Patent ID: 8599097

Claim:
A portable stand, comprising: a first case having an interior that defines an enclosed space; at least two extendible legs, each of said extendible legs being attached to said interior of said first case; and an extendible mast pivotally attached to said first case, wherein said extendable legs may be retracted for storage inside of said case and said mast can be retracted for storage inside of said case, said legs and said mast being extendable from said case at a site of use by manipulation of said legs and mast without requiring connection of parts thereto, wherein said mast can extend upward vertically higher than the height of said case when at least one of said legs extends horizontally from said case, wherein said at least one leg when extended horizontally provides stability for said mast when said mast extends upwards from said case; said mast and said at least two extendable legs being attached to the interior of said first case, wherein said at least two extendable legs and mast can be collapsed into the interior of said first case; and at least one functional device mounted to said extendible mast, said at least one functional device selected from the group consisting of a light, a microphone, a still camera, an audio output, a visual output, a laser, a weapon, a video camera, a transmitter, a receiver, a weather monitoring device, a solar panel, a surveying device, a motion sensing device, a chemical sensor, a thermal sensor, an alarm, a wind power generator, and a GPS device; said mast further comprises a mount for at least one of said at least one functional device, said mount permitting a functional device attached thereto to have multiple degrees of freedom of motion with respect to said mast, wherein when said mount has at least two functional devices connected thereto, each of said functional devices can be rotated or pivoted independently with respect to each other; and a second case mounted within said first case, and wherein said second case includes a control panel for an electrical supply, said functional devices comprise at least one light, and said control panel controls power when provided to said at least one light.