A wireless communication device 100 acquires a pilot channel before an assigned slot when the wireless communication device is operating in the slotted mode of a CDMA system. The wireless communication device comprises a searcher receiver 107 that determines the short-term average pilot strength of active and neighbor pilot channels. Finger receivers 107 determine the long-term average pilot strength of the active and neighbor pilot channels. A logic and control circuit 113 assigns the finger receivers to the pilot channels according to their short-term average pilot strength, determines if the long-term average pilot strength of a neighbor channel is greater than the active pilot channel's pilot strength, and determines to hand off to the neighbor pilot channel with the greater long-term average pilot strength. Moreover, an early detection correlation length can be dynamically adjusted according to the pilot strength of the active pilot channel to shorten the pilot acquisition process.