Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
+ `0 T3 V0 ] l4 \9 C0 jthe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
) o# O A$ F0 j( i* \the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
7 _$ I- U }! X- [5 I: v3 n1 z. `machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
/ ?* v( P) ?" o ?
. {5 O8 C8 y8 x! D; i
(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
9 R G3 \- V: B6 k9 z m5 S. ]6 V
+ a0 X0 o/ g$ J; I( D. g4 S. aClick on either of the above images for more information.
+ c, L5 |$ {% M1 i1 X; r
( Z Q: _2 R- D4 z5 Q c1 F! D
* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
- k( x; z3 T5 k* W! @4 [* c# h8 fbeware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
' E9 ?, F. g( r, C5 r, oThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
" F* I* {7 B2 Z: A/ J, G% t5 A: n7 d/ d! f4 a
4 @) i) N: k' n+ l! ]6 |
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
1 X' C# Y1 R: ~+ `& N3 t9 m
J! K* J Z' u" r
Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
3 P s8 q' Y& Y \8 I1 W" K/ L N- A, O5 i5 k
Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
& _% J. j0 v0 R4 s6 M5 m
4 [$ ^0 H5 c6 R
Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
: R& n* @+ \& T# F! l; p# g! T
4 B3 o( v3 b% Q p2 I- |9 V9 h
8 u7 j& Z7 f4 a" Q5 S( m/ XApparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
- q, E8 \7 B& L8 X: b2 L: k2 g; Nhave some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
9 \" w0 c2 D ~& ], Ntherefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
! G( O3 i |7 U0 V1 vrecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
3 C; {2 S. S6 m+ m" [, {DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
$ K8 a; m0 ^/ ~recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
, n; a! x! |1 ~2 z3 struly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
: X* n# V; h% @2 y5 P
be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
# G. P! H- N& felectronics and be very expensive.
8 e+ e% b5 b- o1 A F, O( K" K1 X
7 S0 N; @$ `" S Q9 U# M
8 Y9 A# m+ c) B8 s
Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
1 I/ z% W- Z5 q6 Z- z
2 N/ V* E) J$ e; o2 C
! z5 V v6 W$ J6 x. C3 I# `2 z
Tape for the Nagra SN
5 [* \9 F0 d# i3 a3 S6 F" [. x4 P7 {, _% Y
- r2 X8 r: ~2 @$ q* w
I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
1 Z: e6 S( h& k0 `the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
, L u; T& s( r+ \" p4 w7 c( F
wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
2 ]0 N. N6 O; s9 E7 ^: g6 vtape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
/ M! M2 y5 F) i8 Z; `! G# E/ k
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
1 |* |9 Q8 _$ t$ d
the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
* N; I: W9 W* V4 _( Wseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
2 y: o( d# v$ o3 \( B" S& k ^onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
& K( N H9 |# Fthings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
0 r- X/ G7 i1 J2 X
VERY silly money.
$ m$ v& r R4 E& ~& ?# n8 f
; T; D ^; q5 O; g+ `! {/ B4 R
0 ?7 j. R6 U. C; c! Y