diff --git a/adafruit_rfm9x.py b/adafruit_rfm9x.py
index 62eb246..c09173e 100644
--- a/adafruit_rfm9x.py
+++ b/adafruit_rfm9x.py
@@ -353,11 +353,8 @@ def __init__(self, spi, cs, reset, frequency, *, preamble_length=8,
             # Set sleep mode, wait 10s and confirm in sleep mode (basic device check).
             # Also set long range mode (LoRa mode) as it can only be done in sleep.
             self.sleep()
-            self.long_range_mode = True
-            #self._write_u8(_RH_RF95_REG_01_OP_MODE, 0b10001000)
             time.sleep(0.01)
-            #val = self._read_u8(_RH_RF95_REG_01_OP_MODE)
-            #print('op mode: {0}'.format(bin(val)))
+            self.long_range_mode = True
             if self.operation_mode != SLEEP_MODE or not self.long_range_mode:
                 raise RuntimeError('Failed to configure radio for LoRa mode, check wiring!')
         except OSError:
diff --git a/examples/rfm9x_simpletest.py b/examples/rfm9x_simpletest.py
index a9b4220..95bb1f9 100644
--- a/examples/rfm9x_simpletest.py
+++ b/examples/rfm9x_simpletest.py
@@ -36,8 +36,8 @@
 # This is a limitation of the radio packet size, so if you need to send larger
 # amounts of data you will need to break it into smaller send calls.  Each send
 # call will wait for the previous one to finish before continuing.
-rfm9x.send('Hello world!\r\n')
-print('Sent hello world message!')
+rfm9x.send(bytes("Hello world!\r\n","utf-8"))
+print('Sent Hello World message!')
 
 # Wait to receive packets.  Note that this library can't receive data at a fast
 # rate, in fact it can only receive and process one 252 byte packet at a time.