Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
$ x6 J% |* u& j, S! athe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
J* F# W2 h& P8 m8 l8 F( Q/ `the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
/ |! V! {: y" v& H! t
machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
% @0 _+ {; l6 _
% A; }# g& p U- Y
(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
, d4 P8 q1 v. W4 {1 G
/ k/ y1 x" O( V" G( p; b( U# P( f! ~, m1 G8 q! w
Click on either of the above images for more information.
* |+ V( ?8 m0 A4 r$ m z
2 h, g d. N6 t: @# [9 N5 t3 Y
6 v2 {$ G: ?% p* f3 X( ]' x! {* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
% [) J2 P# a1 y+ S/ j; w
beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
6 m" ^9 C! |* }7 t
There are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
3 Y0 m* \ Y5 @; A$ K7 o
* ?# m. ?0 W9 g
: y y! T! P& e6 e' V7 bNagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
' I7 j5 f) }2 \0 f4 D; x% A
1 Y2 z3 |; \6 a& ?Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
) `2 D. }: a' o- \5 E
0 _! f& K+ c4 W
Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
0 w6 J! D9 s& j3 s
: `6 \: U. _4 t/ ~Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
) x, W* `. S6 O9 c% H
: l6 S# [& y# i; |* [' n
4 {0 P- S- j! W. Y4 FApparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
' M0 b7 V" @' J* V K# ?; N0 f: ?$ x
have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
8 b, ~0 ]- y, P* P# `therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
# l# v: e* d! Q& zrecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
4 C& y; J5 @ m# x7 |8 h
DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
! T4 Z3 F- ~* f6 p7 B5 j3 |
recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
) R/ B9 L: k$ F; b4 A: X/ }truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
# _4 P$ V5 I- |5 o* \be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
, Q0 _, p) z7 b
electronics and be very expensive.
: N. ?/ s `% x% T6 C9 ]6 ~8 G
2 `& y1 U2 B$ T
+ v. |5 ?0 E6 ?
Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
" J+ G* ], j, A$ j, a0 f/ W: ~
* A% I0 K: f! V3 T9 H# T) K @. \3 [8 y5 l2 K
Tape for the Nagra SN
& R5 V, c2 B# Q0 q/ U! b8 U2 n5 g7 q% w
+ o6 W1 p9 A+ j1 o
I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
0 ~* R$ H; f0 u* U
the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
+ t, |/ s! d0 t( {' l9 P/ K9 ~
wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
, ?+ X# a$ {9 n9 p) h \
tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
+ T6 T& z1 ]3 F'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
+ H3 u3 q$ C7 l) K( i$ g
the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
- O- `5 N: p( e7 P" i% I6 ^: s; Qseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
2 `5 s' y% L* ^, d4 x: ]; x D
onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
" l# b: _/ p* M! y( uthings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
d# ~2 t# _1 J; n' ?4 p5 }VERY silly money.
' x- q. ?* a. Y! |
9 c6 o X# j) a/ O. v4 }
. G! T. F" n6 {: E7 _" z/ E