diff --git a/src/main.ts b/src/main.ts
index 5ada886..8e73566 100644
--- a/src/main.ts
+++ b/src/main.ts
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ options
 class MqttMongo extends Events.EventEmitter {
 
   private options : any
+  private msgCnt : number = 0
 
   constructor(options : any) {
     super()
@@ -123,12 +124,11 @@ class MqttMongo extends Events.EventEmitter {
       this.mqttClient.publish('MqttMongo/Status', 'hello, started up')
     })
 
-    let msgCnt : number = 0
     this.mqttClient.on('message', (topic : string, messageBuf : Buffer) => {
-      msgCnt++;
+      this.msgCnt++;
       let message = messageBuf.toString('UTF-8')
       if (this.options.verbose) {
-        console.info(`Message received ${msgCnt}, topic ${topic}, payload ${message}`)
+        console.info(`Message received ${this.msgCnt}, topic ${topic}, payload ${message}`)
       }
 
       if (topic == "MqttMongo/Command" && message == "shutdown") {
@@ -146,11 +146,13 @@ class MqttMongo extends Events.EventEmitter {
   setupHeartbeat() {
     this.heartbeatTimer = setInterval(() => {
       this.uptime++
-      this.mqttClient.publish('MqttMongo/Status', `{'Uptime': ${this.uptime}}`)
+      let statusMsg = `{'Uptime': ${this.uptime}, 'MessageCount': ${this.msgCnt}}`
+      this.mqttClient.publish('MqttMongo/Status', statusMsg)
+      console.info(`Status: ${statusMsg}`)
       if (! this.dbReady) {
         this.emit("reconnectDatabase")
       }
-    }, 1000)
+    }, 60000)
     console.info("Heartbeat timer started")
   }