Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
, x8 v' K5 `0 Y3 b1 W) a, Ythe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
& V5 R- M$ y$ }2 c8 X; Dthe transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
5 o/ ?9 X3 C5 j; q: g* _. lmachines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
3 l5 V8 ]4 Z/ g1 s* w! E/ i
; s$ _- Q# j- X, o; t* m(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
* o4 d; \/ {/ v# b" m
5 Z/ h, k' J& J) }1 x0 U! R/ a+ x9 l! m: U1 z3 H% {
Click on either of the above images for more information.
5 Z' ~7 Y7 X3 K
, B% x9 i: n5 \; f" m* ~4 n" n% j3 \0 y O3 _, }
* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
- A) ~# L& b7 w
beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
5 `' N% h! `9 k$ d
There are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
- p6 h3 U7 e) e8 N# S; b! Z
$ r0 T* w- u6 w3 V& b& a8 T; n- O, F, P
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
7 z; o6 o0 K) w, }' [: v
* ]# o, \7 ^4 i4 k) e9 ]
Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
+ g; H$ X: V% v, b7 H
; }1 @/ S7 R! v7 {Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
7 t. a5 F$ E9 Y, i) z$ W1 _, ^2 q: t3 D' M" B
Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
; X9 ?0 d5 R+ J! R5 N
; K& ~) N$ j, R" a$ ]; _
# B- `7 U) f% ? R. K+ L% Y9 zApparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
; X9 ?8 M9 Y5 G& r2 w+ Q
have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
- w; k0 q, b* F) B3 L( u8 e0 M8 a* ^
therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
4 z, K& Q4 @8 j% urecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
7 g5 s. f ^8 Y6 ~. K _, M* O7 a8 b9 TDSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
: V+ \# r" O: ^: x" E5 ?# K( krecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
& _& l# z# x _. j
truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
( d. X; K; `8 _7 T8 V: q6 F
be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
3 k% n, T' J8 Q2 _: L
electronics and be very expensive.
% r. s) G% ^: P4 }
1 a! O! W4 D& ]& D
9 v$ k6 R: h; A! @Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
, T9 B; I( f8 v
9 U% z' n$ y( ?1 N7 c4 n- r) W! y" X% E1 R5 N; v0 i* a
Tape for the Nagra SN
7 Z6 I5 D6 Z4 B( Y8 B. b# G
6 b: }/ W+ G \
* L$ L( i4 A' L$ nI have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
0 q0 g) x: [* A% N" V+ othe little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
4 w9 p4 \* _4 f. K" g9 B" lwanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
3 p g, y( m2 J! _. Ttape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
9 C. {( l* x6 K, L; b% ?'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
; y- L" h2 }- V5 z3 q: q" nthe cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
4 W! F0 T( y' Lseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
3 G( O" n( y# jonto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
8 E: T; x q, J. H" Tthings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
8 B) J9 g$ W+ G7 | J; s1 m& P
VERY silly money.
; b9 N/ s3 K# k! M/ i
* E7 W) l' s: b) Y I0 G- w
/ Z, j1 W( G( F