Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
: |. v( Z8 J9 l
the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
V& Q" q9 C0 Q" D4 k
the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
7 o! R e7 b6 n9 cmachines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
" A: j3 q3 q, N! Y2 [+ s
" v# M9 v* q8 I. u* O0 S* V
(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
% A; t( [4 \5 k3 Y
! b, a& P& }( s/ i8 G5 T) w( _2 |# \' |3 @8 n$ Z+ g
Click on either of the above images for more information.
, }7 X6 f3 y7 W3 |) ^: c9 r i% p: z* s7 q
, }* n3 m; \. B ^
* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
/ y% ]% |. [9 x4 _4 r0 \* D
beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
5 R- A: T. w' f" \' i9 C9 [+ LThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
7 P& h6 ~) ~+ n& l
, h0 E0 f* c3 Q9 a* Q% c' K9 u- {9 P1 d0 _; x
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
3 I- }) a) Y* ^/ R6 c* B' I# q2 t* c8 L( n M" q, \
Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
+ D2 H- W0 ~9 {+ Y" B
1 S( H, x' J* \3 _6 dNagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
# O) b! N) S+ S+ X
5 q0 h1 T& w5 i2 Y6 LNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
+ [' N, ~. t* _ q+ L. _7 W& X" D
! W5 Q" y5 h6 E, s1 i) H! I* Z" I0 g0 v
Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
: N- v( j c) t, g! i3 G" G/ hhave some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
; G" I# I$ d# g9 Y: y6 O- Etherefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
& U( G3 U0 I' \0 Z N" [; s. a3 jrecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
- Z4 W/ j8 h w7 u2 p
DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
! ~4 A6 D/ A: e' ?; w
recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
L3 c. w; R6 x) y5 B' n G2 \
truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
0 k7 p2 i: I8 Qbe possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
/ |, O5 N* M5 }( m/ D ]. Q4 F
electronics and be very expensive.
* e9 H! F: O4 M2 G( e4 ~$ p7 E* ]
& i! _/ v; q( v, T9 s- d7 i
( C9 c! F V! Y3 N9 N7 JCheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
8 H5 j Q6 S% T; U& S" K
6 I8 [/ v l4 z# d4 u5 E
5 z8 b) ~! T. e4 K2 l- K# RTape for the Nagra SN
& d) t% K/ }4 M, T) I0 i
/ n, l; J9 x8 B7 t9 V5 ~; h+ P6 l& Y( ^3 S, _
I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
2 n, |: |2 {% G3 C
the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
" J$ L- i$ b3 B4 G2 H
wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
( q* k8 z+ n4 i# ~, R; J% d
tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
. r( D2 M) c+ _# d* w2 X
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
0 h: z' R- M% v( U# k/ U) d0 Xthe cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
. R$ Z2 n( c1 pseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
7 L% R5 S& \& Z- t1 v
onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
9 ~6 e1 q$ ]6 K7 ?5 f1 n1 `: P6 {things may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
( _5 Q% Y* T9 q: w8 x& GVERY silly money.
& |7 F5 S9 V7 X0 `( N
- d; e# E+ h# o3 ~7 N& y/ j. A4 E. \% t6 H9 U9 ?, v* P7 O- M