Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
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the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
+ P: q( p: j- {; v# K# Kthe transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
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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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: S$ p8 Z/ ^9 s3 f$ mClick 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
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beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
3 K. i1 A8 j& @2 aThere 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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. M8 r* I i' V. O; ^! [Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
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8 ^: G; Q3 e) B" ]# X5 P$ g5 z8 E! J( ]Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
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, T4 K5 s, c8 J. k% u8 NNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
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: D3 w6 [5 a2 j/ Z9 k5 }Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
7 A ]& L- t1 X4 x. rhave 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
9 Q5 R+ ^! o% n8 e6 v) K1 Q2 s) Frecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
2 C/ a( h9 w- a7 I- s7 Wtruly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
: ~6 x/ T: A0 W/ S& vbe 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
9 u9 Q0 y' `) ?the 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
- w. K6 P z, E6 }& H7 f. g% ntape 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
4 j( E% m0 d& r/ O& ]: |) lseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
" t) r& \' o& R( xonto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
6 P. |4 ]" V/ ]- C9 Mthings 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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