A system and method for receiving direct sequence spread spectrum transmissions with both chip code and frequency uncertainty including a parallel frequency acquisition technique for increasing receiver sensitivity and increasing process gain while reducing a preamble duration required for spread spectrum acquisition. The system and method include techniques for reducing effects of jamming and impulse noise on receiver performance via enhanced antenna diversity by constructively combining received signals. Further, techniques are provided which compensate for chip code alignment drift, providing an associated transmitter maintains carrier and chip code coherence, by comparing received signal energies at varying chip code alignments. These techniques enable the use of lower cost frequency setting crystals in both the receiver and transmitter as well as provide for system operation over a wider temperature range.