diff --git a/jrx/src/b_lib.ts b/jrx/src/b_lib.ts
index f8ab669..f106cd8 100644
--- a/jrx/src/b_lib.ts
+++ b/jrx/src/b_lib.ts
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@
 
 
 import * as awcp        from './jex_include/local-awcp-0.2.2/dist/awcp.js';
+// @ts-ignore yes i know blake is stupid
 import * as blake2b     from './jex_include/local-blakejs-1.2.1/dist/blake2b.js';
 //import * as vdk_aecrypt from './jex_include/local-vdk_aecrypt-0.1.0/dist/vdk_aecrypt.js';
 import * as vdk_aeser   from './jex_include/local-vdk_aeser-0.1.0/dist/vdk_aeser.js';
@@ -326,7 +327,7 @@ bi_msg_handler_content
         case "transaction.sign":
             console.log('jr bg content message handler transaction sign');
             let tx_str : string = msg.data.params.tx;
-            console.log('transaction: ', tx);
+            console.log('transaction: ', tx_str);
             let result          = await tx_sign(tx_str, secret_key)
             console.log('signed transaction: ', result.signedTransaction);
             return w2a_ok(result);
@@ -358,6 +359,7 @@ msg_sign
     // https://github.com/aeternity/aepp-sdk-js/blob/5df22dd297abebc0607710793a7234e6761570d4/src/utils/crypto.ts#L141-L143
     // https://github.com/aeternity/aepp-sdk-js/blob/5df22dd297abebc0607710793a7234e6761570d4/src/utils/crypto.ts#L160-L167
     let hashed_salted_msg : Uint8Array = hash_and_salt_msg(msg_str);
+    // @ts-ignore yes nacl is stupid
     let signature         : Uint8Array = nacl.sign.detached(hashed_salted_msg, secret_key);
     let signature_str     : string     = vdk_binary.bytes_to_hex_str(signature);
     return {signature: signature_str};
@@ -382,6 +384,7 @@ tx_sign
     : Promise<{signedTransaction : string}>
 {
     let tx_bytes        : Uint8Array = (await vdk_aeser.unbaseNcheck(tx_str)).bytes;
+    // @ts-ignore yes nacl is stupid
     let signature       : Uint8Array = nacl.sign.detached(tx_bytes, secret_key);
     let signed_tx_bytes : Uint8Array = vdk_aeser.signed_tx([signature], tx_bytes);
     let signed_tx_str   : string     = await vdk_aeser.baseNcheck('tx', signed_tx_bytes);
diff --git a/libs/vdk_aeser/src/vdk_aeser.ts b/libs/vdk_aeser/src/vdk_aeser.ts
index 7de3e97..e4c45d3 100644
--- a/libs/vdk_aeser/src/vdk_aeser.ts
+++ b/libs/vdk_aeser/src/vdk_aeser.ts
@@ -270,5 +270,10 @@ signed_tx
      tx         : Uint8Array)
     : Uint8Array
 {
-    return vdk_rlp.encode([signatures, tx]);
+    // tag for signed tx
+    let tag_bytes = vdk_rlp.encode_uint(11);
+    // not sure what version number should be but guessing 1
+    let vsn_bytes = vdk_rlp.encode_uint(1);
+    // result is [tag, vsn, signatures, tx]
+    return vdk_rlp.encode([tag_bytes, vsn_bytes, signatures, tx]);
 }
diff --git a/libs/vdk_rlp/jex.eterms b/libs/vdk_rlp/jex.eterms
index a9c9ca9..58b460b 100644
--- a/libs/vdk_rlp/jex.eterms
+++ b/libs/vdk_rlp/jex.eterms
@@ -2,4 +2,4 @@
 {realm, local}.
 {name, vdk_rlp}.
 {version, "0.1.0"}.
-{deps, []}.
+{deps, ["local-vdk_binary-0.1.0"]}.
diff --git a/libs/vdk_rlp/src/vdk_rlp.ts b/libs/vdk_rlp/src/vdk_rlp.ts
index 8c48b75..2eeec87 100644
--- a/libs/vdk_rlp/src/vdk_rlp.ts
+++ b/libs/vdk_rlp/src/vdk_rlp.ts
@@ -19,9 +19,13 @@ export {
     decoded_data,
     decode_result,
     decode,
-    encode
+    encode,
+    encode_uint,
+    encode_biguint
 }
 
+import * as vdk_binary from './jex_include/local-vdk_binary-0.1.0/dist/vdk_binary.js';
+
 
 //=============================================================================
 //=============================================================================
@@ -519,3 +523,29 @@ is_list
 {
     return (x instanceof Array);
 }
+
+
+
+/**
+ * Encode an non-negative integer into RLP
+ */
+function
+encode_uint
+    (n: number)
+    : Uint8Array
+{
+    return encode_biguint(BigInt(n));
+}
+
+
+/**
+ * Encode an unsigned BigInt into RLP
+ */
+function
+encode_biguint
+    (n: bigint)
+    : Uint8Array
+{
+    let bytes : Uint8Array = vdk_binary.bigint_to_bytes(n);
+    return encode(bytes);
+}