Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
* z1 u8 w2 B$ w" _9 V- z( I
the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
! h2 |0 C3 U) q2 }2 h5 q
the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
+ T$ O) F: u. o! dmachines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
8 I* I* Y8 l! |
# }3 @1 S+ K" x7 S. I(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
$ I" y7 S3 Y# U0 d" y2 ^7 S% g+ R) T; M, g
2 c3 s; P0 I* a6 }
Click on either of the above images for more information.
4 a) ?2 P2 b3 W" d _6 o4 h
8 ?- l# _0 [: F1 k7 _! }* E9 z1 I9 E) X P3 n5 f+ ]
* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
3 p" q# M* g7 nbeware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
5 l# l) K u0 C) i8 O; h! @There are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
+ s2 Q9 Y( ?7 u3 _" l g3 r1 e( d& l& t Q b h @6 K
+ j: s6 E( _4 ~+ Q# fNagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
3 P) S2 r5 u9 l/ u1 x* r2 B( j1 M d; e% Q+ ]3 u
Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
& ?! O" T& _2 j2 d8 ], Y$ @4 ~; S. m4 O" O% I1 |/ }
Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
! t6 ~7 P4 H. \( O8 a4 z% I; H# P* i* I/ o8 B. d
Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
: W) G. q8 a- C5 b3 n4 C9 l' C5 g
' I. q# l' L# T- o
. G1 ~' k. ]) b8 |7 eApparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
( m, _9 N- q* i5 {have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
" Q+ O9 }& w/ @' e
therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
1 |. M4 ]" M4 a8 l$ o2 i5 s
recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
) U" l' ^9 O2 o4 Y1 gDSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
" I1 H5 R- W' i- c* S' y
recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
! L9 [ \$ N @ I/ a- F
truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
- Y6 m) A6 d- u$ V4 Z
be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
1 ^# J* m3 { ielectronics and be very expensive.
* m4 Y$ D- x" z: v/ o) h& p6 k# u M9 h- G
' }8 U% A4 U' }8 i* N F
Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
! }% e, @3 B7 O, J+ E- S
! q9 o- Y- Q: K# O- c( C( {) M4 E
4 k7 o+ S# y p# m4 QTape for the Nagra SN
, I0 p$ c0 J' N$ Y5 J9 t/ r
' [- m) o8 \( F! P m0 r+ j4 t( v0 M8 S) m& ?0 B9 \7 ?; N6 I# y# ?' ^
I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
: h& R, C2 U- T, h3 N1 i9 G& |the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
5 x7 z% o: d8 f( F% f# ^wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
3 O# _0 p6 s6 x
tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
4 Z1 t" R& V% X: Q
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
2 g* A+ \: H" u, \3 q
the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
' T' }2 r7 a) [$ mseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
: w* O y' a- E: Ionto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
7 ?2 ~ ?1 |( r( ~* s$ C' c
things may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
) C* G1 b/ h* N5 W+ DVERY silly money.
5 N+ k; N- `% g7 m! X
: L+ `) v8 ~: w6 x4 x
6 `0 X2 |8 }+ A/ n4 S5 l* v