Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
$ |, i* U# ^( A6 I& @9 F6 D& _+ Xthe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
+ \( |4 u& W8 t4 i' rthe transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
6 W3 Z- I. @" }; l( w- tmachines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
: U* o& U2 P$ ?: F0 V2 L
2 |- J8 u! @3 }5 A(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
' m& K+ G1 h8 U$ A6 l* r3 C5 O
) y! V3 G& p0 }, Z- `5 F$ @
4 t+ {) k: c6 i# C) U" YClick on either of the above images for more information.
1 w3 n$ t @9 u" ]# k# C* k6 d
}% \7 ^9 e: X9 _" Q! M2 w, k1 T6 W; U/ F' i* ~
* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
; C6 n" X" T( ~. rbeware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
, t: ]9 A4 S. i
There are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
2 w. I/ _) W, a* i# E
- M" J$ F& {. C5 e }8 b- b
+ C3 E+ Z: K$ x }' w9 x9 ANagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
7 x$ _. b+ e: Y, D; L0 P
& V6 p+ t- A0 g9 Y! I1 c
Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
' Z4 R \$ ~: c* f' g0 u+ H& M( e/ Z) B9 s
Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
) q& s% Z1 u7 ~, C
! E& z& @) l' g& i
Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
$ p/ W3 }. {0 x3 N$ R! n# k& B5 W. t ^/ G: Z
, G4 j: f. L7 X8 k- j+ _: o. O
Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
0 q) U! h' ]9 rhave some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
+ \7 K% q5 M. b8 Q3 N; Ptherefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
+ U% a- _; W. E! X
recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
: X0 v5 T8 x, I& a6 W+ A0 J1 |
DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
. ? o9 U$ f1 b$ R: |( s% o5 rrecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
0 x' R$ A* Z. M# n/ i# N
truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
& A5 G4 K. {8 M9 s! ^) E3 e6 C
be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
7 [( q' ?! Y# \4 J3 C! V1 Aelectronics and be very expensive.
" F9 p& x d/ O
% z4 F5 j4 o( E
$ S# A- E/ b" c. G& P# jCheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
: P1 f6 B- H& I; Y" O8 v0 c; g' P s5 s1 V o' \
$ [: \" }/ q( L! w' f' ?% m* sTape for the Nagra SN
5 I. D5 I& i- o: c
0 t* x" E8 i8 X& @
' U. C0 F/ s6 [$ H3 K! |- ]I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
; o z6 J' C9 ~, x7 t7 `+ y0 ^/ o6 }the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
" O: c) b) a8 F H; X
wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
0 }( ]! x. {7 F5 }1 Ltape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
" M8 t: L: s! v( J7 ^
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
- o; D. ~4 d: m# v0 g6 s$ }+ sthe cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
+ j9 P" C. ?; Oseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
& S" g( v# ^0 ]5 e' Z
onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
+ ]' T, f2 ?8 L5 vthings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
2 {* o) D5 |. U. r! t& s1 [4 V# fVERY silly money.
) \8 i. t3 @) @! T: m6 h3 {
! p$ y+ X5 }( i" T& B }- y' Y p4 l% k, m, j3 s6 [" Y, ? v+ u