For those who may have known Phil. He gave many, many talks at Sea-Pac over the years and was an all around really nice guy. Director Ritz included the below text in our monthly newsletter. 73.. Mark, HDX ************************************************************* NW DIVISION ASSISTANT DIRECTOR PHIL KANE, K2ASP, SK I am very sorry to report that our well known FCC expert, and an Assistant Director for the Northwestern Division, Phil Kane, K2ASP, has recently become a silent key. Phil and I go way back, as he was the steely-eyed engineer at the FCC office on Battery Street in San Francisco that administered my Second and First Class Commercial Radiotelephone license tests back in the 1970s. As a relative youngster sitting in an exam room, I was deathly afraid of him then. That said, his humor, good nature and expert knowledge were well respected, both then, and now. The below is courtesy of the Broadcasters' Desktop Resource: “Phil Kane, well-known broadcast engineer, FCC District Director (San Francisco), attorney, and Amateur K2ASP passed away on November 24th in Beaverton, OR after dealing with some health issues. He was 85 years old. Phil Kane was born in Brooklyn NY on December 6, 1936. Life brought him to California. Phil earned a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree from The Cooper Union School of Engineering. He also graduated from UCLA, Los Angeles, with a degree in System Engineering. After graduation, in 1957, Phil worked for the US Air Force as an Electronic Systems Engineer on major defense applications including USAF/SAC Command and Control System. There he designed and oversaw functional and operational tests.
From 1964-67, he served in the Ministry of Communications of the State of Israel. In the Engineering Services, Frequency and Licensing Branch he worked as a regulatory engineer, dealing with national and international communications regulatory issues.
Back in the USA, Phil joined the FCC in 1967, serving in the San Francisco office for 28 years and rising to the post of District Director. Known as a detailed engineer, he usually was more concerned with helping broadcast stations correct problems – although when they ignored/disobeyed his orders, there would be consequences. During his time at the FCC Phil also attended San Francisco Law School, graduating with a JD in 1994. He was admitted to legal practice before California State and Federal Courts and before the Federal Communications Commission – and the Supreme Court of the United States. Since retiring from the FCC in 1995, Phil would become perhaps the very first Alternate Broadcast Inspector under the ABIP arrangement. He had been an Attorney and Engineering Manager as Vice-President-General Counsel of the consulting engineering firm CSI Telecommunications. There his specialties included communications regulatory compliance – legal and technical areas such as siting and land use permit issues for communications facilities, especially emergency communication siting, planning and operations. As part of his work over the past 50 years, he qualified as Registered Professional Engineer in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Utah, and is eligible in all other jurisdictions. Phil was Senior Life Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE); a Life Member – Society of Broadcast Engineers, Chapter Vice-Chair; a Senior Member – National Association of Radio and Telecommunications Engineers and a Life Member and Asst. Division Director – American Radio Relay League, and, locally, active in the Washington County (Oregon) ARES. Phil had both a great sense of humor and a clear understanding of the issues that have consumed much of the FCC he knew. Phil passed away just a month after his wife. He is survived by son, Daniel (Leslie) Petcher; sister, Ruthanne Gould; stepson, Lee (Gina Rosito) Kane; and stepdaughter, Shoshana (Stephen) Silver. They asked that those wishing to make donations, do so in their name to any food bank.” Phil, you will be sorely missed by all the amateurs in this Division. RIP, OM! And yes, I will always remember those steely eyes. [image: image.png]
