To avoid signal jamming, a method is provided for selecting a dwell channel on a receiver in a frequency hopping communication system. The method includes: measuring a noise level on channels over which a data signal is received at the receiver; selecting a dwell channel based on the estimated noise levels, where the dwell channel having the lowest noise level amongst a group of permissible channels over which to acquire a signal from a transmitter; and tuning the receiver to the selected dwell channel during a search state in which the receiver attempts to synchronize with a transmitter.