Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
6 P0 m9 d% h7 b3 V; }' f
the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
. Q9 X% W* P: s! J8 ~the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
% @/ k' S/ X* ~2 C8 a+ d3 R0 K8 i
machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
L4 ~/ K( A4 J1 b
) _$ B) d- U {9 {# d- \(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
9 ?3 U0 ]2 N j- s* i. S6 W! T
5 n' G- }4 Z+ w& Y. Y/ m$ ~4 X7 o
Click on either of the above images for more information.
! n0 s7 W$ Z W5 u' q' v1 @$ z" X- q
: |% H# W# f2 L8 o1 _! S. J8 `$ l8 J
* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
, ^2 b4 p: \3 j' l" M) sbeware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
1 F$ f8 R' j+ v9 I
There are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
. [; H/ }( f6 ]7 H+ a
, U. F$ c% K8 g0 S/ q
l; `: D, D% J- B
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
5 q- p, v7 w2 O9 Y6 t3 W! L! u( U G* z: g5 s
Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
' k3 s0 K# ~; M; U# Y7 h
; {" O" U6 |' h! vNagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
6 i8 O- o u7 c( r
3 N7 Z' g8 X6 U) R& ?. g: I
Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
, V: M) e! e4 T; u
0 e6 u1 j& r% e# P
" a+ y: r8 Y/ @/ p1 u
Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
2 O* _8 i* n2 U2 `- D/ ?have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
6 E! Y" P- W0 b; ^( S. W7 xtherefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
# v8 z! p' v, K) v/ L& hrecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
# M' P+ v2 `) {0 {DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
3 @0 z' b3 u5 u: J* z
recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
& f5 A* e2 ~' @% _! d: M! C5 N: q
truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
9 y' b: ^ u+ G' T4 X2 Y9 V' }. rbe possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
& f8 A- o, H. E1 F: r: ~- ~
electronics and be very expensive.
. p" ?" y/ G! w
: t. l& ]- { C7 F; ~$ {6 t
5 x2 e( g" Q& O6 A7 E6 xCheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
$ e% g& W! T$ I0 e ?" |
0 V, b- F+ \4 Q# V1 y0 c: d0 M3 D' z
Tape for the Nagra SN
* M2 ~6 U2 [& f4 p/ y0 k: I `4 o1 T: F! F% u8 r
$ K: B6 z+ U& Z7 \/ DI have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
6 I% g8 P# g( b( `the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
# M8 H" P! Y' i: M3 ^2 s; o; S% Ywanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
) N+ e) F v4 U$ S
tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
: z6 Y/ b0 S1 y. Y9 M'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
8 H1 [5 D) h8 A/ g. j. r/ A/ _
the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
. Y7 y* x k) k0 A A$ Y; |8 H
several pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
( t: E' b5 x7 e2 @9 b9 Y* U( Monto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
( @/ o( p0 y' f$ `
things may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
$ o: \, I8 o$ P" A7 M; uVERY silly money.
- b5 i4 W0 y: `+ V/ D
! W$ w4 H N% T9 D2 _: \& G- B
9 S) y; j3 _$ A