The P-810A was made by General Electric in 1962. I've seen the same model with white faux leather. The labels all bore both model numbers and the two finish options P810A chrome & nutmeg or P811A Chrome and pearl white. In this case the brown has either aged or been dyed almost to a dark brown.
It's a AM model that could tune 540 to 1600 Khz. The chassis was about 8" long by 6.5" tall and 3" just under 3" thick. There is very little published about this model. It appears in a list in the Michael Schiffer book The Portable Radio in America Life. It's also in the collectors encyclopedia Transistor Radios by David Lane. It lists the model with the spare description "Right round dial knob, left thumb wheel volume, perforated chrome grill, top handle, leather case. 1962, AM BATT $20." It's not particularly collectible. Cardboard is notorious for absorbing moisture and fostering mold. I've seen it for as little as $12, and as much as $50, but rarely seen one sold. More info here.
But this one is unique. When I try to deduce where a radio was bought, or was used, I am usually limited to push button radios that are almost exclusively pre-1950. This one has a list of radio stations taped to the top. It's clearly cut from a newspaper or magazine, but it would have been local. This list has to be from after 1962.
Notable among the stations is KMPS on 1300. That station is KKOL-AM today. It signed on as KDZE in 1922, and flipped to KMPS in 1975, having already cycled through the KFOA and KOL call signs. It was KMPS from 1975 until 1996. So that's our first window. 1450 AM was KUPY from 1973 to 1979, the KRPM from January 4th 1979 to 1981. That's a tight range. KDFL on 1560 operated from 1560 to 1980, changing calls to KFWT going dark in 1982 which puts a cap on the range.
- AM STATIONS
| CALLS | FREQ | CITY/STATE |
|---|---|---|
| KVI | 570 | Seattle, WA |
| KGDN | 620 | Edmonds, WA |
| KIRO | 710 | Seattle, WA |
| KXA | 770 | Seattle, WA |
| KQIN | 800 | Burien, WA |
| KTAC | 850 | Tacoma, WA |
| KIXI | 910 | Seattle, WA |
| KITN | 920 | Olympia, WA |
| KJR | 950 | Seattle, WA |
| KOMO | 1000 | Seattle, WA |
| KBLE | 1050 | Seattle, WA |
| KING | 1090 | Seattle, WA |
| KAYO | 1150 | Seattle, WA |
| KASY | 1220 | Auburn, WA |
| KWYZ | 1230 | Everett, WA |
| KGY | 1240 | Olympia, WA |
| KYAC | 1250 | Pullman, WA |
| KMPS | 1300 | Seattle, WA |
| KMO | 1360 | Tacoma, WA |
| KRKO | 1380 | Everett, WA |
| KTNT | 1400 | Tacoma, WA |
| KRPM | 1450 | Tacoma, WA |
| KGAA | 1460 | Kirkland, WA |
| KQLA | 1480 | Bremerton, WA |
| KBRO | 1490 | Bremerton, WA |
| KZAM | 1540 | Bellevue, WA |
| KDFL | 1560 | Sumner, WA |
| KZOK | 1590 | Seattle, WA |
It's very unexpected for an AM-only radio, but that swatch of newsprint also includes a set of FM stations. The FM station list even includes KAOS, which first began broadcasting on January 8th, 1973. The third station is KUPS which upgraded from carrier current to a 10 watt station in 1975, then to 100 watts in 1983. This aligns nicely with the KMPS date. KRAB at the bottom of the list signed on in 1962 but was bought and flipped calls in 1985 after being dark for most of 1984. We're definitely looking at a list from the early 1980s.
But using the FM band we can narrow it further. On 101.5 Mhz top 40 station KVI-FM flipped calls to KPLZ in 1978. The format has changed but it's still KPLZ today. But because of the inclusion of KUPS and KAOS I favor a Tacoma-based publication as the source of this list. These two stations only overlap in coverage between Olympia and Tacoma. This list may even have been clipped from a student newspaper at the University of Puget Sound or Evergreen State College.
- FM STATIONS
| CALLS | FREQ | CITY/STATE |
|---|---|---|
| KPLU | 88.5 | Tacoma, WA |
| KAOS | 89.3 | Olympia, WA |
| KUPS | 90.1 | Tacoma, WA |
| KPEC | 90.9 | Tacoma, WA |
| KTOY | 91.7 | Tacoma, WA |
| KZAM | 92.5 | Bellevue, WA |
| KISM | 92.9 | Bellingham, WA |
| KBLE | 93.3 | Seattle, WA |
| KMPS | 94.1 | Seattle, WA |
| KUOW | 94.9 | Seattle, WA |
| KIXI | 95.7 | Seattle, WA |
| KYYX | 96.5 | Seattle, WA |
| KNBQ | 97.3 | Tacoma, WA |
| KING | 98.1 | Seattle, WA |
| KEZX | 98.9 | Seattle, WA |
| KISW | 99.9 | Seattle, WA |
| KSEA | 100.7 | Seattle, WA |
| KPLZ | 101.5 | Seattle, WA |
| KZOK | 102.5 | Seattle, WA |
| KBRD | 103.9 | Tacoma, WA |
| KNWR | 104.3 | Bellingham, WA |
| KBIQ | 105.3 | Edmonds, WA |
| KLAY | 106.1 | Tacoma, WA |
| KWWA | 106.9 | Bremerton, WA |
| KRAB | 107.7 | Seattle, WA |
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