Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
! p6 |+ U2 k2 U! Bthe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
! q, W% I) m' _! n: f* P, Gthe 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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8 j( ?6 e9 T: `% M(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
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Click on either of the above images for more information.
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* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
5 j! B$ |/ h5 `: K6 obeware, 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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: R6 K1 h/ L# `# M" HNagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
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, Q1 o4 d' x" JNagra 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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{8 K1 I0 b( h u3 hNagra 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
' {4 t" b2 J! I2 m6 Shave some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
8 {3 g' j- u& G2 D& utherefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
# A; E _0 d( {3 j2 p j1 Crecording 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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truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
# [. [* C3 q Xbe possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
" y! Q/ O7 a- M" q3 uelectronics 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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) N6 x0 b* d( GTape 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
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the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
& a# r) M! P4 v! t: n* vwanted 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
3 k* k) H: \+ t$ k9 B* B5 W'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
* J7 g$ q" g* {5 ^, {4 J/ ^the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
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several pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
7 W; m6 Y2 I B7 i0 _8 Wonto 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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