Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
7 H9 @; d* a. }4 b
the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
u) r0 k1 V3 k
the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
, m0 a) O y, M
machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
: i* H0 N* g Z% ?1 Z8 m3 q
' ]1 o) o! n6 W7 V% X% X(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
& P* c- G! b$ f; m; S8 ?6 k6 f+ j
, U6 a, {- b/ B( x* T$ N- d1 L- b4 F) ?& l) C
Click on either of the above images for more information.
9 c0 U. j9 ~7 } W2 M$ X$ Y9 n( y3 P# X! I) C* [
; u ?! U# S& k* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
; B; m/ }; y# S, {- |* m, V( E
beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
1 ~+ }0 q8 v) s$ d
There are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
' u4 Q# f% p/ } _
1 i4 g$ [& E" q9 k; {' Z
+ h# y+ A u+ O" r2 F1 M
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
0 v# Y, Y" t$ H
3 n4 ]) `$ Z! _Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
2 U0 n' H# P* @9 G E6 H u
, |' s/ x2 N; \' z8 T7 p8 e2 j q
Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
' |6 M. V' l8 P$ K3 z9 w. k9 ]$ @( b3 K, R) S
Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
# y; ], b3 _+ ^
% @1 k! N* b' i0 B8 u# f
- T/ e5 s; s( v' C' ^Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
U: r7 h5 a- @$ R" R
have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
! J5 W5 J' m, j' r
therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
) N; S7 m" i4 o$ v
recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
. Q8 h1 V4 j! Y6 [# E1 [
DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
9 L4 E+ _8 z9 N. I( J* w* H% X8 Precorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
2 v2 Q) B0 S l7 \# {1 I; _; T2 g l
truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
* s, R6 V! D( {
be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
2 {# w6 l& J. C- g2 z" [5 @
electronics and be very expensive.
" D6 y8 N# i* n% g: r" X7 T& z3 s
# w+ J U- V! D2 }+ k
2 m0 p m& y& Z8 o7 U; D0 `Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
4 y+ A! P0 x$ ]4 E1 S! \. {7 J: \* T6 F2 p: s+ U5 }
9 x; {+ ^. M7 s0 e' x
Tape for the Nagra SN
( v W: ?0 m3 s
" ^5 F/ v- X; J! Q* }. Y1 b9 q) x
! k! X( ^& c" o8 O: N& K, P$ \I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
1 ?1 { i9 t- C5 R, m( Q0 Y
the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
9 D3 _, m3 b: Y; h3 h" \( zwanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
3 [: r9 {$ b( z: @' b& N3 ^ m
tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
5 [# X8 U; t$ j6 ]. K7 v0 z4 j'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
* D" c6 f2 Y$ U( w, k; [7 O
the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
" @) }- I; |! L; Yseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
3 L+ Y u4 c' ]: |5 n
onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
6 W: v* Y$ H& v
things may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
j( U; q( L3 n2 J
VERY silly money.
5 u1 S; D. _$ @
6 F! d# y. |7 M. i0 [' H9 M( }5 m% a
" w) Z# c$ z8 n5 z6 q