Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
1 d. [1 n1 f" {. p7 O
the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
) l" f# C9 g9 L4 ]( j) [4 S1 ^
the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
8 S) C6 Q% s: q' }7 ]5 Pmachines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
4 O# h* Y3 i3 s' [( J U8 ~
; W6 W5 X6 S" ~4 ^/ {4 a
(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
/ B/ }5 S# c! c2 R3 H% i2 p
- q2 y8 F* _8 M% n x+ m" |6 Q" L# R7 P Z. S9 f
Click on either of the above images for more information.
% b" E. r. [. W( z
8 S* T3 y9 K: i+ u3 V7 m3 n0 l( r7 S
3 S0 b D+ U3 u/ P$ z& F6 ^* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
; W8 ?1 d. o' Xbeware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
$ b: ]3 u$ E. d; KThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
0 h% `0 E; N4 _ r2 Y$ T7 ]9 N% x9 H
- h. j" [2 X( k$ J7 e% oNagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
$ `0 ?( w9 D X _. X2 b( Z, }
7 z7 W6 i* S S: Z" g' ]- `- A
Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
/ @! t& ~$ b; V' B& p8 y
`6 C) @+ v8 c! [Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
, Z$ E8 v, |. j7 B' G5 n
: P0 x) K! a$ W/ O: Q7 eNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
L9 m. O! K& B0 g c8 B
) [7 D& L6 B0 c8 |* I* ^+ W0 ]/ @: C Q& @ i+ D1 v7 ~6 L
Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
) P! g. w7 n7 n7 C _# s
have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
( A1 H; p+ q5 f# m+ ptherefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
& q3 L/ e! @! g
recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
9 O- d( I, ]4 `( `' N7 q/ j1 N$ vDSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
. L9 P( {" J0 Z) E* _6 wrecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
/ \( q+ p# ^( o& y/ a" Q
truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
* N' \* C9 z$ G9 U% ?8 }) Xbe possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
: k2 k" R# B" _4 y& r+ e# z
electronics and be very expensive.
, \! m5 V& `9 u* O3 G) _
' g% J- Q$ L& Z1 G R
Y1 Z- i/ |3 f; y
Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
( u# {2 n, v; ]1 _2 {' J* @, A9 K" f' t4 ?$ C/ m2 U
/ @ u; f* Q+ f7 }2 w) E' e
Tape for the Nagra SN
& h3 E- \$ {. [+ x7 k
" [5 D2 U" ?- Y/ m, V
9 ` e8 S3 R+ A( w [5 u4 _I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
8 i {+ `* w8 F* ithe little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
4 g& ~2 a7 j [; |" H+ S$ p
wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
l% A4 t9 L3 n8 V
tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
u7 P( {2 g$ s6 [$ l'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
5 v. x: g9 `& R3 _6 H
the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
! K8 E0 d& n4 k
several pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
3 g" h y. d0 Y0 g+ _3 r6 L- m" Konto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
2 v9 ]! C8 C% {+ `+ q6 H. F7 wthings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
& J/ F/ ^# c# }% r' w: e; MVERY silly money.
. O; `1 H9 e7 o& f/ E k6 T8 X3 g, A/ s$ a+ O* M
+ {* T6 k' G! u* {# e9 }