Karta Gwarancyjna!

Here's another upcoming project - when I can get A Round Tuit. But in ze meentyme ve have ze pictures to gawk at, yes?

Pretty rare bird in the US of A I would say. This one is a Diora 'Calypso' radio from Poland. I haven't found out a lot about it but I have a couple schematics from Radiomuseum.org that are close. Got this one on e**y for the princely sum of $36. Thirty-six dollahs! And that included the original shipping box and some documentayshuns.

If you're familiar with German radios from the late 50s through the early 60s, this will look pretty...well, familar. Same typical styling, same type dial scale, etc. The German radios (of which I have a couple) must have influenced a lot of folks in Yurrup, as it seems the Swedes, Poles and the Russ...er...Soviets copied the general styling and layout from what I've seen. Although I have to say the French had their own inimitable (and incredible) styling, and quite a few of the Swedish sets have their own flair as well. (I have one Swedish set to get to...need to get some pictures on the ol blog).

The Diora's cabinet is in outstanding shape, and all of the tubes seem to be original. They're labelled "Made in Poland" and the other labels on it are a mix of English and Polish, so I'd guess it was an export model. It looks to be untouched electronically, which is how I like 'em. I mean, if anybody's gonna hose it up, let it be me, right?

Looks like it should be a good performer and should have great tone given the two big honkin' speakers it's got in it.
I did do a brief test by bringing it up on the Variac; no smoke, no excess current draw. The broadcast band worked ok, as did the FM band. Got zilch on the (two) shortwave bands, but I'm sure that will get sorted out when I finally do the electronic restoration.

Probably the coolest thing is what appears to be the original warranty card, or "Karta Gwarancyjna." I don't speak Polish (or read it to be more precise), but my guess after pondering it is that 'Gwarancyjna' must mean 'guarantee' or 'warranty.' It's stamped with a 1961 date. I get a real charge out of this kind of stuff...sort of a piece of the radio's history.