Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
' W( A8 w: y/ c# V7 f' R( J
the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
# |% Y! @/ G8 X. {- @/ I$ Uthe transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
u8 p# ~! l0 W7 mmachines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
! I% j. _# V4 q9 m
5 f8 j3 J+ {: a$ C: j1 a2 v(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
, V3 X9 Q+ ], k' S/ r
% D4 f& X6 b7 R& N3 Q
, O4 A. c- Z6 B- K' R3 l, C# i9 ^6 C7 UClick on either of the above images for more information.
$ @3 h0 p ~1 \# T
: E0 ]9 V* h' p) F' c
- y. t) m) F; t, y C* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
2 y3 H' M4 p; A0 k# L. ?6 Z! f! \ q
beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
, O7 ?, K. v% eThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
2 h4 [9 m m7 W# d) M/ `
, Y: C6 [7 x9 L+ D5 U7 r, p
# y6 K: x4 R# [Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
8 [$ X! R0 D/ P5 a) v' N" e
* p0 e2 Y3 r; ^! b& mNagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
5 n+ T: e* f6 J& N1 V) }
7 k( a' E0 o# \5 g. V8 u; M0 c7 HNagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
% I2 m9 g6 f0 w: _; O4 a# _( Z
* z3 f" l9 ` k# q) h. \& ?, cNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
! k5 W" N/ A! ~$ r `- y4 \6 d* a9 E+ g" `) s" ^
$ d# a# v8 x% u( Z8 L% @Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
H& g6 A* u/ G8 s: }' X
have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
$ {" z$ U6 j! G' xtherefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
* I( a: k# g1 b+ i! n3 Xrecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
5 |7 l( I0 c n) ?5 |# R$ f- BDSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
2 r$ k7 m5 \( K% F) Erecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
9 W7 Y7 S$ s4 s( ltruly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
T! d! t( C/ T% S& h( Bbe possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
5 t6 |) v* w6 i) gelectronics and be very expensive.
1 m: p0 h! R0 q" V0 H
$ R! `3 o1 T4 m9 x
/ {4 M9 X E- f
Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
1 p! f( ]; W, _( c& M6 p9 w' O' T+ u# v! `) @+ X) P7 V
0 g$ X" B3 N# a) x* Q
Tape for the Nagra SN
! \0 g+ A0 e" M' k; t
2 p0 D( }4 x, e% n. G. P, R
7 Z* w1 U/ ^6 e$ o( wI have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
" g8 U6 V( g2 e, _! @1 Bthe little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
2 v- u& O. f. ?" l$ g8 F0 q% F
wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
+ k" f7 F! i/ btape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
- V l. E o" @2 a5 g1 S
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
j# J" x' t: {* c. W f# _the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
; D5 T# P; q; b3 D. }% e. Xseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
5 M. Y6 x1 P% h# y8 ? d0 z
onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
1 t! J' w6 `, a; K! ?0 ?
things may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
- K0 d" b. f+ \; D/ S4 F) bVERY silly money.
, t. O, j* Y Z" @" }2 O; ~$ h
+ f) U1 n7 Q! U0 j/ `
; I' h% G0 D, }4 p/ }