Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
5 P3 b5 x; p, ^# h% rthe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
- j% V4 }! a9 U% C2 R* b6 K6 |the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
f( c6 B5 ~- ^ e* M
machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
8 J' @9 C6 B) B1 |6 ]0 w8 P
5 u" K0 o4 f* h/ t7 r(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
7 t1 N' C$ P; h- |6 |& n6 @- L* i' y
0 X& ~6 h$ b: w
Click on either of the above images for more information.
9 F) P6 E# Z/ d' l1 ]) `2 e6 R9 y2 F; ]( |; C# J
+ s2 ]/ o. n O) e1 k5 x
* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
- X' z4 Z- d! ]7 X6 R$ i2 y }$ [7 Lbeware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
; L+ h4 t5 z# U
There are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
) \+ N. g' B+ `( A: Q1 @, I. L7 z3 K( O- ]; Y1 Q5 Z
2 \( d- ]' D4 X/ W; f: |7 {2 Z
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
5 c2 D& A5 y0 s
3 p7 ^1 N9 v- _" e' j; B4 \/ ]Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
) r+ e( i6 L, {
' @* |( S! e& F( z: ?2 ~Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
. i2 @% X$ Z3 F f( h% F+ U
: Z7 a* L* |/ \! e& a* qNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
. x6 T' u- Z- k6 x, s9 L: L- x% V8 {" `
3 J* }$ J4 `% ?* C
# g7 ], |% L% K
Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
3 Q& W; i" r8 Khave some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
1 A9 c7 i% }$ H6 d$ P: b- @therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
0 ?$ P: | Y# e' {) L, yrecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
( |9 |% w! a2 ~0 Z) n2 c# {
DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
( ^0 S h( U# x, Y7 srecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
6 ^& I7 t( c- k6 Z& E
truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
! q( G, g1 L7 D# c5 S! b8 l! n
be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
# c9 f% l, c3 Q. p, A, @; o' D) Velectronics and be very expensive.
- f" N: w/ a; ?6 ?; [
, D7 V& J% H- t' S/ W1 t- h @0 _
5 `0 x9 v) o$ q1 E3 O! KCheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
+ s h* ~5 L! s& b0 k6 ?! u' M; h) ^( @7 L8 @, T/ L2 H
! j& r- s2 B: `
Tape for the Nagra SN
$ Y, L1 N+ R) }# ^$ `/ o' |1 ]
" P& f8 r( O- j U4 B$ Y4 y, M2 I7 e2 x! u- y7 ]) R
I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
: S. }: Y! Y8 i) m6 }6 R# P/ b
the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
5 l/ M6 W, K( e3 x6 \- awanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
% O5 H; r- J: d+ U b/ ~$ Ytape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
5 S" H( b6 T: D
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
, K0 k; K+ M1 m4 `+ dthe cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
- C$ l9 n( l; N! ^9 n) E% c; Oseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
$ \7 j6 f* w* R3 e- Monto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
2 A" Q$ ]# N2 a: [) Zthings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
1 {" b4 P( R. ?( }VERY silly money.
1 G$ H9 W8 Z+ |7 V7 E: E
% f6 c: s# [9 ]0 A
/ `- P6 N3 N8 t1 B