Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
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the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
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the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
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machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
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(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
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Click on either of the above images for more information.
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3 f6 X b3 y: {8 `* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
& W. {5 a- |7 y, U" c% b1 `beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
f- n2 U, L7 M2 |% X# f+ ?" lThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
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Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
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Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
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Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
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# i. `6 |1 u; oNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
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Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
1 m0 x7 A3 _ p/ xhave some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
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optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
7 j: f7 z: ~ K9 }* Q$ Grecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
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DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
# c2 l# K) e( n+ a+ L4 [recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
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the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
7 ?9 _+ a5 D# E4 y# Kbe possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
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electronics and be very expensive.
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1 t" l5 s) C% @2 B& [Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
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Tape for the Nagra SN
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I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
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the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
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wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
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tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
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'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
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the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
- ~, m; C( l/ `* V! h- i1 iseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
0 n' o' L- q% o( D; ?# g& [3 Ionto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
( ^' o( o/ W' hthings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
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VERY silly money.
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