I find the waterfalls invaluable. Only been using them for a year and a half or so, but provides so much information as Token mentioned. And using it became second nature for me after about a week or two (same with the spectrum display).
If you're looking for a weak station, can pick that out even if you can't hear it. Then can sit & wait to see if propagation improves and then can listen to it. Otherwise, may never have noticed it and skipped right by it.
I used it the other night specifically to check for a station. The Mighty KBC was testing on 5955 kHz at 0900-1000Z. I knew there was a very, very slim chance that I would hear it, but since I happened to be up anyway (
), gave it a try. Went to the SDR and looked at the waterfall for about 20 seconds and didn't see even a hint of a carrier. That was enough confirmation that no way was 5955 coming over here at that hour, so went back to bed (after confirming on the Twente WebSDR that they were transmitting, which they were).
Listen to what you hear and compare with what you see. With Token's suggestions and using it, you'll figure it out in no time.
Some applications also have a live spectrum display. I use one that has both visible at the same time and trying to find signals with the two displays is exactly like shooting fish in a barrel, especially ones that aren't constantly on.
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