) < meterHold {
+		return m.val
+	}
+	m.val, m.at = sample, now
+	return m.val
+}