A wireless telecommunications systems (1) includes a central terminal (10) for transmitting and receiving radio frequency signals to and from a subscriber terminal (20). A downlink communication path is established from a transmitter (200) of the central terminal (10) to a receiver (202) of the subscriber terminal (20). A downlink signal (212) is transmitted from the transmitter (200) to the receiver (202) during setup and operation of the wireless telecommunications system (1). The receiver (202) of the subscriber terminal (20) compares a code and phase of a master code sequence that includes an orthogonal code in the downlink signal (212) to a code and phase of a slave code sequence of the receiver (202). The receiver (202) adjusts the phase of the slave code sequence until a match is obtained with the master code sequence. The receiver (202) monitors the downlink signal (212) to identify the frame alignment signal (232) and establishes the downlink communication path when two successive frame alignment signals (232) are identified. A channel identifier signal within the downlink signal is identified and used to identify the orthogonal code included in the master code sequence. The channel identifier signal is matched to a reference identifier code to verify that the correct downlink signal is being read.