Phantom power wiring question

mainstreetprod

mainstreetprod

Veteran
I have a condensor mic laying around that originally came with a 90's Toshiba Hi 8 shoulder mount camera (TSC-200?) . I'm trying to put together some equipment
for a local filmmaking class to use. This mic would be ideal but does not seem to work lately. It always worked when plugged into the camera, which I no longer have. Is it possible it is wired differently than normal for phantom power? If so, how do I rewire?
 
Phantom power normally connects to pins 2 and 3 (hot and cold). I find it unlikely that your mic would be wired differently form other mics. Perhaps your diaphragm froze. If that happened, there's not much, if anything, you can do about it that is worth the money.
 
Th mic is a Toshiba MSS-10 (original to the camera). I was finally able to unscrew the case today and I found it is battery operated (1 AA). Since it is original to the camera, I assume it was never designed for phantom power.

Really got my hopes up that the 10 year old battery was the problem. Put in a fresh one and still nothing. All wiring and solder connections to the XLR pins look fine. Only switch is inside, M/V (music /voice).

Specs:



Back Electret Condensor Boom Microphone with a sensitivity range of �72dB +/-3dB,Frequency Char.30 � 16,000Hz,and Output Impedance of 600 Ohms


I have plugged this mic into phantom power several times. Since it is not phantom powered, have I screwed it up? Any ideas appreciated.
 
Electret condenser mics generally don't require phantom because the diaphragm is much closer to the conducting electret material, which is already charged. But better electret condensers are wired to simply ignore phantom.

If it's a 3 wire mic (XLR connector rather than a 2 pin mini jack), and it was made with any attention at all to detail, the phantom should not have affected it.

What type of connector does it use? Also (not to insult intelligence), is there any possiblity there's a power switch you're not seeing or a switch that changes the output level? Only reason I ask these is... I've spent a bunch of time troubleshooting an unfamiliar mike only to realize there was a nearly-hidden little switch that was turned off...

Last thing... sometimes it's possible to insert the batteries, particularly the older button types, upside down, and in some microphones, it will keep them from functioning.
 
Electret condenser mics generally don't require phantom because the diaphragm is much closer to the conducting electret material, which is already charged. But better electret condensers are wired to simply ignore phantom.

If it's a 3 wire mic (XLR connector rather than a 2 pin mini jack), and it was made with any attention at all to detail, the phantom should not have affected it.






What type of connector does it use? Also (not to insult intelligence), is there any possiblity there's a power switch you're not seeing or a switch that changes the output level?


It is an XLR connector. Wiring to the connector looks perfect. Only switch is
m/v (music/voice) inside battery compartment. The battery is AA and clearly labeled.
Really thought the new battery would get it working.



Last thing... sometimes it's possible to insert the batteries, particularly the older button types, upside down, and in some microphones, it will keep them from functioning.
 
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