Print Page 1/12/2011

SAN DIEGO, CALIF.: Bill Zears has retired from the Federal Communications Commission after 37 years. He was most recently district director of the San Diego Field office.

A graduate of Bradley University in electrical engineering, he began his career with the FCC in Washington in the Safety & Special Radio Services Bureau in 1974.

He conducted engineering reviews of major public safety applications for two-way land mobile systems and counseled public safety users on FCC application procedures and rule requirements; he represented the commission at land mobile user conferences. In 1979 he relocated to the Livermore Monitoring station and was in charge of microwave radio services monitoring program for the four-state San Francisco region.

Zears assisted in interference resolution matters at space shuttle landings at Edwards Air Force Base and White Sands Missile Range. He was a member of FCC teams at the 1984 Democratic and 1996 Republican conventions and at the 1984 Los Angeles and 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

He expanded the Engineering Measurements Unit monitoring program in 1985 to include FM, TV and CATV monitoring in the San Francisco region; he represented the FCC at NAB conventions and demonstrated the capabilities of the EMU vehicle. He became senior engineer of Livermore Monitoring in 1992, as well as EMU engineer; he built and maintained a direction-finding vehicle and worked on interference cases in California and Nevada. When the Livermore Monitoring station was automated, he relocated to Hayward, Calif., and worked out of the San Francisco office.

As district director in San Diego, starting in 2000, he served on the Mixta committee to resolve interference cases with Mexico and coordinated FCC efforts to inform the public about DTV conversion in the San Diego area.

Local broadcasters would also know him through questions and inquiries concerning FCC policies, enforcement actions and interference resolution, and SBE meetings he might attend.

Zears told Radio World he’s looking forward to rehabbing the home he purchased last year in the San Diego area. According to a letter in the CGC Communicator, Jim Lyon now is the office’s acting district director.

Send news of career moves, hires, promotions and retirements to radioworld@nbmedia.com. -- from Radio World
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