Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
$ I! [' M' Z6 F, T+ @/ I! bthe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
2 L9 c) V& p3 H1 m: V# u. vthe transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
2 U; G- {' k7 z: I V$ v
machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
+ S% m1 E% k4 M# B8 X
9 K+ r/ F% x3 V- |# H' p
(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
7 b5 n+ H1 P1 Q7 u% ? J! z" t- C- ~( N- O# v1 x
) U* r$ ]$ a1 Z2 T( }4 \" {* [
Click on either of the above images for more information.
$ d; [% ]* w7 t
$ B# o# |% t- }" T
! K# e" _* C9 B* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
9 I( u7 i( U8 ^
beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
/ t; ]2 s& z r' D
There are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
* J, }: k5 j+ v. c% N! z o; T: ?1 n
. b% C/ P% ^3 q
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
% C1 v! ?2 C+ G! p( r: c0 f
" l7 ?$ x3 |& D, {" R3 O
Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
9 o/ d! }( n: \
# U; J" y6 s3 v% INagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
. y6 c' J+ E, `, Y/ j" g8 E7 ]& t) J5 R- ~! M x# z/ G
Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
Y7 D" m- {) r: P$ U9 Y; S. Y4 |
1 Z: R d, Q( k6 |& l
5 d# n1 B( N4 S. H% u ?
Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
# R( {0 V/ ^" T; Rhave some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
/ l1 K7 Y0 W5 Q. W* }! H
therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
7 [2 W* j, ^0 S; u& Y8 a7 s0 o, Wrecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
4 F5 |" U# ~: Y5 o
DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
* t0 v9 |3 g5 W0 A1 q0 v6 Zrecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
8 h7 d7 m: z1 Qtruly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
0 O; p( ~( {$ l1 Lbe possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
; r5 t6 J1 ]7 F1 N, i8 R& b# y$ jelectronics and be very expensive.
& c5 j! F4 Z p! p- u* r- h0 q
, b3 o0 [( X2 ^
Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
% z% k" E- h1 R: Y
3 R& P, r5 J) s$ p5 ]5 @# q) x
: [$ A/ [) A4 n2 v3 E2 Z& iTape for the Nagra SN
7 u$ U7 k0 ^0 V% O% U9 [
& l. m2 O3 i3 d2 ~8 I
6 O7 B, _8 [4 g* Z- @/ {7 f% @0 A+ R. t5 \I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
. t9 i Y/ w1 O4 N9 l* v& F* Sthe little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
4 v2 x- D+ a; b1 k- I- S) |
wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
( E8 P P% `& k
tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
8 }9 `# U4 I1 r/ x$ ~'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
+ K; L1 q0 S' y
the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
Q3 w, y) d4 m7 [1 h: y E: f6 H" Fseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
6 I" i: c b7 d( l1 [& z# Q
onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
; I5 T* g" [% C+ r0 H! _9 _
things may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
; Q* B3 F5 P6 m( ?( EVERY silly money.
& d7 \; P4 l! A! D8 f- Y6 T/ ]0 ~2 ?: I2 q! @
& H* A0 x2 C$ q8 I, t