Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
0 e* d! a6 u- y8 z+ Q/ B
the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
7 ?9 C3 |. g4 D! h4 j6 @+ `1 tthe transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
: B' m6 _0 ^6 j5 C [8 Q' q( ~
machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
) u9 d3 F( I* @; I7 [
`: h. x2 O! g5 w! E. ]
(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
# F! B" Y2 ^* E z
# h6 `; v3 V/ A, O$ D& Y) j9 M8 `. P% o. ]& X. S; ?
Click on either of the above images for more information.
, {, m: v1 T: @1 X
2 j+ Y) d. Y( |5 X. V+ i( B9 Q. [3 l5 T
* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
& U8 a+ h1 ~1 R N3 J* ~& tbeware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
( \6 u) `/ J4 H* S- Z( _' s" ZThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
2 Z, N9 Q' H% }* s9 L7 M1 ~. d: l$ D f
$ T l4 d4 o3 g" N0 I! ^8 @0 mNagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
* l( T. W! @( o1 Q& O# @# h1 i+ {2 ?- W, N3 f
Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
3 Z& e1 T1 n; w: y
$ Z1 _. }# j0 Y8 w1 D3 w" yNagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
5 I& q* v7 D& y0 T
! T3 v8 b2 Z8 _% b8 f
Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
5 x8 T5 s2 _" ~) f7 ] u+ k/ Y1 @+ Y8 ?
- i0 x( i8 m1 n: S0 T7 F
Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
U2 Z9 ?. ~+ o. t8 s! ?0 {
have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
2 e. _4 J, g: U* D' n1 p# z7 G9 Ttherefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
4 ?! ^0 J9 I* g& C3 k: E7 V
recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
* V) U; h% }3 P
DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
1 y/ N) ]3 v% d( ^5 v
recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
1 B' n0 g$ R- ?4 w
truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
1 ]/ r3 G" w. {) _2 d6 Qbe possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
' w0 }& H' a/ b, x+ ^( a( W) belectronics and be very expensive.
! K1 L8 L9 D( G$ E$ Z, F
- B7 U' Y4 `, u- L/ n+ j3 s% \2 L4 f5 R P9 H5 x0 j
Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
- }1 A, u G1 v1 Y; A+ M* {* h
% v/ F* f8 d% y, {" a
# U( N( A" u' |1 p% NTape for the Nagra SN
) L3 j U# y9 {: [8 J
$ J6 P8 H/ x! a( O# D7 d
! e$ h- r5 O% r$ s: ~0 iI have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
) z5 d$ D; K- a j3 Cthe little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
9 Y2 H. W2 Y& @0 c7 n$ Q7 s
wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
" ~3 s0 s" c* vtape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
+ J: x5 p0 m; H) I q+ q
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
& t8 w' H) ]0 Hthe cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
d: V6 @" j4 m
several pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
& T& n0 A* D% z4 [
onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
0 c6 ?$ x3 t9 k3 z7 {
things may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
. [" O* O3 d$ ~" ~1 KVERY silly money.
/ S. z2 W0 `; K* c& f* D& g7 h
# Q2 P$ C1 U; O9 Q+ A+ g
% l5 V0 _$ l! C5 N( V7 R