Techniques to detect for DTX frames in a "primary" transmission that may be sent in a non-continuous manner using a "secondary" transmission that is sent during periods of no transmission for the primary transmission. The primary and secondary transmissions may be the ones sent on the F-DCCH and Forward Power Control Subchannel, respectively, in an IS-2000 system. In one method, a determination is first made whether or not a frame received for the primary transmission in a particular frame interval is a good frame (e.g., based on CRC). If the received frame is not a good frame, then a determination is next made whether the received frame is a DTX frame or an erased frame based on a number of metrics determined for the primary and secondary transmissions. The metrics may include symbol error rate of the received frame, secondary transmission (e.g., PC bit) energy, and received frame energy.