Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
# t2 v* u$ ~4 F# u8 [/ t7 mthe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
% @, Q2 z, ]) ]- T, l5 \ u0 Zthe transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
( O1 s- m& l) ^machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
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$ w; i8 P1 w- t. m(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
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, F) d3 n6 a8 G0 f aClick on either of the above images for more information.
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* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
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beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
d+ f* F) z2 J( G9 d/ h2 LThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
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" W5 m* I$ ?, V. x7 y6 i HNagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
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" j& K8 {8 [. U' X( sNagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
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# }) h( v9 G, [' w3 B Z/ d+ dNagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
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Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
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Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
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have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
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optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
" q; |; N1 W1 u0 m* _+ lrecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
% ^. D' m( x! H- z( vDSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
$ \ Q; ^6 S5 i1 h) C7 hrecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
" A3 r# `. Z. H2 Rtruly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
/ C2 Y X( E( X5 _2 Jbe possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
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electronics and be very expensive.
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! B8 m$ |1 f3 D! K6 u* z9 CCheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
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1 s. `- O3 Y; P8 q, p: B1 k6 JTape for the Nagra SN
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I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
4 m4 M! H0 e( Z) A( qthe little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
3 j0 D4 u* |2 Kwanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
0 J# z; Q4 _8 @# p' z- Y$ gtape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
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'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
% C9 c: h+ H$ O7 m, s0 qthe cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
3 T! [% V) D6 p: A0 Oseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
5 x& v# F, ^6 c$ U5 G Honto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
5 I; a+ G R% M, P t' S vthings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
5 w. e7 F6 a! k; y! R. _! aVERY silly money.
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