Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
2 w; t" D, E+ n* x; T: K0 f% q3 N( v
the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
/ K# p" _) j/ a. E
the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
1 S2 F) m. r: b& b9 u
machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
" g9 J) S3 ?/ E+ J, [
' a" K2 s4 J( y# P" X( k(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
j9 ^/ c$ s# C% K; S" u% _# o2 e
5 v0 N8 j) X2 Y# |1 ?# Q% Q
2 V- _2 y6 R) a. ?3 L$ Z SClick on either of the above images for more information.
# q& a" d! q! Z4 i2 T/ i
/ s8 o6 J/ ^1 i7 G, d
. ?0 ]3 r. f- ^! o7 D* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
6 {$ }2 y* m+ ^6 e
beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
) [' x/ p% B5 u' s/ z1 S6 X
There are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
# c4 L% G$ p2 A5 P
9 t7 f( K6 @% q, g
4 {& ]! V" U7 j$ B9 \( t
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
( d) E- z+ b7 ]* C$ w
8 J" k2 r0 ?; {. vNagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
; l% O, h) p4 L3 {2 n6 N) ^
6 `# Y8 ?7 m& z8 W( O
Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
0 \' @6 ]7 A. L- E3 J
" f- h. q) l) z4 n1 s8 F& x
Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
3 a2 O/ v" w/ V; Q
9 } O; } Y6 J7 h5 o/ B; B- J+ h
& z- \9 {2 Z2 B# P. [# f0 _& RApparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
7 o& O5 x4 ^. _$ ahave some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
# w2 Z* w0 S9 Z2 E
therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
% P. B/ \$ f3 \5 y2 S o [( ~
recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
, \" \) C, y- L/ r8 v& J
DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
2 G9 Q' Q" Z# e0 D) E% c! b6 b* E
recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
# B5 [0 T% {% j0 Utruly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
- X& C# k/ A/ t- b# J; }be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
% M- h5 @* H& K2 K% Q. z
electronics and be very expensive.
% B, n# ~3 S# Y/ w2 q9 A
# d1 S4 k0 m4 d, a: F, [9 m: K6 u- f Q! g3 w" G
Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
# T+ Q' F0 a* v7 v! @3 e9 h- p5 ]6 Y6 o. m- A; X* ]7 B
& z2 ?" q, z: A6 s& x, s' [# vTape for the Nagra SN
+ J3 {5 ~5 ?) n. r! ~% v8 J \, A
/ J& _9 G: f. N' L, v3 @2 v
' t* ?6 T' E" h% _
I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
, E! _ }4 A7 c4 q0 C) W0 D- V7 ethe little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
3 y- u2 r! O* O7 m% C% C3 @
wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
* j8 l1 f, x& ftape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
- o& o( W* N. b'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
# O9 F/ Z" I2 p2 [$ P* |6 w& k9 Othe cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
! f) y/ R- p7 x7 h4 Pseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
4 s5 `: D& g- i' e# z: |; _0 H
onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
/ F/ u- C) z3 Y; c, D. _; l6 X
things may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
P; C* F/ h, U z: [VERY silly money.
; g4 k$ I" x- k+ n% i. R) t# E6 \9 t$ F# J: d2 y
, z+ d7 o7 ~0 b