Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
+ u, u9 h( s, R1 J0 sthe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
# j; `' X3 x4 l
the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
) c. l- _: w4 D
machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
8 D/ c. K, O) k" Y
7 Y# i! U) r/ t3 U1 _, ~3 F& q4 a8 Q- o(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
* k6 i1 U3 I& e
% f) T! H; u- g+ f% E' s( W) \# N" p: ]1 {
Click on either of the above images for more information.
+ N+ s$ F3 Y: d' |4 `0 N& J
9 v4 s1 Q( o7 i" p1 c" Y; z# M$ k
+ w! Z; r( m9 z, f& F5 k: `* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
5 `( z5 o3 ?7 H# N" i/ v' g2 |beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
; L) d( Z7 T- N9 u3 Y/ D o' eThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
) `9 Q" I$ i6 {) |4 |* _: o I+ H8 `7 k5 m4 C% G
* R5 R! \0 U& N. j0 KNagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
7 s: j2 t" D- T( l `0 t4 T5 Q% f- D3 m& w4 c
Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
' N! m- R' r& P' P+ A
% y" P6 ?7 E- D, lNagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
0 i' b( d1 ^6 a5 ?
% y5 c m7 ?" @Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
, r' ]! q3 U& }! V" o; h+ N5 N# d0 \
4 p/ E8 p8 z/ n# q8 w" J+ U/ R% E+ W5 E- O1 `. ~6 }; a
Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
. [5 x; Z% I: f' f. Z2 c9 P# rhave some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
5 Z6 f* s2 F* Y* h) ~4 R, \0 i$ ctherefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
4 O( ?' S- s0 s7 f
recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
2 h, i' ^$ I, B; P& L+ \4 ]DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
) E; x8 n4 w8 k& \5 V. A8 }, K: qrecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
+ j$ ~* e$ y) W7 _truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
# f/ u2 y- ^" T2 y4 W! Kbe possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
1 W" a: K, r8 G. ~: ~. Y0 Y) Relectronics and be very expensive.
2 O4 `7 ~8 y; q3 c$ D
+ }$ E7 [# Y8 y. W* Z
1 P" Q! ]' C4 F& Z2 y: P0 e6 J+ QCheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
5 |% s2 j9 N7 p! g }- T% k) d3 r
* s$ D; L) v5 [# P2 j. U
0 i6 u9 D* X: v- v5 vTape for the Nagra SN
Y, e4 d. p1 H7 J+ w
0 V8 f1 ~8 L& [( N2 a
! i. h$ ]3 P# b- b( iI have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
2 P4 _2 U! ]5 H, }1 L
the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
& n, n: s0 p. d9 G/ s9 v
wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
' h7 w3 ]& J# E* a3 Ztape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
4 j* k* @/ x; B+ A" ^& I' U# {' o6 T'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
' t$ ?5 p! t- [& p
the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
: M8 a; C2 U& x3 Aseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
% e/ r' b3 K% v" v3 Ronto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
W& I ?. c) z% Qthings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
' d$ s( o" Z0 N' b: x( X7 }8 {VERY silly money.
0 w# }, @1 [5 U7 x# a. S) B
- O6 O1 `0 `4 i% L7 O
( G1 e& O6 G5 X4 G( u8 |( w