Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
+ d2 H" L i4 Ethe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
: G3 R3 U! f, P- T# z1 e) a lthe transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
% I" p$ q6 f" c5 F R" `4 l- O/ |machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
! a7 a! E% L! \& p
9 ^( |; p2 g; V4 n, r
(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
0 j) x, P V" A7 V2 f6 V
- v0 l( ^$ W/ g6 t1 w( Q# E; Z7 {- f8 W' I
Click on either of the above images for more information.
8 W+ _8 D$ Q, {% ~7 g# J
6 R6 j X0 U1 m. K' G: S0 h3 @% f% d' t" ?
* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
. O6 e6 n. @$ W# B2 Y
beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
/ u( j7 J* n& @6 BThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
! w& \/ q1 J' q# m. ~0 U/ u
' _/ M. Y |4 T/ h2 Y" Q- R) N
8 N6 ^& Q! M; Q* @1 BNagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
6 D; Z' z4 d# v( |7 B: E( E
6 t, z, y* Z1 z# U' w% r
Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
/ t0 k- V, M( `1 f# H) q) I3 ?
+ X) ]4 X3 a) @, A+ J! @2 CNagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
" m7 p# W- K7 O7 f
! g7 x$ x) C3 F6 O: n0 C4 xNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
q5 K I0 @; D: x o
/ {# T+ E+ p1 ^" E
. B6 d) h- J( n5 ]' h; g5 AApparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
0 \9 j4 |2 X1 s$ k$ w0 k U mhave some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
+ J$ T+ _7 n c1 T) s: Ytherefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
: ~+ ^0 {6 m/ h% Y$ W9 F: xrecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
$ O2 Z5 N& T4 J+ e
DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
6 _& P' I+ a! K0 e2 grecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
% ]4 H) ]: J- p# p: ]5 P
truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
$ a# z+ R! ?( C3 D! h( H( }be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
7 l! H- P% H! g* U1 J g' b
electronics and be very expensive.
' u/ A6 G) W2 m' |2 t& Z4 v! h8 m' j, n
+ L/ k. _8 N% K( H% f1 E7 oCheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
& m& a6 s% h4 \% N
0 N4 t! C% K& h$ K" Y9 B3 z$ M2 h" q8 ^+ E' n9 Z
Tape for the Nagra SN
1 I( u) U/ V# @+ F. F% z/ G! {
# [7 M+ w$ O' z% H+ h4 Y8 y7 H* l6 u2 M1 u5 \$ \4 d- }& j
I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
6 v" V1 l1 A4 R7 e6 p* w. ~5 R5 x1 nthe little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
5 F [+ m! K. X* Z8 n5 q; B. N4 Hwanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
L" l/ u& u' B: G7 Q) l& Qtape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
# _8 H% `) g3 n
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
( l) k9 D/ r" x
the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
7 G+ @9 C4 U x6 D2 Z! M; N
several pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
# j4 g: K" K1 [3 Konto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
" i/ @* d) ]+ |+ ]things may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
/ K! P, x0 [& d8 i+ G! Y3 UVERY silly money.
5 ^6 [) C5 ~& i+ K
" R) r0 Y4 f/ S' t2 v
: s# u, K5 C: k1 ^. H; y