diff --git a/app/helpers/ConfirmingSyncPatternState.rb b/app/helpers/ConfirmingSyncPatternState.rb
index 7a46fe2..bfd8e93 100644
--- a/app/helpers/ConfirmingSyncPatternState.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/ConfirmingSyncPatternState.rb
@@ -16,6 +16,6 @@ class ConfirmingSyncPatternState < StatePattern::State
    end
   
   # return the rest
-  return bytes[idx+1..-1]
+  return bytes[idx+1..-1] || ""
   end
 end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/helpers/InSyncState.rb b/app/helpers/InSyncState.rb
index 6270570..e41dbcc 100644
--- a/app/helpers/InSyncState.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/InSyncState.rb
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ class InSyncState < StatePattern::State
       # p "##################"
       reading = handle_frame(frame_lines)
       p reading 
-      return bytes[idx+sync_pattern_length..-1]
+      return bytes[idx+sync_pattern_length..-1] || ""
     else
       return bytes     
     end
diff --git a/app/helpers/SearchingForSyncState.rb b/app/helpers/SearchingForSyncState.rb
index 9b20521..b29a135 100644
--- a/app/helpers/SearchingForSyncState.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/SearchingForSyncState.rb
@@ -8,6 +8,6 @@ class SearchingForSyncState < StatePattern::State
    transition_to(ConfirmingSyncPatternState)
    
    # return
-   return bytes[idx..-1]
+   return bytes[idx..-1] || ""
   end
 end
\ No newline at end of file