Author: claimsbot

1. A weather station for monitoring weather conditions at at least one remote location comprising:
a detachable, portable, battery-powered and hand-holdable weather station unit situated at the at least one remote location including:
a microprocessor;
at least one data sensor coupled to the microprocessor for generating a data signal representative of weather conditions at the at least one remote location;
a transmitter coupled to the microprocessor for transmitting said data signal;
an antenna coupled to the transmitter, and

a detachable, portable, battery powered and hand holdable weather station receiver for receiving and displaying the weather conditions received from said weather station unit.
2. The weather station of claim 1 wherein the data sensor monitors the weather data and wherein the transmitter is configured to wirelessly transmit a data signal, said data signal being representative of the weather data monitored at the at least one location.
3. The weather station of claim 1 wherein the data sensor senses temperature.
4. The weather station of claim 1 wherein the data sensor senses wind speed.
5. The weather station of claim 1 wherein the data sensor senses rain.
6. The weather station of claim 1 wherein the data sensor senses barometric pressure.
7. The weather station of claim 1 wherein the data sensor senses ambient light.
8. The weather station of claim 1 wherein the data sensor senses static charge.
9. The weather station of claim 1 wherein the data sensor senses humidity.
10. The weather station of claim 1 wherein the receiver comprises an indicating circuit configured to indicate a temperature trend.
11. The weather station of claim 1 wherein the receiver further comprises an alarm configured to indicate an alarm condition responsive to a comparison of the data signal received by the receiver with a predetermined threshold value.
12. The weather station of claim 1 wherein the receiver further comprises an indicating circuit configured to indicate a signal strength of the data signal being received by the receiver.
13. The weather station of claim 1 wherein the receiver is configured to receive a telemetry signal from a NOAA weather radio.
14. The weather station of claim 1 further comprising an alarm.
15. The weather station of claim 14 wherein the alarm is triggered when a probability of a predetermined weather condition is detected.
16. A weather station for monitoring weather conditions at at least one remote location comprising:
a portable, battery-powered and hand-holdable weather station unit situated at the at least one remote location including:
a microprocessor;
at least one data sensor coupled to the microprocessor for sensing at least one weather condition and generating a data signal representative of the at least one weather condition condition at the at least one remote location;
a transmitter coupled to the at least one data sensor for transmitting said data signal; and
an antenna coupled to the transmitter,

a portable, battery powered and hand holdable receiver configured to receive the data signal comprising:
a storage device configured to store at least one of a plurality of measured remote weather conditions;
a processor configured to generate a prediction of a weather condition, the prediction being based on the data signal received by the receiver and at least one of the measured weather conditions stored in the storage device; and
an indicating circuit configured to indicate the prediction.
17. The weather station of claim 16 wherein the receiver further comprises an interface configured to receive a latitude coordinate.
18. The weather station of claim 16 wherein the receiver further comprises an interface configured to receive a longtitude coordinate.
19. The weather station of claim 16 wherein the receiver further comprises an interface configured to receive a geographic area latitude position.
20. The weather station of claim 16 wherein the receiver further comprises an interface configured to receive a geographic area longtitude position.
21. The weather station of claim 16 wherein the processor is coupled to the receiver and storage device and configured to generate a prediction of a potential remote weather condition, the prediction being based on the data signal received by the weather station receiver and at least one of the measured weather conditions compared to said stored data.
22. The weather station of claim 16 wherein the prediction of a weather condition is based on the received data signal and at least one of the measured weather conditions stored in the storage device.
23. The weather station of claim 16 wherein the indicating circuit is configured to indicate a temperature trend.
24. The weather station of claim 16 wherein the receiver further comprises an alarm configured to indicate an alarm condition responsive to a comparison of the data signal received by the receiver with a predetermined threshold value.
25. The weather station of claim 16 wherein the indicating circuit comprises a signal strength indicator configured to indicate a signal strength of the data signal being received by the receiver.
26. The weather station of claim 1 wherein the receiver is configured to receive a telemetry signal from a NOAA weather radio.
27. The weather station of claim 14 wherein the alarm is triggered when a predetermined weather condition is detected.
28. The weather station of claim 16 further comprising an alarm.
29. The weather station of claim 28 wherein the alarm is triggered when a predetermined weather condition is detected.
30. The weather station of claim 28 wherein the alarm is triggered when a probability of a predetermined weather condition is detected.
31. An apparatus comprising:
a readily portable, battery-powered and hand-holdable weather display unit including:
a first receiver configured for receiving data via a first radio frequency signal from a source;
a second receiver configured for receiving a second radio frequency signal from a cellular telephone network and compatible with an international cellular protocol, wherein the cellular telephone network is different than the source;
a display, including a prompt, and configured to display a date and a time;
a processing device configured for a) enabling display of information based on received data of at least one of the first radio frequency signal and the second radio frequency signal via the prompt, b) selecting between a first mode of operation that displays first weather conditions including temperature at a first location and a second mode of operation that displays second weather conditions at a second location different than the first location, c) and displaying a prediction of a future weather condition.
32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein displaying the prediction of a future weather condition occurs during the display of the first weather conditions.
33. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the prompt enables a location to be selected, the first weather conditions are weather conditions for the location, and at least one of the first weather conditions is based on the received data of the first radio frequency signal.
34. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the international cellular protocol operates about a fixed frequency.
35. The apparatus of claim 31, further comprising:
a readily portable, battery-powered and hand-holdable weather station unit including:
at least one data sensor for generating a data signal representative of weather conditions at the at least one remote location; and
a transmitter for transmitting said data signal via the first radio frequency signal.
36. A portable weather station comprising:
(a) a portable, battery powered sensor unit, said sensor unit comprising a hand-holdable housing on or in which is provided:
a sensor for detecting a local area weather condition;
sensor unit circuitry for periodically sampling and wirelessly transmitting digital data of the local area weather condition sensed by said sensor; and
a battery power source for powering said sensor unit circuitry; and

(b) a portable, battery-powered weather station receiver unit, for use with said sensor unit when positioned in a general local area of said sensor unit, said weather station receiver unit including a hand-holdable housing on or in which is provided:
first radio frequency receiving circuitry for receiving, from said portable, battery powered sensor unit, said periodically sampled and wirelessly transmitted digital data of said local area weather condition;
second radio frequency receiving circuitry for receiving a separate wireless transmission of further digital data transmitted by a remote source which is relatively remotely located in relation to said sensor unit and weather station receiver unit;
at least one data storage device;
at least one visual display, for displaying numeric and other information-conveying symbols or indications;
microprocessor circuitry coupled to the first and second receiving circuits and said at least one data storage device, for receiving said digital data of said local area weather condition and said further digital data, for storing, in said at least one data storage device, said digital data of said local weather condition and said further digital data, and for outputting to said at least one visual display information of said digital data of said local weather condition and said further digital data; and
a battery power source for powering said weather station receiver unit.
37. A portable weather station according to claim 36, wherein said separate wireless transmission receivable by said second radio frequency circuitry comprises a transmission over a wireless network.
38. A portable weather station according to claim 36, wherein said microprocessor circuitry is configured to receive and process weather related data from the separate wireless transmission using a protocol compatible with the transmission, and for selecting weather information from a selected region on the globe, the microprocessor being further configured to process encoded weather data.
39. A portable weather station according to claim 36, said weather station receiver unit further comprising a user interface for selecting a mode of operation from a plurality of modes of operation, each mode of operation in the plurality of modes of operation defining different operating characteristics for the weather station receiver unit.
40. An apparatus comprising:
a readily portable, battery-powered and hand-holdable weather display unit including:
a first receiver configured for receiving weather conditions from a weather station unit;
a second receiver configured for receiving a signal from a remote source that is different than the weather station unit;
a circuit configured for receiving data indicating presence of a user at the weather display unit;
a display; and
a processing device configured to:
receive the weather conditions from the first receiver,
receive data representative of the signal from the second receiver,
receive the data indicating presence of a user at the weather display unit,
based on the data indicating presence of a user at the weather display unit, determine that the weather display unit is to operate in a mode that displays the weather conditions, and
in response to the determination, display the weather conditions.
41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein display of a prediction of a future weather condition occurs during the display of the weather conditions.
42. The apparatus of claim 40, further comprising:
the weather station unit, wherein the weather station unit is configured to be readily portable, battery-powered and hand-holdable, and the weather station unit includes:
at least one data sensor for sensing the weather conditions; and
a transmitter for transmitting the weather conditions to the weather display unit via a digital signal.
43. An apparatus comprising:
a readily portable, battery-powered and hand-holdable weather display unit including:
a first receiver configured for receiving weather conditions from a weather station unit;
a second receiver configured for receiving a signal from a remote source that is different than the weather station unit;
a display including a prompt; and
a processing device configured to:
receive data representative of the signal from the second receiver,
receive data from a user of the weather display unit via the prompt, the received data indicating a selection of a location by the user;
identify the location based on the received data;
receive the weather conditions from the first receiver; and
display a weather prediction for the location based on the received weather conditions and the location.
44. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the display of the weather prediction occurs during display of the weather conditions.
45. The apparatus of claim 43, further comprising:
the weather station unit, wherein the weather station unit is configured to be readily portable, battery-powered and hand-holdable, and the weather station unit includes:
at least one data sensor for sensing the weather conditions; and
a transmitter for transmitting the weather conditions to the weather display unit via a digital signal.
46. An apparatus comprising:
a readily portable, battery-powered and hand-holdable weather display unit including:
a first receiver configured for receiving weather conditions from a weather station unit;
a second receiver configured for receiving a signal from a remote source that is different than the weather station unit;
a display, including a prompt; and
a processing device configured to:
receive data representative of the signal from the second receiver,
receive the weather conditions from the first receiver,
receive location data, via the prompt, identifying a location,
subsequent to receiving the location data, receive historical weather condition data corresponding to the location,
determine a predicted weather condition by performing a correlation of the weather conditions and the historical weather data, and
display the predicted weather condition and one or more of the weather conditions.
47. The apparatus of claim 46, wherein displaying the predicted weather condition occurs during the display of the one or more of the weather conditions.
48. The apparatus of claim 46, further comprising:
the weather station unit, wherein the weather station unit is configured to be readily portable, battery-powered and hand-holdable, and the weather station unit includes:
at least one data sensor for sensing the weather conditions; and
a transmitter for transmitting the weather conditions to the weather display unit via a digital signal.
49. An apparatus comprising:
a readily portable, battery-powered and hand-holdable weather display unit including:
a first receiver configured for receiving weather conditions from a weather station unit, the weather conditions representing sensed weather conditions of a first location;
a second receiver configured for receiving a signal from a remote source that is different than the weather station unit;
a display;
a processing device configured to:
receive the weather conditions from the first receiver,
receive data representative of the signal from the second receiver,
select between a first mode of operation that displays the weather conditions received from the weather station unit and a second mode of operation that displays second weather conditions representative of conditions at a second location that is different than the first location, and
based on the selected mode of operation, display one or more weather conditions from at least one of the weather conditions received from the weather station unit and the second weather conditions.
50. An apparatus comprising:
a readily portable, battery-powered and hand-holdable unit comprising:
a first receiver configured for receiving data via a first radio frequency signal from a source;
a second receiver configured for receiving a second radio frequency signal from a cellular telephone network, wherein the cellular telephone network is different than the source;
a display configured to display a date and a time;
a processing device configured for a) enabling display of information based on received data of at least one of the first radio frequency signal and the second radio frequency signal, b) selecting between a first mode of operation that displays first weather conditions including temperature at a first location and a second mode of operation that displays second weather conditions at a second location different than the first location, c) and displaying a prediction of a future weather condition.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A method of representing a group of images, the method comprising determining the values of one or more dominant colours for the group of images and deriving a dominant colour representation expressing the group of images in terms of one or more of said dominant colour values, wherein at least some of the images in the group of images are represented by a respective dominant colour representation in terms of one or more dominant colour values for the image, where each of the dominant colour representations has one or more components including at least one dominant colour value, and a variance indicating colour distribution variance of the image with respect to the dominant colour value, the method comprising combining a plurality of said dominant colour representations or selecting one of the dominant colour representations as representative of the group.
2. A method of claim 1 where the components of the dominant colour representations comprise one or more of a weight indicating the influence of the dominant colour in the image, the number of dominant colours in the image, and spatial homogeneity of pixels corresponding to the dominant colors in the image.
3. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising combining one or more components of the representations based on proximity of dominant colours in colour space.
4. A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein one or more of the dominant colour values, variances and weights are combined.
5. A method as claimed in claim 4 wherein the combining involves calculating a weighted average of the dominant colour values, variances and weights.
6. A method as claimed in claim 3 comprising combining, in a first stage, components for which the distance between the respective dominant colours satisfies a predetermined condition such as being less than a predetermined threshold, and combining other components in a second stage.
7. A method as claimed in claim 1, the method comprising combining a plurality of images in the imagepixel or colour spacehistogram domain or selecting one of the group of images as representative of the group, and determining the values of one or more dominant colours in the combined or selected image, to derive a dominant colour representation of the group of images in terms of one or more dominant colour values of the combined or selected image.
8. A method as claimed in claim 7 where the dominant colour representation has one or more components including at least one dominant colour value of the combined or selected image, and optionally for each dominant colour value, a variance indicating colour distribution variance with respect to the dominant colour value, a weight indicating the influence of the dominant colour in the combined or selected image, the number of dominant colours, and spatial homogeneity of pixels corresponding to the dominant colors in the combined or selected image.
9. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the step of combining the images involves calculating a sum, average, median or intersection of a plurality of images.
10. A method as claimed in claim 1 involving temporally or spatially subsampling the group of images.
11. A method as claimed in claim 10 wherein images are omitted or included depending on their similarity to other images in the group.
12. A method as claimed in claim 10 wherein the sub-sampling involves the steps of claim 4.
13. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the selection of the representative image or dominant colour representation involves a comparison or test involving at least one other image or representation in the group.
14. A method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the image or representation that is closest to all other images or representation in or for the group is selected.
15. A descriptor for a group of images derived by a method according to claim 1.
16. A method of searching for a group of images, the method comprising comparing a query dominant colour descriptor with a plurality of descriptors according to claim 15 using a matching procedure, and selecting one or more group of images for which the matching procedure indicates the closest match or matches.
17. An apparatus adapted to implement a method according to claim 1 or claim 16.
18. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable process steps for implementing a method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 16.
19. A computer system programmed to operate according to a method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 16.

1. An interactive input system comprising:
an appliance;
imaging structure separately imaging an area in close proximity to a touch surface and a region remote from said touch surface;
memory storing a databank of gestures; and
processing structure communicating with said appliance, said memory and said imaging structure, said processing structure being operable in one of a touch input mode and a gesture input mode, in said touch input mode, said processing structure controlling operation of said appliance in response to user touch input entered via user interaction with a touch surface and in said gesture input mode, said processing structure controlling operation of said appliance in response to remote user gesture input occurring anywhere in said region remote from said touch surface that is within the field of view of said imaging structure, wherein said controller remains in said gesture input mode until a pointer appears in images of said area at which time said controller is automatically conditioned to said touch input mode and wherein in said gesture input mode and during detection of remote user gesture input, said processing structure compares received image data with said databank of gestures to recognize input gestures.
2. The interactive input system according to claim 1 wherein in said touch input mode, said processing structure only processing the images of said area in close proximity to said touch surface and in said gesture input mode, said processing structure only processing the images of said remote region.
3. The interactive input system according to claim 2 wherein said imaging structure comprises at least two first cameras looking generally across said touch surface from different viewpoints and having overlapping fields of view and at least one second camera looking into said remote region.
4. The interactive input system according to claim 3 wherein said first and second cameras are mounted on a housing adjacent said touch surface.
5. The interactive input system according to claim 4 wherein said touch surface forms part of a display panel.
6. The interactive input system according to claim 4 wherein the remote region extends from about two feet to twenty feet in front of said touch surface.
7. The interactive input system according to claim 5 wherein said display panel provides visual feedback concerning detected user touch input and remote user gesture input.
8. An interactive input system comprising:
a consumer electronic device; and
a controller for said consumer electronic device, said controller being operable in one of a touch input mode and a gesture input mode and controlling said consumer electronic device in response to one of detected user touch input entered via user interaction with a touch surface and remote user gesture input occurring anywhere in a region remote from said touch surface depending on the operating mode of said controller, wherein said controller separately images an area in close proximity to the touch surface and the region beyond said area, said controller remaining in said gesture input mode until a pointer appears in images of said area at which time said controller is automatically conditioned to said touch input mode and wherein in said gesture input mode, said controller compares image data with a databank of gestures stored in memory to recognize remote user gesture input.
9. The interactive input system according to claim 8 wherein said controller comprises at least two spaced, first imaging devices having overlapping fields of view looking generally across said touch surface and processing structure processing acquired image data to detect pointer contacts on said touch surface.
10. The interactive input system according to claim 9 wherein said controller further comprises at least one second imaging device looking into said region.
11. The interactive input system according to claim 8 wherein said controller comprises a display panel, said display panel providing visual feedback concerning detected user touch and remote user gesture input.
12. The interactive input system according to claim 11 wherein said display panel defines a touch surface on which user touch input is made.
13. An interactive input system comprising:
a household consumer appliance; and
a control unit separate from said household consumer appliance, said control unit comprising a housing configured for mounting on a wall surface, a display screen on said housing, imaging structure on said housing looking generally across said display screen and forwardly of said display screen into a region remote from said control unit, and processing structure within said housing communicating with said household consumer appliance and said imaging structure, said processing structure being operable in one of a touch input mode and a gesture input mode and controlling said consumer appliance in response to one of detected user touch input made via user interaction with said display screen and remote user gesture input made anywhere in said remote region depending on the operating mode of said processing structure, wherein said imaging structure separately images an area in close proximity to the touch surface and the remote region, said processing structure remaining in said gesture input mode until a pointer appears in images of said area at which time said processing structure is automatically conditioned to said touch input mode and wherein in said gesture input mode, said processing structure compares image data with a databank of gestures stored in memory to recognize remote user gesture input.
14. The interactive input system according to claim 13 wherein said imaging structure comprises at least two first cameras looking generally across said display screen from different viewpoints and having overlapping fields of view and at least one second camera looking into said remote region.
15. The interactive input system according to claim 14 wherein the remote region extends from about two feet to twenty feet in front of said control unit.
16. The interactive input system according to claim 14 wherein said display screen provides visual feedback concerning detected user touch and remote user gesture input.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A land mobile radio dispatch system comprising:
a radio communication system comprising a configuration for scanning radio frequency (RF) channels for an RF activity:
a scanning tone remote adapter; and
at least one remote dispatch device;
wherein the scanning tone remote adapter is configured to:
receive a first communication system status signal from the radio communication system, the first communication system status signal comprising a first signal indicative of a presence of the RF activity on at least one of the channels;
transmit a second communication system status signal to the at least one remote dispatch device, the second communication system status signal comprising a second signal indicative of the RF activity on the at least one of the channels;
receive a first communication system command signal from at least one remote dispatch device, the first communication system command signal comprising a third signal indicative of an external control parameter to control the scanning; and
transmit a second communication system command signal to the radio communication system, the second communication system command signal comprising a fourth signal indicative of the external control parameter.
2. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 1, further comprising a local control device configured to receive the second communication system status signal, and to transmit the first communication system command signal.
3. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 2, wherein the scanning tone remote adapter is configured to receive the first set of radio communication system command signals from the at least one remote dispatch device or from the local control device.
4. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 3, wherein the first communication command signal comprises digitally encoded analog signals.
5. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 3, wherein the second communication status signal comprises digitally encoded analog signals.
6. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 1 wherein the radio communication system comprises:
a radio tower; and
a radio transceiver.
7. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 1, further comprising a network connecting the at least one remote dispatch device to at least one of: one or more other remote dispatch devices, one or more multiplexors, and the scanning tone remote adapter.
8. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 7, wherein the network comprises a single pair of wires.
9. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 7, wherein the network comprises a leased telephone line.
10. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 7, wherein the network comprises a LAN.
11. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 7, wherein the network comprises a WAN.
12. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second communication system status signals comprises a channel-selected radio communication system status signal.
13. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second communication system status signals comprises a broadcast-status radio communication system status signal.
14. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second communication system status signals comprises a signal-received radio communication system status signal.
15. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second communication system status signals comprises a self-test radio communication system status signal.
16. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second communication system status signals comprises a scan-mode radio communication system status signal.
17. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 16, wherein the scan-mode radio communication system status signal comprises a scan-up scan-mode radio communication system status signal.
18. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 16, wherein the scan-mode radio communication system status signal comprises a scan-down scan-mode radio communication system status signal.
19. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 16, wherein the scan-mode radio communication system status signal comprises an end-scan scan-mode radio communication system status signal.
20. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 1 wherein at least one of the first and second communication system command signals comprises a select-channel radio communication system command signal.
21. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 1 wherein at least one of the first and second communication system command signals comprises a broadcast radio communication system command signal.
22. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 1 wherein at least one of the first and second communication system command signals comprises a status-check radio communication system command signal.
23. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 1 wherein at least one of the first and second communication system command signals comprises a scan-mode radio communication system command signal.
24. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 23, wherein the scan-mode radio communication system command signal comprises a scan-up scan-mode radio communication system command signal.
25. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 23, wherein the scan-mode radio communication system command signal comprises a scan-down scan-mode radio communication system command signal.
26. The land mobile radio dispatch system according to claim 23, wherein the scan-mode radio communication system command signal comprises an end-scan scan-mode radio communication system command signal.
27. A method of operation for a land mobile radio dispatch system comprising a radio communication system configured for scanning radio frequency (RF) channels for an RF activity, and to receive information from, and to transmit information to, at least one remote dispatch device, the method comprising:
scanning the radio frequency (RF) channels for the RF activity;
first determining a presence of an RF activity on at least one of the RF channels;
if the first determining indicates that an RF carrier-present signal is present on at least one of the RF channels, generating an RF carrier-present status signal and ceasing the scanning for at least a first predetermined amount of time; and
if the first determining indicates that an RF carrier-present signal is not present on the RF channel, second determining a presence of communication system command signal from the at least one remote dispatch device, the communication system command signal comprising a signal indicative of an external control parameter to control the scanning.
28. The method according to claim 27, further comprising:
transmitting the RF carrier-present status signal at least one of: the at least one remote dispatch device and a local control device; and
resuming the scanning when the RF carrier-present signal is no longer present.
29. The method according to claim 27, further comprising:
if the communication system command signal from the at least one remote dispatch device is not present after a second predetermined period of time repeating the first determining; and
if a communication system command signal from the at least one remote dispatch device is present, controlling the scanning based on the external control parameter.
30. The method according to claim 29, further comprising:
setting an elapsed time to the second predetermined time period; and
the communication system command signal from the at least one remote dispatch device is not present after the second predetermined time period, resetting the elapsed time to the predetermined time period.
31. The method according to claim 30, wherein the scanning comprises sequentially scanning the radio frequency (RF) channels for the RF activity, the method further comprising:
performing the first determining until the second predetermined time period;
after the second predetermined time period, performing the resetting of the elapsed time to the predetermined time period, selecting a sequentially next channel of the RF channels, and determining whether the sequentially next channel is a sequentially last channel.
32. The method according to claim 31, further comprising:
if the sequentially next channel is the last channel,
performing the resetting of the elapsed time to the second predetermined time period and selecting a sequentially first channel of the RF channels for the scanning.
33. The method according to claim 31, further comprising arranging the RF channels in a channel scan list.
34. The method according to claim 29, where the controlling of the scanning comprises at least one of:
resetting a time to perform the scanning to a value less than the second predetermined time period and resuming the scanning if the signal indicative of the external control parameter comprises a scan-resume tone sequence;
resetting a time to perform the scanning to a value less than the second predetermined time period and selecting a desired channel for the scanning if the signal indicative of the external control parameter comprises a channel-select tone sequence;
resetting a time to perform the scanning to a value less than the second predetermined time period and activating a radio push-to-talk sequence on a channel indicated in the communication system command signal after a loss-of-carrier signal has been detected from the at least one remote dispatch device, if the signal indicative of the external control parameter comprises a push-to-talk tone sequence; and
ceasing scanning if the signal indicative of the external control parameter comprises a scan-stop signal.
35. The method according to claim 29, wherein determining whether the second predetermined time period has elapsed comprises performing a determination by referencing an activity wait timer.