Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
$ d9 l. | k( A6 m( \, w0 U0 Y/ v
the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
# o% ^) X, b5 U& A+ i; Jthe transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
* Q$ V2 b8 t" K
machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
5 U$ w" m. s0 ], O6 [7 d7 y
/ h( Y8 b+ [* }$ A' T' x ?(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
0 u3 P8 Z0 t( l3 w: \4 }4 d/ l
2 f" r& d) }) I& J( y3 h( m+ }; l- K+ q3 p ?( g6 e, R
Click on either of the above images for more information.
8 l6 F/ t( I' g2 B
) P5 q: f* O+ P/ K/ P* _( X+ v: [/ D; b
* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
- ^! |3 ~0 t/ A# l! s3 Xbeware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
" T1 a. b @ N( U4 sThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
$ O0 z E# s/ O& s [- d7 p
. z$ h) l2 J- M2 Q. D/ |
. g- p0 |" N, i9 v0 v( ]7 a
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
7 c! {3 a- v2 H" m) N7 L' I, ]
. ?& e. o% x" ~" P# V) H8 m
Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
! D/ U- e" D) e
4 _. u# M+ m" ?. w$ r+ cNagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
) a( N0 L, j) q* C
% K' d5 M; g+ }
Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
* S$ O' t. P0 T5 z& H% ?
9 T4 u9 k5 t# H7 a5 C/ |8 F
* _* n0 W( O( ]+ n8 JApparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
4 A* D& P1 t, \* M2 f% K: u' d
have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
) r0 g/ d0 e3 xtherefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
! z4 X9 N% q1 g' g7 p3 Jrecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
1 q1 o# v }! v: f7 |' |3 v) \DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
( u& @( \) @+ }3 m4 I: O0 V% k
recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
) r! z: b/ y- \
truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
: w% l5 a7 R4 L" i* ~be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
, t, G% d! u4 Q/ Jelectronics and be very expensive.
) a% n/ y7 X" I* K3 X# P4 Z. H: X4 W, l. [
2 w, S8 Q9 i1 g" F+ aCheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
% _ S; [: q0 a6 X" V: A
$ \6 p% B0 R. L$ K2 t+ E* Z% E3 x& z! W
Tape for the Nagra SN
; j7 {: F& j* Z0 w- e" a
. N/ v7 o# z4 |7 m9 L+ H3 i! a( o
7 C8 d( Z; G. b" A7 \7 d; P
I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
( H. [* S: C! D/ Q# p6 a7 v! l' m
the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
% M4 m5 m5 [& N6 |2 Q' W% E3 x4 E9 Gwanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
- Y6 j: Q9 A' \tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
e& i% ~3 U; t3 } `0 j) Q' l
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
" g; L( f6 F* B) ^$ a
the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
D8 Y& n' J" ^7 u S# x$ z6 iseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
+ Y3 c* J1 t- b4 Q0 _7 \; V6 m
onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
6 M7 B. L6 c. d6 [ k4 }3 \$ T( ?4 ithings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
1 y. a, |/ f% s; I% [9 P- d3 {! ^VERY silly money.
# j- ^7 G$ M7 X0 z0 M% `
. H9 y( J/ N! E. r2 P: i' @
2 P$ j* r: X! k) v# |. u" F