Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
' t9 f4 k+ _. _+ f' y* K
the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
! g2 ~( A9 j* i/ E s) N. ` x- Othe transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
" |5 z! }$ u* R/ W; `machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
3 G: e3 t1 o5 a& x5 k0 u) o
7 z# b) P! | C" ]0 e2 r(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
- X. ]" F. x, X
: D; h" D! ^" I( k/ Y$ V- i2 j3 W6 A- }
Click on either of the above images for more information.
; Z7 Y+ z- h$ y: f
+ n, w8 W' u! f: i7 g$ j- N$ V
/ s' |* \6 b1 Z: N& f
* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
( {$ i' K1 ]: L& Q& C2 H
beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
8 I# }" G# x$ r' S& [! P7 h2 r) F
There are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
- _# A7 D7 c/ q. i& R& e0 C3 d' `. L) k4 H) j; K$ m
! R" o" x2 m4 Y2 k5 R" s
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
9 [1 k% @* Q. @8 J: ~- P" N) e1 y9 m: P/ f
Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
' x+ y" f! V% k- D. `/ \ e9 D, v0 z" i# \, ^1 Z
Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
8 F, z5 C) |! b1 Z# E
! U9 P: y6 p. d q: ]) U8 {& O7 @
Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
m# ~3 H1 W( o3 E+ w! } p! ?$ b$ A. J) u: a- d; f
$ E4 V! I7 Z7 a$ b& jApparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
/ u9 M! G$ n* R# w3 j5 W. Bhave some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
* b- x6 b- l& }therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
, o# T) J5 E7 D! r0 C8 R1 k
recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
7 K/ u& Y5 k. E& H) l3 C( VDSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
& D& g' w' i( y' ]; U4 l* K0 ?recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
% T/ @; F; |8 V+ \' O6 G) c, ntruly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
$ L9 e. L% D/ i* i. l; H0 f
be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
7 x; t6 y# F2 l. I/ t: }
electronics and be very expensive.
]7 Z# ^: Q: E) R+ P( Z, A7 h, a0 F# [
+ m @ ]% B s
, n% J! Z" ~6 x' j t# tCheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
: ^1 b0 t9 G4 U z4 }, v+ s1 V
; A" {6 ?2 X5 i" m* K
Tape for the Nagra SN
% ~+ f; h+ p$ r
8 {8 Z, e+ L, K# C- T4 L4 d
; f. \: A9 K5 ~1 b: xI have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
' H; y! J/ e |. F5 ]
the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
, ^! |) c0 U% {) K5 twanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
/ m5 T, J* f! g$ i5 i) otape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
! F* `; }$ q( `, Y1 B# m# V6 n'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
/ r, v* Z' x# Zthe cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
8 z& Y# w9 ^$ Z8 {" r( o9 B6 |
several pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
% w0 K( o% T5 y1 f# zonto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
' `. W2 {- F9 q/ pthings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
, [, K1 v+ h3 l
VERY silly money.
& d! w& d! Z( v, W$ @, @: j7 N" i" e6 u: v
R& x$ T& ]6 L