Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
' _- P8 q3 U5 ?1 R' q4 Bthe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
5 {2 ^1 ]/ p) ^0 o
the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
9 t- z3 r# K8 t" k. L
machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
/ [% E* h+ s" T& m
2 O$ |) A1 w& k7 V/ f$ W3 D(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
$ w# u; ]8 p& R3 S- g
5 b8 E" A+ w$ F7 O3 E& [5 o* j3 S0 ~$ L& N% v! Z3 j2 e
Click on either of the above images for more information.
4 F( ~: u1 `* p1 i# c* Q
+ K- f6 }3 ^3 E. F
: g) w- m. ^* A" P% e+ m5 ~+ F8 ]4 u* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
! N8 A0 v! h3 K# Nbeware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
' Q0 w% f" {8 a$ h+ [9 q" jThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
o9 o5 x- a4 _2 U% r
@6 L$ b( d2 v4 ]& C/ J# ~/ B0 ^& M
( Y c0 n& l, t+ ~Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
/ q, M( w2 t2 p5 E+ u. o; i
/ b* d' R; W2 W. F9 l7 J0 ZNagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
) @- L7 v+ z" Y( Q5 H) A7 G
5 _, L: t" N* S6 s
Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
, }% f" m. K: X. p% P+ j s+ H, r
0 p- h3 K; O3 @! c5 e2 uNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
& V: P& r; g9 H3 S4 q$ A5 }8 F: {# D0 ^$ p9 e
5 D0 G* L1 m) H. r; b1 ^: b/ ?
Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
8 r4 Z; ?' Y2 |: Z/ E) q1 Z. S4 lhave some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
7 c7 b4 L- n6 i' H& Etherefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
8 d, x6 y @' |3 X/ ?recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
0 W4 }1 @5 n8 I2 H' a$ I+ r v
DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
3 ^; x# b5 X4 `: g5 K
recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
+ J, H* e# s2 l8 ?
truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
9 q9 j, j* n# g1 B7 {* h9 k$ g
be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
( d% Q5 i4 }$ g) G3 Relectronics and be very expensive.
1 |1 {! z4 i+ i9 T7 [1 _
% d$ A* s, A. b( {9 G1 \" {. l5 R& Z
Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
% D; O$ P f& P3 a' f
, M- J- v O6 b' |" C4 `- B* F
- A. }3 B, b' p$ p+ S" |Tape for the Nagra SN
5 c! p( v- ~! I2 _( m; a
. U- d1 O# t- O6 Y% Y+ f, D. m8 o. p
I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
; ?! y( B# p9 j+ I; y( c' gthe little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
' |8 ]( c/ }' W+ Fwanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
0 y0 s# R+ P9 z3 C2 j
tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
0 T$ P* I" s. R+ ^: a+ b9 n! s# ~
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
; U: t. N' K: g. n3 }6 w1 pthe cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
9 X" B2 [5 x6 R8 Y2 Nseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
8 d+ ~5 ]! a9 r7 h) }9 honto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
Z3 {% u9 u: F8 Z* d8 Othings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
6 ~ M# p4 a( A" x9 _7 g* T1 f
VERY silly money.
' L. |3 p' `8 O4 R
4 p. Q2 j8 c$ L+ I. F+ A( G) C
1 v$ g+ |2 z/ X& r; J4 ~% ]4 T" ]" F