Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
. {, z2 ~* l6 s* N* A9 b, \5 xthe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
( y& N( N! @: N8 {6 S3 mthe transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
6 w) |+ u% X8 `& B' Y F* M. L( Lmachines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
' x+ J& m; ^$ g
) |& t, C* {& e7 s(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
9 y8 @$ b& [, s! N7 h5 r0 j
! p* R+ v. \5 w& @; g( x
9 b8 U d2 _( t3 P+ q9 t0 LClick on either of the above images for more information.
: W0 ]# j2 T N
0 t2 Y C2 }* F/ L4 B% l7 w8 \5 C+ H! K- R
* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
! h6 _# U. ]: }% D. B
beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
( P5 U: v) U5 z! U
There are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
6 x# X- g9 x# C6 q; z0 `
) a& C0 w4 j4 M- K, e0 N( [4 Q! P9 N
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
6 D$ a# f" _9 z/ H
, u( a8 L8 |+ vNagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
" c1 T" \* v8 S, g4 h# M
/ x/ f* e) r0 z8 [3 k4 m# rNagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
! L; T# ~: B/ h5 K3 ?
' V+ z9 I2 Q+ ~) \
Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
+ T5 E) m0 k" }2 K5 H, k6 s2 \: ~# M. {6 Z
2 \/ i7 \5 k4 M6 A0 X' I- T
Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
- ?$ o6 D% ? thave some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
( A8 ]! ]! [2 p% D. t% Y5 Otherefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
/ [4 v6 @& d$ |recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
6 l3 q: H& \1 ?8 O9 R9 S
DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
- I; p( Y) B2 V+ n8 o; o" U9 Grecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
( V0 Q I. r5 G; A+ Ktruly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
! O5 L, G+ h; h9 k2 }$ nbe possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
; q% ]9 y7 o& h! h- r$ B: f
electronics and be very expensive.
3 R+ L6 o' ]. W- i
& M/ W7 a$ ?+ d2 g, z H) F/ {& X D1 [
" `. U7 X0 _7 F4 m' G& M( b; A# iCheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
}0 ^ \/ u g/ E6 q! X8 I# d( K$ `
# w" F' ~& c' T4 H8 f3 N
" `* |# ~* r0 S1 gTape for the Nagra SN
! _$ H% p# l' d3 o( W
$ u2 N! T0 f) V% t4 e
- s2 i- p' ~7 |8 T) t% o+ V5 H
I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
2 Y3 O3 E9 K8 X3 P, Y! R
the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
G/ k. g2 J c$ zwanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
+ j; K1 A% i5 g9 T7 r1 X% k+ ktape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
; I B5 _3 |% U'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
1 i& D& Y& ~6 a% |( Rthe cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
7 [8 Q$ k u2 T xseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
9 `+ J5 }- t" T( e' H" Aonto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
% L( L; z8 X) i
things may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
+ J4 w& E1 o2 ]8 _) s( p7 b
VERY silly money.
# A2 X. T) V! n( _
$ l0 h& O$ \% c* S' H Q
. |! L+ I5 A6 v