The invention concerns a method for stowing an open top in a vehicle storage space. The monitored characteristics can include particle count, particle information, beam current intensity, beam shape, and the like. The locking device may contain a GPS receiver whereby its geographic location at various times may be monitored either continuously, periodically, or after a trip is completed. An actuator is associated with the probe and is adapted to selectively position the probe with respect to an electrical contact on the microelectronic component. A sequence detector is disclosed that uses the super trellis or a corresponding reduced-state trellis to perform joint equalization and decoding of the received signal to decode the MLT-3 coded data bits. Further, the method may include determining whether a PCD battery power equals a charge condition and charging the PCD battery when the PCD battery power equals the charge condition.