Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
+ F+ H2 A- K4 J+ f: D
the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
$ u2 K& U: u9 o/ j* ]8 a0 i7 rthe transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
S% z! |" L4 W9 W( f% p# Omachines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
: D/ C* X1 Q' A$ i( F/ J- c
6 e, l. _% s" |$ |3 O& }$ W& G7 ?(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
3 t: {- l0 v, \. C, c0 v3 ]+ A: R; k8 g. i8 W
0 `/ c' Q/ A$ o* n5 V% i
Click on either of the above images for more information.
3 v5 W! a' p, T8 T
( F3 I2 v% u, c. a) i9 J8 E) Z5 h; \# r
* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
1 \& z2 ~, w+ O& Ybeware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
3 K3 o/ S0 j: i
There are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
: r3 r# Z7 X0 r$ E3 x* }- Q
9 @1 D4 T8 K- I! z8 w& i/ w2 o1 y/ M
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
/ H5 {, b2 {* g7 t) v' V; O0 l
7 ^: H8 }" Z0 C+ \# lNagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
+ y, d l- S& u- n$ E
u# k) ?1 B) WNagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
R9 F/ U! c7 o. b8 y
# G7 Y5 C+ ^. ], B4 sNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
% I6 W4 {: Y j/ r$ q, v {4 L1 ~" U: _: I, w; ?
) d; A$ T; n8 {* p
Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
6 \7 A3 \' C% r7 T9 l8 c
have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
6 c1 p; P V6 a% T$ s9 o: wtherefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
9 v( U1 S0 e) g1 F8 G$ `0 mrecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
' D9 A2 r1 ~7 d
DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
z" y3 q' j) nrecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
; l( f2 j' @; a, K
truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
* X% h: `& `0 B* t
be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
1 g: Z% g) J3 ]$ S7 s$ F# e
electronics and be very expensive.
; x' l1 a2 \/ \) H# m& g0 i2 N# |6 I' E7 V4 e& N
- W# t, u# J' R) B
Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
) I! ?; F( W9 w; d0 c! q, s: y' b" U1 t+ i4 Z+ L( `& z5 P9 Z
8 a; `. T- [, W$ p: o5 e
Tape for the Nagra SN
/ T4 Q5 R2 J. }5 j, {
9 }/ o2 {1 O1 R$ I+ T
5 b! B" j" F/ q; yI have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
7 \5 m0 d8 c$ j% E( [7 jthe little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
$ W& `9 }2 l& R" o% b( N# \wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
( ?' G' \5 k! E' V$ R2 y
tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
( w% Q8 k. a% @1 @'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
9 V* y1 ]- D1 bthe cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
6 b" h. X2 g- _4 P, c4 ]several pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
8 F$ I5 ?" K( J, {* P8 Sonto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
% U& F, b$ Y3 f& r+ ^
things may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
: m; U: d/ y. B$ A0 t8 A& U, a6 h
VERY silly money.
. y2 k. O9 u- ?$ E5 ~+ S7 s7 @, F/ p1 a l8 P
. D) I" {' S6 G+ g! F1 Y