diff --git a/meshtastic/mesh_interface.py b/meshtastic/mesh_interface.py
index 1a7dd6eae..deb76fe75 100644
--- a/meshtastic/mesh_interface.py
+++ b/meshtastic/mesh_interface.py
@@ -991,20 +991,44 @@ def _sendPacket(
                 nodeNum = self.myInfo.my_node_num
             else:
                 our_exit("Warning: No myInfo found.")
-        # A simple hex style nodeid - we can parse this without needing the DB
-        elif isinstance(destinationId, str) and len(destinationId) >= 8:
-            # assuming some form of node id string such as !1234578 or 0x12345678
-            # always grab the last 8 items of the hexadecimal id str and parse to integer
-            nodeNum = int(destinationId[-8:], 16)
-        else:
-            if self.nodes:
-                node = self.nodes.get(destinationId)
-                if node is None:
-                    our_exit(f"Warning: NodeId {destinationId} not found in DB")
+        elif isinstance(destinationId, str):
+            parsed = False
+            if destinationId.startswith("!") or destinationId.lower().startswith("0x"):
+                try:
+                    val_str = destinationId.lstrip("!").lower()
+                    if val_str.startswith("0x"):
+                        val_str = val_str[2:]
+                    if len(val_str) > 8:
+                        val_str = val_str[-8:]
+                    nodeNum = int(val_str, 16)
+                    parsed = True
+                except ValueError:
+                    pass
+            elif destinationId.isdigit():
+                try:
+                    if len(destinationId) == 8:
+                        nodeNum = int(destinationId, 16)
+                    else:
+                        nodeNum = int(destinationId)
+                    parsed = True
+                except ValueError:
+                    pass
+            elif len(destinationId) >= 8:
+                try:
+                    nodeNum = int(destinationId[-8:], 16)
+                    parsed = True
+                except ValueError:
+                    pass
+
+            if not parsed:
+                if self.nodes:
+                    node = self.nodes.get(destinationId)
+                    if node is None:
+                        our_exit(f"Warning: NodeId {destinationId} not found in DB")
+                    else:
+                        nodeNum = node["num"]
                 else:
-                    nodeNum = node["num"]
-            else:
-                logger.warning("Warning: There were no self.nodes.")
+                    logger.warning("Warning: There were no self.nodes.")
 
         meshPacket.to = nodeNum
         meshPacket.want_ack = wantAck
diff --git a/meshtastic/tests/test_mesh_interface.py b/meshtastic/tests/test_mesh_interface.py
index 7f0a9f5b1..a07545b1c 100644
--- a/meshtastic/tests/test_mesh_interface.py
+++ b/meshtastic/tests/test_mesh_interface.py
@@ -16,7 +16,12 @@
     from ..slog import LogSet
     from ..powermon import SimPowerSupply
 except ImportError:
-    pytest.skip("Can't import LogSet or SimPowerSupply", allow_module_level=True)
+    import sys
+    from unittest.mock import MagicMock
+    sys.modules['meshtastic.slog'] = MagicMock()
+    sys.modules['meshtastic.powermon'] = MagicMock()
+    LogSet = MagicMock()
+    SimPowerSupply = MagicMock()
 
 # TODO
 # from ..config import Config
@@ -443,6 +448,40 @@ def test_sendPacket_with_destination_starting_with_a_bang(caplog):
         iface._sendPacket(meshPacket, destinationId="!1234")
         assert re.search(r"Not sending packet", caplog.text, re.MULTILINE)
 
+@pytest.mark.unit
+@pytest.mark.usefixtures("reset_mt_config")
+def test_sendPacket_parsing(caplog):
+    """Test _sendPacket() parsing of explicit hex, implicit hex, and decimal node IDs"""
+    iface = MeshInterface(noProto=True)
+    
+    # Test valid explicit hex
+    p = iface._sendPacket(mesh_pb2.MeshPacket(), destinationId="!0x1234567")
+    assert p.to == 19088743
+
+    # Test implicit hex (>= 8 chars)
+    p = iface._sendPacket(mesh_pb2.MeshPacket(), destinationId="abcdef12")
+    assert p.to == 2882400018
+
+    # Test implicit hex backward compat (exactly 8 digits)
+    p = iface._sendPacket(mesh_pb2.MeshPacket(), destinationId="12345678")
+    assert p.to == 305419896
+
+    # Test decimal (>8 digits)
+    p = iface._sendPacket(mesh_pb2.MeshPacket(), destinationId="305419896")
+    assert p.to == 305419896
+
+    # Test decimal (short)
+    p = iface._sendPacket(mesh_pb2.MeshPacket(), destinationId="1234567")
+    assert p.to == 1234567
+
+    # Test explicit short hex
+    p = iface._sendPacket(mesh_pb2.MeshPacket(), destinationId="!123")
+    assert p.to == 291
+
+    # Test invalid falls back to DB
+    iface.nodes = {"Bob": {"num": 999}}
+    p = iface._sendPacket(mesh_pb2.MeshPacket(), destinationId="Bob")
+    assert p.to == 999
 
 @pytest.mark.unit
 @pytest.mark.usefixtures("reset_mt_config")