Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
5 ]1 b, v4 H5 X. S# r
the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
1 p2 f# L, N m: F, C
the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
: y8 @* M( p8 `9 A0 a- [
machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
/ u5 R K$ Z; @6 I, b. V$ ]3 z, L" v7 F9 s1 _0 X( p7 h: Y
(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
q l8 b0 a5 M* c* Q% X$ L
$ ]: @; w* q# U! Q1 X- g. y6 h+ P/ v t4 J8 }8 m3 \6 a( O
Click on either of the above images for more information.
/ V( V3 S1 G, _7 v! F, T2 [: k) K
/ ?- Q. ]# N9 v/ T6 f0 H+ W0 U$ N$ |5 V. v& @ Q
* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
! F2 p! V. D% I/ \
beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
' J A" b5 \2 ~( K/ k2 E8 WThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
8 \( n' c# Q: p7 @& D
# j9 _7 S+ X$ c) G6 E$ p# p9 Z5 v- r
7 W- C% v8 ^, ~, q" ]
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
- R8 C% O% c- l& R6 U9 J, N* w7 G
( u }' p* c! P6 I6 b/ E# dNagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
4 K8 W9 a9 ` q0 q! r( g2 r
9 O' b5 |% U6 P! HNagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
2 s/ b0 j& u6 `- b4 G; ~4 Y' _4 `; w1 Y, y4 D: ^) c* ?
Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
2 _6 O) t! w8 Z5 m: g
+ q5 g1 p: X! v, S1 ^
$ E* O3 B4 {5 c+ q" g
Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
! y5 L, ^" U0 I1 Xhave some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
& ]8 J1 e' ~ ?
therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
- R0 R( w$ \" f- u- O: w9 b+ wrecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
U6 T- m1 `% _! M9 H/ o) ~
DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
! S/ a* Y; B0 ]1 Q8 u; |0 r0 Lrecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
: o+ G( c1 ^1 S1 O7 p
truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
0 Q) T. X$ ^3 P. [4 V- qbe possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
9 h# }) o; j) O1 N
electronics and be very expensive.
# _. A8 `: _0 c% _
5 @+ ~' r' h7 w, Q$ A* D6 a5 O2 |" T6 V- |: }0 u0 K+ a
Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
1 p4 }* @* k( h
+ o$ G6 t% ]( z& b2 w4 p9 B
* a5 j- s) G3 \/ K8 aTape for the Nagra SN
" f( r- f7 I }0 l% \4 O; L0 B( Q3 m
! R! E* Z- F. b5 D3 }/ |
# c. F" W A6 R. }6 B
I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
, `$ ? f: R$ [6 u0 h; N) ^
the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
, q* d [7 v0 y' y( twanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
' K, W* P! U5 W. L8 @7 |
tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
- o5 r* n$ U9 ]6 a! q
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
5 F1 k2 V4 T* Ythe cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
9 N- N$ l/ c' Q: \
several pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
& C9 ?9 r3 @2 P$ x
onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
. J+ O: N% K" K( g# p1 k# Othings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
- C2 S0 W: W5 ~5 c( r4 B" v
VERY silly money.
7 [' t3 D! `3 e/ Y4 P
2 D! @" y/ c) ^' Q
6 D5 `, @; U, b% Y