Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
% }: \( N4 Z* L5 hthe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
2 z9 r( Q/ z# \- o; Z7 c5 p% Sthe transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
) l: E& {" M+ c3 I3 b/ k7 s6 \machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
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9 _8 T4 t- l- }( k, n* n(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
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/ F, u$ f% w9 j2 W/ r$ xClick on either of the above images for more information.
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" ]3 A4 Z, \. \* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
$ k# h. m) D5 x+ A# z* a( h3 c( S$ Nbeware, 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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/ G' u3 Q) ^/ DNagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
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7 b! Q4 R; ~) z$ y, ZNagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
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Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
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4 [0 C. v( y2 [; JNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
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Apparently 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
4 N, Q" {$ |! t1 I6 j) Q5 p" Utherefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
I m) d+ b3 h. qrecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
$ y' V/ Y' ~( y: dDSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
' o/ M* N- u+ X# `recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
5 m8 P7 d% V8 T/ T9 J! ltruly Hi-Fi recording, but
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
" f" {( l$ D- h! {3 Kelectronics and be very expensive.
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+ I8 l- }- |4 ~# I8 ~+ L. u6 vCheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
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/ G/ ?$ _3 b5 R4 uTape for the Nagra SN
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I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
5 Y7 T/ n5 J5 M' D. cthe little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
( k- K5 b2 T( k N5 E: X% q9 awanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
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tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
+ b" u8 Y K; j+ N# W. f% P'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
6 Y" N+ F% N, n5 xseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
- ~! r; ?9 ?# d/ r' [( e) ?onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
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things may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
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VERY silly money.
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