Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
& Z7 Q( L+ n/ P
the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
6 N. S; s9 k# N- k9 W
the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
! |( a1 R, v$ N/ T
machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
3 h3 F7 A# d& `. Q' o& e; E" j0 ^$ _: b& U$ Z0 [
(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
8 o2 k* ~, w$ x+ Q) P1 F3 N2 \3 h) E5 v" `5 x
( P2 @8 Y$ A- N" I% M6 o9 H, N* HClick on either of the above images for more information.
- _- ]& D4 X! I
9 J d) \# Q. \" y. Y9 s. E3 g6 f; t: m* J# U6 m
* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
* s! a6 G, o. ?, B6 N4 kbeware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
" \0 v# v) T; h" G5 kThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
$ i- U! A6 J- D* h$ l! |: W
: r; J: d! E& m
3 e" q [6 L/ j$ nNagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
0 ^; K* k" q$ G/ b( O7 d j. L- {
7 @0 w6 Q3 y& _9 a% w& g) kNagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
8 E6 Z+ y. F" h, B+ T; B
( w( B, t5 u% X, F9 r' s. w' a( cNagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
6 r8 C7 |8 Q5 e" ?
# u) u4 `' I- F/ B' Y8 YNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
9 X" T* R1 ~& j# I6 w
' w4 Z1 h4 o& b$ L$ h; k+ \
3 h' t4 U( h6 ? g! \5 |6 @Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
: ~' X% P: x- V3 K6 g* [) F( f* _have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
; f/ j7 k5 A- i4 `+ B( E7 k. G% A
therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
- D( x/ Y6 I0 K" g9 d
recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
9 l# c/ j$ \* I* @( X5 l e: `4 n! ~DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
' p: d7 _6 C' y1 k9 ]recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
# s) f0 S Q/ e
truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
5 S$ n( K1 D2 W. R gbe possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
/ m& s9 i8 S4 ?9 O, Jelectronics and be very expensive.
$ F/ ?( w* M4 J* {" \* K, |+ L/ o1 a1 h* F; Y. d" e4 U
: E4 |' O8 e' X0 |* o* k" j
Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
' m1 L# g; Y' s2 p
( f) C- l1 q4 J0 N5 g7 ]& V0 e) a
( F! X; R7 @2 S1 B. hTape for the Nagra SN
2 _& B$ L% q' ~3 V
2 ~9 e& k# [8 T
0 n& C$ m7 f# a
I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
6 u4 B6 I3 W* _0 D
the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
) T) v; W. y4 r* Z( I( u* b2 I3 X
wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
' j$ N- p# T# v1 J6 {' V% ztape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
4 a2 E) |2 G" a0 ^
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
' ?# H4 N! I2 g6 y( xthe cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
8 }, j7 F8 T7 {3 e$ F/ A3 h0 \several pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
! i+ J) t3 o, R9 \% \
onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
+ f) k8 w, B4 [" fthings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
1 @3 X5 p; Y/ v2 I n7 g0 D/ U+ ZVERY silly money.
- L; o! x& |2 ?
) r6 s$ l$ l$ ?' I4 ^) I- y9 W
9 J; {' g: y* @4 M5 ~