Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
c! C: B. C8 B( z0 p& v2 p1 p z
the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
" q9 K8 m' n% t# R0 K) }the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
% G! I0 }% L/ v4 H7 pmachines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
! V7 D# w. `, J& I6 v) t1 W* ]0 d* i/ d
(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
2 A# k- L9 `0 }/ `8 s# F/ W
; Z" e0 x, L. q2 h
0 W( d. e# D+ p% c" i6 F7 j+ HClick on either of the above images for more information.
' W7 o, Y5 ^3 k0 ], y- a0 S) i( z) B3 j& d* B
1 F$ _3 s+ z I6 U* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
) s) m, I& ?; Q# K" H2 z
beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
$ T# K A& b8 V# G, c$ V% b TThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
$ [! u0 D. t% @% e. _) h0 Z5 u" m: x3 R8 A% ?8 v0 {
5 |) F& d- o6 ?$ |1 b$ W; ~
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
( v0 g' n6 O, f2 {
+ h& @/ S1 t( g8 Z4 G- h, F1 p+ P$ t/ RNagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
& @- {; u2 G1 h
7 ?+ f( p& z0 tNagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
8 w2 {& }" {, d3 A
( P% T! x3 A6 ~* I% t( {8 c
Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
! W% n' Y7 \- x! l
+ i" u# k" U: E. i/ L0 b1 Q9 \
- X7 w! C+ V. r Z5 NApparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
2 r4 J" O- b$ w7 b4 E
have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
9 L9 i P4 G( x9 {) s- _
therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
" `, L0 m4 `& e6 i+ [4 Jrecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
: M- T7 s5 R3 S, j8 H* GDSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
9 }. _% A1 h) I1 B, t
recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
1 S4 H+ U) O+ V* l; j( z5 z
truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
7 [9 E* W' U! S
be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
. v N9 Q5 R1 r" M* `. Velectronics and be very expensive.
: V" x) l( h8 u, `4 `2 D* }
0 N5 b8 m+ i) S7 m
" S& y# V+ J* W0 E: U
Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
% w# n. ~; M5 s3 N6 T6 h1 O. L5 f4 P/ Z u
1 A: z, L7 e; y: B) l0 d+ S3 E
Tape for the Nagra SN
% Y7 ]9 w" h' Z/ A
$ N4 c$ |9 d/ H( [" P) L) n
" U$ S5 i @! v' x5 H1 XI have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
. X) Y: Z7 q: t$ s
the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
7 ]- d- c! R( P/ l c
wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
5 g% {* V5 y- J4 V0 I6 C( n' `tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
* O+ M$ N0 a1 ?1 x$ C. `% z+ k2 I'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
/ G2 g6 _. ^& zthe cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
. A$ s1 {9 ^9 t: v
several pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
9 V8 J: N9 T4 [5 h$ L1 Vonto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
! _; V- q" ?6 f. Y3 J5 Athings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
* M, m+ C2 U+ d0 Z: X8 gVERY silly money.
6 m1 K' u& j7 R# d7 b, g- l
9 \/ l/ e( i. a- S/ V% R$ O O; c X3 Y" ?4 f