Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
2 ~; X3 X$ K1 a; x, ^7 l6 X, y, vthe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
& f+ Y1 F V" I# e. A: othe transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
g7 Y6 Y. o1 X( E& N! fmachines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
0 m T& [' ^: N2 I
8 U- s4 s/ Q4 {+ X: t' ?1 t
(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
T! b5 F/ J4 E" G9 y X. V7 T8 `+ f$ B2 i9 |$ i
. i9 z- J* A- g- }' C4 n
Click on either of the above images for more information.
0 H! a' r% O- L) v+ G* V* w5 P
' g$ c. N7 K B g, F& h" t" U
, i' Q* b* O, N4 N; N4 ?7 {* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
2 A' s& I% e! Q/ ~; x; {( o
beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
. D0 U( T/ K2 E: F% o, vThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
. m$ E! W; x+ u; \+ `4 _1 w. Z" P* D5 [' L3 r+ w3 Z6 A
* W/ B- ?* o5 iNagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
1 L! z( {8 N9 c( R
8 z' k$ ]$ ]2 j7 a5 R9 \ G) p/ G) F0 NNagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
4 U M9 V R8 h# C3 J: r ]
3 K+ j0 x8 t: i* fNagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
+ U; K& F0 V' J0 V& l8 u2 a9 y3 E& k4 E
Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
) B1 u3 }0 ~3 `- Q0 S
% t$ K9 w! n9 C0 X
, K1 P- X( z7 G p. ?) L
Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
( r5 E0 f) i0 @) u# R
have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
9 h: m0 W) w9 j$ U
therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
2 }0 V& Z; T9 F6 N" t
recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
) ~9 y& j$ n5 \2 q+ C+ q9 ~+ g& q
DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
# t% c. p$ h9 j8 D- e4 Y) Mrecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
3 y% d9 G. T4 \* Otruly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
. [* ~9 h/ U O- i9 Lbe possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
Z3 ?0 i. I; G, V" [
electronics and be very expensive.
8 k9 l: t$ k1 F6 G+ \* e& m2 U9 K3 R1 m% `
2 T3 K1 p* ~& J0 [& m( |, A6 Y; ]Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
1 T9 M1 y0 v, \% f7 E
2 Q; Y, k9 V, W' o, I0 y: r! v1 T7 m
Tape for the Nagra SN
) `) f0 ]0 K; _/ C6 f' u/ m* g$ e$ R4 z7 s0 j
! \0 h7 K9 k% u- S' {8 B+ LI have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
( u0 t) e% ]( i! K: m, O
the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
6 E J& N2 H; b8 W4 `wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
+ b4 b" |5 M( F! W
tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
% h" ] U, }4 O! l( u
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
5 l2 R k8 e; U5 v0 L: A, q- g
the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
' }6 K7 o) o( E( N3 ^
several pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
* q0 X, F6 I+ g" H) D6 ^# wonto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
1 g. {) ~, W( S7 O! S/ Vthings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
; i7 a5 ?8 {1 K2 {
VERY silly money.
. p4 D! w' s7 L
+ h! ?/ L( y( O" f
" |6 z0 G7 Z9 G* Y7 {! F% G4 T4 o