Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
. `8 e6 \: e# K* B7 @% S- X nthe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
1 U; Z- C4 X% z/ e* U1 T
the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
& }& Y; P" ~' y* { L5 A1 h. }machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
9 F. g7 I& Z, |0 e- r' O
6 b9 O+ Z7 _0 U( X8 q- M1 A$ C) d6 ^(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
, V h1 t" K7 n
4 p1 E" r7 l1 Q* J* d% z
6 q( ~1 `3 L) q7 @1 VClick on either of the above images for more information.
; [ }" V% V8 A
6 G/ J2 O: N5 {
' x, Y8 _' z4 g* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
! ?" }) M$ r. x8 @: v9 u
beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
8 ]/ t+ c. t" \; Q" ?) vThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
( F6 ?8 G" k; F1 g7 c9 X0 `9 V4 p$ q
' U4 F0 M- u- o/ E5 g
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
. V+ I Y4 f* B8 G0 L7 k9 c% ^$ n+ T7 w1 ^6 \1 Y: N$ i: p% F) Q
Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
( \, L8 T6 a( k- n/ z% T& M) I& C6 j/ y& f/ x
Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
1 p3 [: q! J2 O# y& m5 S) D+ o8 B
Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
2 P! K: ]& g- _! d
/ ^) g9 H" c' {
2 R( o' J" y2 }Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
( ?% j/ j- t/ I9 U9 n0 S" K
have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
+ l# H7 n- ?1 t- O. N
therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
4 {5 U, Z6 Q- _( L
recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
1 P+ |. Y5 `4 l; H, uDSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
, P; [9 r& _: A4 v1 b- mrecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
X2 f6 z$ P* P5 wtruly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
' \/ O; e/ ^4 B: ^5 N9 r4 x1 @
be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
& A" x6 w) h! K5 o; l/ M i
electronics and be very expensive.
6 _ r0 k, F/ G3 l6 G- S
9 i! p# O! _. {# s
+ E7 Z5 T: P; a. L. Q# b8 q" CCheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
6 C' i, j2 {5 x& Y3 \8 x) z: w2 p& t$ _& X
! }- N: m, d- K7 {" @/ e$ B& vTape for the Nagra SN
0 g* P% Q; c) R7 G4 s
: d3 D2 J9 q& ^
+ B5 k4 |; X9 G7 rI have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
9 N; P0 a$ ], t, Othe little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
5 r# F9 J; H y& {3 jwanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
# P1 Q* z. o; ~0 h# l
tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
. _* Z1 V& X% E" Q+ h# L% q
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
& F3 R0 P" t/ Zthe cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
( G9 [7 x/ w7 K( C7 f+ e8 h
several pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
- k f) F1 O1 X" g4 f4 @) `
onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
' ?! u* |7 M3 j0 ?3 Lthings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
% |9 w; a- ?( d( `0 c" V7 o; v
VERY silly money.
+ K! f* B, g+ I. h- J! E
7 c1 S8 I: u T! J8 ], |
# |( I! @! z: L% t% l7 F