Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
1 q8 k, I0 x6 C( l4 [the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
( F2 m1 ~: r3 h- pthe 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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& \6 F6 S! x4 O(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
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+ b+ J* X J5 {, G! t8 cClick on either of the above images for more information.
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$ T" I' i- i; d; E5 a* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
8 k) N7 I+ F% J- `/ Z! |) P) O; \beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
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There 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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Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
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# B$ ^% J1 E9 P# @6 G2 B: rNagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
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7 g A! l7 ]2 K, |: I& uNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
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6 I7 L; U9 E# SApparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
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have 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
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recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
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the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
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be 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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2 W, I- [$ _# t' jI have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
+ K. |5 H8 y# I2 ]; Othe 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
9 \4 Y4 X0 A& f% D+ |tape 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
7 O2 \- }7 z/ c& f6 p) W2 {* @9 fseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
~: M" W; P. V4 s, Z5 Y7 p. ]onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
% u _1 E# s7 N3 b2 F, o( Z0 J, l5 Ithings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
2 S% J$ N9 ^$ c. ~0 p8 r1 w$ fVERY silly money.
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