Chris Suslowicz ) writes:

Yes, but you certainly don't want a direct connection to the aerial.

Connect the signal generator output to your counter, preferably using a
"T-piece", so that you can plug a short length of wire into the 'T'
to act as an aerial when you want to do the measurement. Then, let
*everything* warm up for at least half an hour so that the temperatures
stabilise in the equipment to reduce drift. Keep the signal generator
a long way off the target frequency to begin with, then tune the receiver
as accurately to the ARRL signal as you can, lock the receiver dial, and
then tune the signal generator until you get a beat note followed by
zero beat against the ARRL signal. (Turn the receiver BFO off when
doing this, so you only have one beat note) . Read your counter at
that point, and it should give you the exact frequency.


Further to Chris's suggestion, Bill, and you probably already know this, but
for anyone who has never done it before, it helps a lot to adjust the
strength of the signal generator output so that it is the same as the
unknown signal. Then, the beat note will be most pronounced and easy to
detect.

I used this method for many years with a fixed output generator and a pot
to ground, taking the signal from the pot's wiper and coupling it through
a small value capacitor to the antenna and receiver input. With care I
could adjust the generator's signal strength to match the unknown signal
and get a very nice beat note. Got a published error of 2 hertz back in
the early 1980s.

.... Martin VE3OAT