home made b batteries

Some of you already know this I am sure (Lizzie) but I found this by accident and thought I would post the link here. I'm no expert, but it sounds reasonable. All risk is assumed by the tinkerer.
http://www.techlib.com/electronics/b-battery.htm

If you take apart a B-battery that's basically all they are inside -- a lot of small individual cells seriesed together to make up the required voltage. The common 45 volt portable radio batteries of the Era used AA-sized 1.5 volt cells soldered terminal-to-terminal with Fahnestock clips or plug socket for connection.

There are kits available for making up the 90 volt packs you need to power a Zenith Transoceanic -- the kit runs about $100 on eBay, and the AA cells themselves will run you about $60 more at your local drugstore. The main advantage to using AAs over 9-volts is greater battery life, but if you don't intend to use the set on battery power that often that's not all that important.

Even simpler is to plug the 9V batteries into each other, and connect wires to the end terminals. Of course this arrangement will not fit into the case but it does allow testing and listening.