A multi-frequency pilot beacon adapted to a CDMA system using at least two different carrier frequencies, F1 and F2, for supplying PN sequences at these frequencies. The pilot beacon has a pseudorandom noise generator for supplying a pseudorandom noise sequence PN and a frequency conversion mechanism for converting the PN sequence to a first pilot beacon centered at the first CDMA carrier F1 and a second pilot beacon centered at the second CDMA carrier F2. The multi-frequency pilot beacon can be provided at a base station of a given cell to transmit the pilot beacons within that cell and the base station antenna can be used for transmitting the pilot beacons in this embodiment. Alternatively, multi-frequency pilot beacons can be provided wherever necessary within the CDMA system. The multi-frequency pilot beacon is useful in frequency hand-off operations and gathering information about cellular users in the CDMA system