  We describe a method for initializing characteristic evolutions of the
Einstein equations using a linearized solution corresponding to purely outgoing
radiation. This allows for a more consistent application of the characteristic
(null cone) techniques for invariantly determining the gravitational radiation
content of numerical simulations. In addition, we are able to identify the {\em
ingoing} radiation contained in the characteristic initial data, as well as in
the initial data of the 3+1 simulation. We find that each component leads to a
small but long lasting (several hundred mass scales) transient in the measured
outgoing gravitational waves.
