Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
; @9 I3 q$ f1 a$ c( ~9 {8 W2 B
the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
) ^: ~# e1 ~7 z# ?$ {the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
3 G& W% K' a; F0 Z6 V ^; P; O6 k% _machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
, o) @: b# f' n4 _7 L+ t' n& t
$ ~/ i, K3 W1 @(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
1 F: e4 H4 Q6 y( V
6 J& }( M7 W7 u1 i7 Q0 C3 L5 a# U! `4 U
Click on either of the above images for more information.
" \0 p) o; r `9 L, C/ p6 _( b- T, A8 H6 U6 s& J
/ A( X* c8 M0 k9 k4 T# E4 e* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
: D: t9 Y& I) n+ ?# G7 qbeware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
% D9 h3 e5 h: U# }* j$ k
There are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
0 O& g1 J4 }/ b- g6 `
4 Q9 r8 B- { O C( ^9 T4 |
% o2 @( E8 s" A6 u8 |7 Q- MNagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
: V1 |/ `$ W3 a" [- H) p1 D
9 j, K2 ?: x; K; Z1 GNagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
/ u0 x8 M) Q7 o( g6 p4 X' ]
$ S8 f! }7 S; m% i7 v* e& jNagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
# [; w3 u* X* G4 n& Y5 V. { z% ~2 T
/ P- P2 p% g! i: h' q$ B6 ?( lNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
* c# L: e$ ~$ n
. _) S. x! m, f' _+ E8 [& |
1 a( P3 s% A4 nApparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
. f L6 t" X( d% b+ u" e& J& i- S9 l
have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
/ E D5 E6 r& {* p/ utherefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
& p. V' l- e5 E, ~% m1 F# Z
recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
# m: r4 V4 v4 U; q6 [DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
( P! h. R6 ~ n7 D. ?
recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
- F2 Q9 g0 t! n3 X
truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
/ X5 R, V% C9 _' o+ n/ {be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
/ Z; @7 X1 R6 e/ E/ C, ?9 J# K+ `electronics and be very expensive.
+ L; p, x1 P C9 e' R' G) b" W9 U0 Y: h3 n# F) m
, g; V0 K9 B) o) L) s. p/ LCheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
, D. r. i: W% }! X4 `( ~' B8 k8 h
' p: I* S# R) M. f6 f! J. C0 }+ l( O" z K# Z5 h( }
Tape for the Nagra SN
9 P/ E6 E6 N# E- L# P5 s* J2 a
. R) E: y& w2 n; }5 k5 f; |8 W* u; Q
I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
]" w/ ?$ E0 L V4 G
the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
+ F' V3 s4 E' Z5 U" T3 R. G/ Xwanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
6 y) U. j4 k7 a2 I8 H. q
tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
& X4 f( K0 n* V: w# J+ p'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
- A/ c/ ^; `3 Dthe cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
8 K" F; p$ i& c6 `' jseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
: Y3 G% a& `% X1 z( E0 Yonto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
) g9 o7 B4 a6 v4 W
things may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
! j- l$ b& m2 @) C3 ?3 @5 U
VERY silly money.
* d8 y7 d' z* T, ~' q" ? J. K5 F
: \& E- D0 i7 T3 y( ]3 g) t
8 a ]7 r: e6 O8 |