The utility of the Carr-Purcell Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) experiment and a modified-CPMG experiment in characterizing NMR chemical-shift powder patterns for spin-1/2 nuclei is demonstrated. Heavier NMR-active nuclei such as Pt-195, Hg-199, and Pb-207 are known to be extremely sensitive to their local environment and as such have very large chemical-shift ranges. In the solid state, such nuclei commonly exhibit chemical shifts that range well over 1000 ppm, depending upon the orientation of the molecule within the applied magnetic field. Thus, acquiring NMR spectra of polycrystalline samples is often an experimental challenge because of these very broad powder patterns. In acquiring chemical-shift powder patterns of these nuclei, we provide several examples that demonstrate that a considerable saving in time is realized by using the CPMG experiment as opposed to the standard one-pulse or spin-echo experiment. In general, this time saving is even greater if a modified-CPMG experiment is used. Homonuclear dipolar interactions are considerably reduced in the CPMG experiment and are almost completely removed in the modified-CPMG experiment. For samples containing H-1, larger enhancements are realized by combining the CPMG experiment with cross polarization. By use of the CPMG and the modified-CPMG experiments, the principal components of the chemical-shift tensors are determined for each of the samples studied.