Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
( k/ L& X C% i; J# tthe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
- G# I0 V1 ?/ }6 f Q* M$ v& ythe transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
( q: `8 h8 R/ x5 l+ ]machines, 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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Click on either of the above images for more information.
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* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
) L) U6 D* E* _6 p' cbeware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
1 }6 V3 M9 r: Y; g& t* TThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
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Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
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! N- f, Q4 U. J: j3 [' DNagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
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Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
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Nagra 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
& N6 L% z7 a( r' @therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
: a- D6 S$ z: ^8 T' a( w7 R& ^ Urecording 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
6 Y! v% ^ [; Y3 m3 i9 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
) D( ]- \1 q& C' O* B" E5 t( Dbe possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
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electronics and be very expensive.
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Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
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Tape for the Nagra SN
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I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
V- G5 o7 m6 T7 Othe little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
! b# \8 K' T/ y: y1 ^/ g9 D! y& Pwanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
. O+ {. E' i5 f+ g, o ftape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
+ t$ e- H8 z5 D# X5 y) B'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
( @$ F+ i: J# c6 m+ ^) Nthe cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
1 }* ~; x# }+ G6 J5 R# Yseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
$ [; Q2 J: O# h4 Aonto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
! H% r# y, _& kthings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
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VERY silly money.
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