Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
- e& C, U6 l4 |7 h$ K+ A3 P# ^
the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
" i: \, [ ?3 L4 z1 B K9 }
the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
4 ?' R4 D8 `# f# M
machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
" _5 [, D3 ^- k; G- D; |9 L* u' y0 x" w, P- u8 l: p; h
(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
/ n# W( q) y" f' c! e- q
6 R6 |% a; e& l1 }, t$ D( w" C: P
7 {9 Q' v' _ J! ?* q+ WClick on either of the above images for more information.
: g1 g" Y5 K. J. s6 E Y2 m1 n, j8 e
* k u8 p: Z! b( ?8 O4 J% K; u
* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
: S6 u9 l4 p0 Z) |% r: ? x
beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
: z- r% n0 i, p% k# ~: W
There are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
0 N1 `+ D: y4 N7 a( t
7 R8 V& |$ @4 T+ c+ |
4 s/ G. y$ z+ V8 K5 T
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
& D0 v: T ?8 z4 a# C4 i+ B
% s9 _5 Q O E+ ^Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
0 p- R4 M& I8 B! a" e% n4 z3 [- f s& F4 v6 E! d \4 l) q8 `; |' L" |
Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
0 G+ Z: \, M2 I- x O6 F
0 D( m t& g7 k' nNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
# f% q ~/ Q) k" M) O N0 ^( h$ W* {0 |
6 N( U( @- Q. `2 w5 c/ JApparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
- x4 g4 t* O0 n1 ^0 z& n! @have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
7 t9 u* o( D+ Otherefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
- u( k+ o2 N7 J5 m4 b* a( |0 zrecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
0 v1 z' ~9 T! _$ \0 f: zDSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
3 c: q0 |! J& R, e2 P" R6 E2 orecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
) \7 G6 `7 s3 P( B9 m1 p8 z/ ptruly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
% U! B" c0 Z+ c2 Y$ N
be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
" X b T `0 W" i" E. B! [- nelectronics and be very expensive.
* ?4 P% C0 J) J. l1 B( ?9 q* u. [0 j8 ~& Q% X
5 f ^7 g# U6 R5 R$ m {
Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
4 T8 i( }% l& |
# b$ v S% Z4 X I7 |/ z4 i
% V1 O0 a8 O( \0 p" J5 [+ o
Tape for the Nagra SN
2 N3 H: Z# }( {- T& A2 ?
- C: [' Q% `' A9 U
+ g8 R; o4 v1 }: DI have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
/ D5 f2 j! w" E2 j- f( z
the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
: V" g) M+ p7 q3 f
wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
' f3 l) a5 i0 D# ~9 A
tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
- l% H& E9 ^! C
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
& Q9 \; ~/ R9 q, [+ }the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
. `% [9 h6 t9 y3 Z* B' Useveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
$ M4 `. F P- V9 R
onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
8 T8 Y: r+ j: K" o1 U- m( x
things may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
$ g/ s5 D5 @0 o. wVERY silly money.
: {: }6 Z4 ^ R) A) z
1 n& y1 a% {- k3 k; D
, J( F, f' U& t& G0 r: x( E5 A