W8USR - Special Events

Celebrating David Packard's 100th Birthday

About the Special Event

On September 8, 2012, station W8USR participated in a notable commemorative special event celebrating what would have been the 100th birthday of engineering pioneer David Packard (born September 7, 1912). The event was hosted by the HP/Compaq Ham Radio Club, alternatively known as the ACE Radio Club, operating out of Houston, Texas. Club operators utilized their expansive affiliated repeaters and corporate station infrastructure to manage the commemorative activation under the callsign K5WH. The K5WH callsign belongs to Walter Holmes, the dedicated trustee and organizational leader of the club. Because Hewlett-Packard (HP) famously acquired Compaq in 2002, the club layout served as a perfect nexus to honor their co-founder's lasting legacy across the technology sectors.

About David Packard & Partner Bill Hewlett

David Packard was born in Pueblo, Colorado, the son of Ella (Graber) and attorney Sperry Sidney Packard. While attending Centennial High School, he exhibited early, profound interests across science, mechanical engineering, varsity sports, and student leadership. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University in 1934, lettering in both football and basketball while achieving membership in the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa honor society and the Alpha Delta Phi Literary Fraternity. Crucially, it was during his tenure at Stanford that Packard met his future wife, Lucile Salter, as well as his future lifetime business partner, Bill Hewlett.

After graduation, Packard briefly attended the University of Colorado at Boulder before taking an engineering position with the General Electric Company in Schenectady, New York. In 1938, he returned to Stanford University, earning his Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering later that year. He also wed Lucile Salter in 1938, with whom he shared four children: David, Nancy, Susan, and Julie.

The Birth of Hewlett-Packard (HP)

In 1939, David Packard and Bill Hewlett officially co-founded Hewlett-Packard (HP) inside Packard's residential garage in Palo Alto, California, utilizing a modest initial capital investment of just $538. As detailed in his classic memoir, The HP Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Built Our Company, the sequence of the names in the corporate title was determined entirely by the literal flip of a coin—resulting in Hewlett-Packard rather than Packard-Hewlett.

Their very first breakthrough product was an audio frequency oscillator. In a historic early corporate milestone, eight of these precision audio oscillators were purchased by Walt Disney Studios to rigorously test the advanced theater sound equipment being deployed to produce the classic 1940 animated feature film Fantasia. Under their visionary leadership, the enterprise expanded exponentially into the world's absolute largest producer of electronic testing, signal generation, and measurement devices, later revolutionizing consumer computing via calculators, personal computers, and laser and inkjet imaging platforms.

Station Log: Contact History

Date	Special Event Call	My Callsign	Time (UTC)	Frequency / Band	Mode	Operator / QTH Details
September 8, 2012	K5WH	W8USR	20:13 UTC	14.250 MHz (20 Meters)	SSB	Walter Holmes (K5WH Trustee) • Houston, TX