[thirtiesradio]

The Walton farm radio is a 7 tube 7-J-232. There is a switch on the rear to switch it between 6 volts DC, and AC line current. The 7 tube waltons don't have the tuning eye or motor drive like the 9 and 12 tube versions. The radio performs as well on 6 volts as it does on AC current....plus you get to hear the Buzz of the vibrator when running it off a battery. The circuit was very well designed as it performs well for a 6 volt radio. It's a big radio too, as large as the 16B sets at 22" high. But the 16B kills all the Walton sets with it's stellar performance and 10" speaker. Actually, the only 1930's tabletop Zenith I've found that performs as well as the 16B (or 116) is the 1935 835. The 1934 Zenith 288 performs as well but the sound is not up to par with it's smaller speaker.
Many Zenith farm radios ran off batteries recharged by wind powered Winchargers. They were a clever setup and saved you from hauling your battery in for a 2 day recharge. The Waltons were lucky to have AC current as most farms still had battery power in the early 30's.
Yes...I've often wondered how the Walton family bought their 38 Zenith so many years before anyone else could. Someone at Zenith must have liked them