Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
, j4 q3 {* h; m- p0 y) l; |the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
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the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
* m$ B1 Q( G: o5 y a. Pmachines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
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(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
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1 `# p( [7 Z* {0 T# `5 E; ?1 OClick on either of the above images for more information.
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. e" L* S- G M: T) r! B( L3 d7 _* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
7 v0 D7 `1 N! h0 e- i' S) dbeware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
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There are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
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I+ \. e; U$ Y2 p( [2 H+ eNagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
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Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
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/ n: O7 G5 C3 p; {0 W nNagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
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* `8 Z) X4 p5 Y( PNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
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Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
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have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
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optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
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recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
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DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
/ S) N& [% L* H/ @) Y+ P7 t6 mrecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
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truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
: Y4 u: U' b3 E$ W1 ~) m8 Wbe possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
! ?) G" ]0 e d" ~+ N3 N! B' helectronics and be very expensive.
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$ K* P6 ?& S6 a, [. ^0 ?0 NCheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
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# o) Q8 r+ m' L7 dTape for the Nagra SN
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$ G$ c7 ]3 M- p0 Z# aI have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
0 \! j# Z1 U t$ Z3 Qthe little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
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wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
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tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
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'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
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the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
! D, {' o2 M5 z9 E7 d, sseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
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onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
1 z! Y- g, ^8 {/ ^+ Z: B$ q! E3 rthings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
w2 }- d5 r6 _, m; GVERY silly money.
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