Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
0 ^, ]+ T1 h; |) @1 a
the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
' J( _) z! D% W$ Y, R9 l, J
the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
* U8 k# ]4 x( b/ _3 z
machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
+ V& X* Y# t4 }; D
! M% }6 X% ^# u6 ~1 {
(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
: a: {* [! W% U3 }+ E" s# O* s3 ^( G0 i. Z2 j
( O7 _, j# @. b' B3 N* p
# ]. `" W( P1 \9 v0 Z) w3 `Click on either of the above images for more information.
1 _/ Q9 j) [" y& W4 D/ O$ S2 G; P
9 o- y- e# C6 p5 c# \0 h( v- v
( N1 x# X$ I8 M8 Q% y7 Q* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
* m' |, c" H' ~' wbeware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
! y( L0 }) p6 q0 N
There are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
/ ]/ S4 a" ]4 L; {9 A, Z: g1 U6 u+ T% W& e
1 f* m9 A, R: GNagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
0 T6 n* t) Q1 d9 z1 z5 [7 v+ w1 ]( p! [4 G
Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
: R0 a4 {. }6 b% L! u
6 }3 o* P) g, K! M/ a, O- `. @Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
' O2 o6 P2 n. e9 T. k
' L- R1 A& o, W" D# J' w3 C9 BNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
+ o: \3 g) R! ?( A
/ ^- L( j& h( c8 y
, O7 B2 b" j+ ~! aApparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
) W9 g2 {, i: e$ p. [+ G4 k
have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
- J0 c5 n- y7 K; u8 y5 _therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
# ~% y" h( W# ~4 l3 precording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
F& O. L8 r1 q0 [+ ?7 n6 qDSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
5 R$ l0 t z4 X4 j* e0 D
recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
/ e$ P- f7 v8 e8 Y" N
truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
$ ]" c8 j* P: }) [# }
be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
1 s: I2 f) B* \+ {' @. welectronics and be very expensive.
7 {1 r% u7 |1 P1 w
8 u+ g+ C' b* u( H1 o
1 n1 K- Y8 W/ k! p
Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
, E2 a+ ]- M( m
0 ] H x5 n# {, k
* q2 ?) H$ K. i+ fTape for the Nagra SN
/ E2 {# k; l' E0 i/ t
& @- l1 D, R9 @9 M; s# X3 o7 A. A1 \* |
I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
' B" }7 R& F- e/ C. K. Y3 q3 athe little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
+ r/ I, j$ i, _7 d5 w/ r
wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
6 q5 `$ ^ A+ ytape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
7 d% s) Z8 x2 X7 O# a
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
$ q4 B- G# i" Q$ y
the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
4 Z) i% C3 {$ r+ ~, ]
several pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
: \! x3 @/ D- P. j/ c
onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
6 G+ [3 w7 Z$ J% N& t" V3 A0 Ethings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
2 Z( T' z8 {4 ~: n& D0 vVERY silly money.
( z: o' q1 b( T4 M1 _: T
& P6 t' }- V% Y6 Q! P, h
1 ]" Q$ B; e; x' P1 R9 P4 T