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Need Help Identifying Farm Radio
#13

BTW, Great info from you, Dale, as always. I am always amazed at the knowledge that you and others bring to this group! You should add "Battery Expert" to your moniker.

Those separate sockets are at the bottom. I don't remember if the photos came from someone here or in Europe.

Do you have a lot of battery powered radios or farm radios? I have 4 farm sets. Two of these are RCA; a 6BT (BC / SW and a separate chassis) and a 5BT. (BC only). These sets have 2V filament tubes and 135V B+. The 6BT has an option (which I don't have) for a vibrator power supply to run the whole thing on a 6V battery; 2V for the tubes and 4V for the vibrator B supply. The 6V storage batteries back then had the cell-to-cell links above the top cover of the case, allowing this arrangement and allowing for even discharge of the battery. Both sets and the spare chassis are restored and functional. The 3rd set is a Coronado 650 that runs on a 2V battery or air cell and 90V B Battery. This set has 2 Sylvania 950s in parallel to put out only about 1/2 watt. Currently not working; a mouse took a liking to the oscillator coil. This set must have been somewhere near the Great Lakes as it had a wave trap at the IF frequency which was also used for navigation and CW communications on the great lakes and canals.

The last one is a 1941 RCA 14BT2. This called for a Burgess 17GD60 battery which appears to be similar to the Eveready 759 in dimensions. An adaptor was available from RCA for separate batteries. Right now, I am using one of the Silvertone "PowerShifter" a /B battery eliminators.

It is interesting how regionalized Farm Sets were. Some ran on 6V where car batteries and Wind Chargers (Win-Charger) were available, some ran on 32V where DC Farm Power Plants and Battery banks were available and the ones that ran on batteries where no mechanization was available. Some of the Zenith 6V sets were sold with dual power where electrification was anticipated.

I grew up in Suburban Long Island NY. Prior to WWII LI was famous for potato and duck farms. A parasite killed the potato farms off, making cheap land available for the suburban develpment boom that took place from 1947 (Think Levittown) to the early 1970s. Duck farming lasted on the east end of Long Island into the 2000s because the Ducks here were perfect for Peking Duck.

"Do Justly, love Mercy and walk humbly with your God"- Micah 6:8
"Let us begin to do good"- St. Francis

Best Regards, 

MrFixr55


Messages In This Thread
RE: Need Help Identifying Farm Radio - by morzh - 03-26-2026, 10:47 AM
RE: Need Help Identifying Farm Radio - by David - 03-26-2026, 11:15 AM
RE: Need Help Identifying Farm Radio - by RodB - 03-26-2026, 11:51 AM
RE: Need Help Identifying Farm Radio - by RodB - 03-26-2026, 12:04 PM
RE: Need Help Identifying Farm Radio - by Arran - 03-30-2026, 02:35 PM
RE: Need Help Identifying Farm Radio - by MrFixr55 - 04-18-2026, 05:47 PM



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