Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
; @6 [, }3 A- w; V% x4 w3 U3 athe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
a( j: |4 J4 G! Athe transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
- q6 x, D: H5 v+ ^, |+ d
machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
! F% J6 ~/ ]. G+ @6 O
. z7 p4 z3 l5 |8 N(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
4 l5 g& S9 N$ c: S
! _1 B3 G. n: ~& \) L9 [
8 E5 w; i% z3 t& v; D* `Click on either of the above images for more information.
5 G) V5 P* w- S, k% S
# z" s# }; a: m. J1 e* k6 P1 Y3 c( v+ B8 {, m* k! K/ i
* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
" |2 e& I F/ m) Q: y3 k7 N
beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
5 n; p" }" a3 a b. R! \There are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
" q- \1 \& B0 u/ i* k$ F
4 c$ K+ b" O a' H$ |! m" H0 d- R4 e* T3 B8 O3 v a4 j1 Z
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
0 X) v+ c9 i' s. p9 J- C+ D
' _% c5 R. c" JNagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
( N! ?( G; N( \, T' s3 `
; S$ l; o2 H( w2 u! H8 z) a
Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
; {+ m; `' Y$ R# R3 h+ |
6 ~& ~! Q% S, _, Z8 JNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
5 L, U) Z0 D: x5 V8 p# o+ a; g+ g( `; Z1 F( `
/ x: U& ^% ^$ W* W8 A
Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
2 I( |5 O0 R# D4 G- y; G: thave some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
0 j, e5 N, Q, g- i+ ]7 J Ptherefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
1 Z* H4 A& E/ E* V
recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
# I) K2 x2 k9 Y5 @* PDSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
; L" J) F, a, a& O5 v$ Mrecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
9 o, C) h$ e/ V
truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
$ E2 e8 W) E: p/ t2 N3 U6 N
be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
6 H, f3 B. s- }8 F) oelectronics and be very expensive.
* Y2 r, Z# s/ S9 S8 y# Z- J0 I
( z. r7 S" n8 O# C
r4 G/ h" A( q3 Y3 ECheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
S2 W+ R. Q- y& ^; ~: U8 |- w7 E
. S4 y2 V; Z( G9 n9 F6 p. n
( V& g6 m( x, A0 c3 OTape for the Nagra SN
6 s0 _' x2 j" k6 X* p* P8 ]$ w, L( Z T; a" l$ Y9 m
8 E' v% N' O" pI have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
7 [0 u: W) o5 F: h
the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
& s8 _2 z7 @( Y4 Rwanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
# \7 I% x* w( L$ p7 D- ntape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
" ~) u& {. M& Q" o; `, v'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
3 {. O9 x' H' p; U% {8 {$ g8 X
the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
8 H2 ?" o. T) R5 N! z* ^
several pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
0 E4 z2 A( {' n0 ?# donto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
2 w- f6 r1 H; M) p7 S- m, l
things may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
8 w# l5 B% D* h; n- a. t
VERY silly money.
2 V2 S- U% ?7 c y! Z2 `; ~& N- T, l0 t, i6 F
" l+ B9 R% G! m2 r' y