diff --git a/src/meshcore/tcp_cx.py b/src/meshcore/tcp_cx.py
index de425b9..497c3b2 100644
--- a/src/meshcore/tcp_cx.py
+++ b/src/meshcore/tcp_cx.py
@@ -73,6 +73,10 @@ class TCPConnection:
             idx = data.find(b"\x3e")
             if idx < 0: # no start of frame
                 return
+            # Discard any leading junk bytes before the actual frame marker.
+            # Some radios interleave console/debug text on the same UART, so
+            # valid companion frames may begin at an offset inside the chunk.
+            data = data[idx:]
             self.header = data[0:1]
             data = data[1:]