Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
1 w5 ~) C0 }$ \9 k% wthe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
) c8 c& ~4 S2 S* x6 U& }! z* lthe transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
! V6 g- `- e2 a. hmachines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
8 E4 A% J# r# Y2 e& f2 q9 q) }8 t4 A
(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
" {5 U! { x( S0 s# y
0 g% z: S! q5 ~& B
& l7 G7 X2 D- w# lClick on either of the above images for more information.
+ {) L& v3 @) }7 a2 h
/ o$ R) Q% J8 d& ~' V0 `$ e2 F
: X$ A$ y0 U3 l, z& w! q" \, y& w. q
* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
# c0 j: ?9 E L1 C9 Ybeware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
1 F8 A5 @1 P6 H3 U9 pThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
; @+ ?/ i5 `( ^* A- r+ \6 g
; ~& [/ F7 o7 l1 P1 M ~0 i, h1 x: |0 B
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
3 O$ G8 E' M6 e) b: ?9 O. H
. f8 V$ }7 A1 uNagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
L% j7 x, t, d- B
3 j6 W$ ?$ _" Y! bNagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
# R$ T6 L; p4 a* A% z/ e' Z* z- b5 {# \
Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
7 b( g! o0 Y, C8 I* }
* Q. o1 E: B+ b8 f P3 I* F! V+ k G+ J, _
Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
/ {. o' S1 h' b- z6 Vhave some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
/ c) k) _" [, m! r
therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
; o! ?& Z. L, R" n: [+ D: vrecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
7 u2 H; ~0 I( K* q5 ]. B+ X. }
DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
; n: |) F, `3 g' d5 h4 Wrecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
: t) f8 ^+ ?( E/ [3 Vtruly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
8 c" C5 c6 X* Pbe possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
/ h) C3 m- a: B) p) p6 z6 D
electronics and be very expensive.
1 F4 c2 c& v+ r: }: |
5 o% \+ c. i! D1 p, T
* [7 J+ ~# `! a' k, [Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
0 W6 P8 Z/ y, D0 N8 C1 D6 l0 K! \- d$ y6 F
8 j- O/ H* {' c4 ?/ R; ITape for the Nagra SN
2 d' j8 o- v/ T* F9 H
~* m! \+ t: ^! V6 u- x% r3 b( E( J. v$ y5 P8 M; B* b
I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
, @9 [; z: y ~1 Y- V' y; Bthe little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
+ p# [% v. d1 t7 R3 J' S- A* X
wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
7 R# D% m1 A5 F
tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
1 g" T+ L* C, Z8 [5 Y
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
3 H+ l5 j, C8 U$ r, U- c# g, @; V
the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
% J1 v5 ]! c( y+ k' A2 L8 Mseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
7 Z/ |3 D& r1 v2 H9 qonto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
9 q0 l( X$ T2 Z+ S! I; othings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
. u" Y( v$ F* j3 J9 yVERY silly money.
% n' c! M( p% _' S* {
, Q f& ~& \/ s& x8 M/ ~
- o% i$ S3 _ G2 F, \, L p