Suggestions on switching from autonomous to manual using RC transmitter

I noticed when using serial monitor that when the tx is turned on/off there is a zero pulse sent. When the tx is off the arduino still reads 1500us off the rx. Is there any way of using this zero pulse to trigger between rc and auto mode? I don't know how to tell the arduino the difference between on and off, maybe with the timeout? (Good ideas here, these forums have been great!!)