Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
: T3 R$ ~# x) ]* ethe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
2 j( k( j2 q* h$ ?
the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
6 P, s9 L3 G3 [7 omachines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
0 O& j. [7 L% ~2 C/ _
4 s: d$ Z; V2 }' D/ r( B7 H(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
& L5 {* J- k2 A1 a6 R# |
1 r* V. s7 s4 Z9 u7 a% V" f& P' p& O' E2 _' ?9 r$ [
Click on either of the above images for more information.
1 v3 d6 L# h0 d8 S2 ~7 j
/ B7 _2 o2 E5 x, m' h2 I( s! I( Z" k* P* a$ j1 V
* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
1 j( _1 b) b) i4 I+ |- q$ Q+ Xbeware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
* z4 o" J) j3 ~6 S% {There are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
3 T% y/ o( V# L0 U4 |7 ?% ]
+ o4 R6 M: ~0 L% M4 O
' L* x) l3 P# q, ~Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
0 f. R( ~. ^. k
1 _2 |7 `6 x/ \
Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
3 y6 ?" z0 w& u2 N
, E8 P9 v( \% w) r* S3 i8 N3 |Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
`' q+ h: A+ q. }: J3 ?* F
P) ?6 \4 A1 M, r' `& G# SNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
0 _ N. U) {1 U2 B6 o1 e
7 Y) }8 b0 P3 T" K
# B0 Z6 v% h& g* _& o! LApparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
7 F; u9 a6 Y3 t8 Mhave some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
" i6 `& | @+ Y9 I5 I( ?
therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
' t- L7 A' N; ]4 V6 ]- Irecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
$ c( W+ N9 `2 c' Z- W
DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
, `/ C5 ^+ c8 b! q# A3 W
recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
5 I* J u8 j* G! D' ?9 r+ s7 v
truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
) j$ U z6 B R* s
be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
; b9 ?1 }8 j# l
electronics and be very expensive.
( }/ k. d% B+ i% F, e
9 k+ P- |2 x1 }& m l8 r
6 }( }( F `; K2 H/ ]
Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
# F# ^0 D/ W- S
7 w" X: f! B# D6 h: S% }
' `: v' ?! Q. K+ ~Tape for the Nagra SN
# c- N6 ?! U" [8 _
2 {8 f" _/ b* Y3 M8 s
. i3 J6 `2 [- ^9 [I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
. V, [. ]& C; Z/ `3 n* l& e8 n+ n5 othe little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
c5 Y, o% C; T! F, |+ }" V$ g _* [
wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
3 |! D( Y# Y# ]9 E
tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
# Y2 Y; Q9 L+ c" W1 ^0 n' u
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
+ k( u8 W5 b3 y' H
the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
; N; n5 f# p5 t: h$ a% k
several pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
) H9 v/ b* Q/ v! ` ?2 ~/ \7 s4 ~
onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
# l( [& k" @7 s+ n$ I
things may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
1 ~1 h( R4 B% i
VERY silly money.
& M* D, V4 u) [! B# B, ^4 x
; b, Z/ z) Z* F' o# F! @' A5 p# U- t, c( u0 p