Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
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the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
# \) g1 m! p. D. y' {% x8 x7 G; wthe transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
0 Q2 A/ s6 H% wmachines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
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5 b, w3 u, q0 `' V3 {(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
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: F5 X/ f/ s' PClick 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
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beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
$ K. u% H# W0 [There are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
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7 o% S b5 l- [: c7 d6 wNagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
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* c4 M! x1 I/ l* P% lNagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
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6 B6 d' W* X- u, h6 w$ oNagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
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Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
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, r+ b9 f( a8 s/ z2 oApparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
1 I5 I( q |' t. A; d! A3 ]have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
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optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
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recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
4 X! O# R1 g" R* o2 ?9 `! ?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
* E4 o$ p. G1 N# v) Bbe possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
7 }9 Q- R. z8 m% Aelectronics and be very expensive.
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) X: J9 U$ s, ]- R6 HCheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
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Tape 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
. i$ A# t2 A! ]1 p' `% q8 U1 Dthe little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
4 ?2 J- H$ u1 V! Swanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
, _6 {9 k$ S, n ^6 ^9 ytape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
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'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
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several pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
3 t2 P+ t) r4 O+ {7 O& H( fonto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
% b* N3 d& |$ v! c3 g1 jthings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
: K4 P) C; A- XVERY silly money.
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