diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index f4e811f54..a6affea1f 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -151,6 +151,8 @@ void userButtonPressedLong()
     screen.adjustBrightness();
 }
 
+RadioInterface *rIf = NULL;
+
 void setup()
 {
 #ifdef USE_SEGGER
@@ -298,8 +300,7 @@ void setup()
     digitalWrite(SX1262_ANT_SW, 1);
 #endif
 
-    // MUST BE AFTER service.init, so we have our radio config settings (from nodedb init)
-    RadioInterface *rIf = NULL;
+    // radio init MUST BE AFTER service.init, so we have our radio config settings (from nodedb init)
 
 #if defined(RF95_IRQ)
     if (!rIf) {
@@ -405,6 +406,9 @@ void loop()
 
     loopWifi();
 
+    // For debugging
+    // if (rIf) ((RadioLibInterface *)rIf)->isActivelyReceiving();
+
     // Show boot screen for first 3 seconds, then switch to normal operation.
     static bool showingBootScreen = true;
     if (showingBootScreen && (millis() > 3000)) {
diff --git a/src/mesh/RadioLibInterface.h b/src/mesh/RadioLibInterface.h
index d393077b5..b1d62bdb7 100644
--- a/src/mesh/RadioLibInterface.h
+++ b/src/mesh/RadioLibInterface.h
@@ -137,6 +137,11 @@ class RadioLibInterface : public RadioInterface, private concurrency::PeriodicTa
      */
     virtual void startReceive() = 0;
 
+    /** are we actively receiving a packet (only called during receiving state)
+     *  This method is only public to facilitate debugging.  Do not call.
+     */
+    virtual bool isActivelyReceiving() = 0;
+
   private:
     /** if we have something waiting to send, start a short random timer so we can come check for collision before actually doing
      * the transmit
@@ -176,9 +181,6 @@ class RadioLibInterface : public RadioInterface, private concurrency::PeriodicTa
     /** Could we send right now (i.e. either not actively receiving or transmitting)? */
     virtual bool canSendImmediately();
 
-    /** are we actively receiving a packet (only called during receiving state) */
-    virtual bool isActivelyReceiving() = 0;
-
     /**
      * Raw ISR handler that just calls our polymorphic method
      */
diff --git a/src/mesh/SX1262Interface.cpp b/src/mesh/SX1262Interface.cpp
index b17acd9fe..a177441a4 100644
--- a/src/mesh/SX1262Interface.cpp
+++ b/src/mesh/SX1262Interface.cpp
@@ -179,16 +179,18 @@ void SX1262Interface::startReceive()
 /** Could we send right now (i.e. either not actively receving or transmitting)? */
 bool SX1262Interface::isActivelyReceiving()
 {
-    // The IRQ status will be cleared when we start our read operation.  Check if we've started a preamble, but haven't yet
+    // The IRQ status will be cleared when we start our read operation.  Check if we've started a header, but haven't yet
     // received and handled the interrupt for reading the packet/handling errors.
+    // FIXME: it would be better to check for preamble, but we currently have our ISR not set to fire for packets that
+    // never even get a valid header, so we don't want preamble to get set and stay set due to noise on the network.
 
     uint16_t irq = lora.getIrqStatus();
-    bool hasPreamble = (irq & SX126X_IRQ_PREAMBLE_DETECTED);
+    bool hasPreamble = (irq & SX126X_IRQ_HEADER_VALID);
 
     // this is not correct - often always true - need to add an extra conditional
     // size_t bytesPending = lora.getPacketLength();
 
-    // if (hasPreamble || bytesPending) DEBUG_MSG("rx hasPre %d, bytes %d\n", hasPreamble, bytesPending);
+    // if (hasPreamble) DEBUG_MSG("rx hasPreamble\n");
     return hasPreamble;
 }