Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
: A0 j' p* w& q: B; _, P/ y: y+ _: y
the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
0 b5 q1 Y2 s7 b" ^% s
the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
7 _" N/ v% `# A- M' K: e9 Ymachines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
3 a9 Y9 J) }: N
( ^( I8 p0 Q! I/ j6 T+ w# b(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
' J, }+ w$ W k0 j" d. m' K4 r, J( A
* }0 l! F3 o( U% w
: K: q; m. Q5 f5 c, ]Click on either of the above images for more information.
" N6 w# x6 x5 b& J. h- t) c
3 U& ^6 ]6 z! k" c9 `' z
! w9 c0 T* W3 N- q* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
. T# D0 O' N9 N( d7 gbeware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
* P! H5 H$ F& D9 f! uThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
2 [/ |. U' b: d4 V4 Z0 }& X
4 t& C, O6 g% d0 Y9 M; X' ~) p
1 @) J. c* z& f" u! L$ LNagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
, t' ~5 c! z5 O6 R4 Z
( r8 g; [4 \1 B4 w+ T
Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
1 F0 ]7 a* Q6 f" D
: k) p6 L: n }- F! tNagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
. y8 K& @* s% U& b5 B% C
' m: D) S+ T. F" k. M$ L7 _3 {
Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
9 Z# o2 ]; g2 E+ s- Z
5 a9 i) _# U$ E1 F: j; s6 {
. f: Z* f1 |' N' D7 O o% ?2 A
Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
; _5 {9 X4 P; t( _' H/ V
have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
# V5 A; V, k& Itherefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
. @" I) d m" k9 |! |+ h' A' e
recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
6 q5 P9 [# n1 H. T/ \DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
3 m# U+ K: I6 X/ h
recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
' U; J$ { [+ ^- C
truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
6 P7 U- `8 Y D: _; Ube possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
5 o! \* O7 \2 Nelectronics and be very expensive.
! d8 h9 J, N, i/ B! j
) u8 u- O' v/ l3 m: l( T$ K* ~: }$ g& F0 x8 c0 t
Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
- P6 Q" u" W8 d' @8 F$ k/ Z; p# b! B T J1 G' O& H L
) t! r! ?" I' ]8 `, d y+ H
Tape for the Nagra SN
" u# y3 A j4 ], n( H4 }. N- j( [+ O8 N+ T6 S5 \' V& F
) N i6 r2 s3 R* U
I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
3 X% m6 x) n9 Y* ~1 T
the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
$ p" z: d9 v+ a) N
wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
! [4 g6 `8 s* v# q
tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
8 ~$ A5 a6 `" z5 j7 V5 P( c) _
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
1 X- b5 {3 y: n8 A8 U6 g7 n8 w3 _+ n
the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
0 k! G8 h! {6 X. d
several pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
3 \1 J7 J4 }4 @5 [
onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
8 B) L/ N: o0 ?. x. cthings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
; Q c! y. i# {4 P8 u+ w4 L9 v
VERY silly money.
4 i& g b7 ~+ N) N) r, x. ^ S
8 \1 d3 V6 P! ~$ C5 ~' A$ r6 P6 Z+ G. l* s- P: b6 \- Y& l