Topic: Use of 'vintage' Altai microphones with Sony PCM-10

[seashore]

I have a pair of very old (around about 1990) Altai omnidirectional microphones. Rather than throw them away, I wondered if I could use them with my PCM-10 in conditions where I would not want to risk anything more expensive. I have, in the past, made some quite successful recordings with them in conjunction with my old cassette deck, including some recordings of organ music.  I would like to use them for recording ambient sounds. They do not work at all well with my Fostex FR2LE as the signal is far too weak. They are electret condensers, AA battery powered and their impedance is 600 ohms and their sensitivity is -65dB +/-3 dB at 1000Hz (details from the box).

The major advantage over the built in microphones would be, as I see it, the ability to gain better separation than with the built in microphones.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[seashore]

Have answered my own question by purchasing the necessary adapters for the grand sum of around £2. All I do is plug the mono phone jacks on the end of the microphone leads into 2 adapters (costing £2 between them!) which convert the phone jacks on the microphone leads to RCA plugs, and use a pair of male to male RCA adapters then connect each of the microphone outputs to one side of a stereo cable terminated in a 3.5mm stereo minijack plug. The minijack plug is then connected to the microphone input on the Sony PCM-10, with plug in power switched off. Very good sound, to my ears, not the very best ever ofcourse, but more than enough quality to get a realistic enough and noise free recording to enjoy and assess performances of violin and piano. It is certainly easier to get a better recording with this set-up than with the inbuilt mics.  It will not surplant use of my Fostex plus matched pair of NT5s with omni caps, but it is a lot easier to set up in a hurry and/or when there is inconvenient to set up the more 'professional' rig.

The only time it does not work is when running the Sony PCM-10 off mains power via the power adapter. Seems to pick up mains hum for some reason, but then who needs to use mains power with Sony PCM-10s great battery life!