Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
% P+ n0 ]$ I) | r5 J) i
the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
7 X* r4 ?6 ~4 [* q' x. Hthe transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
) `" H+ s- o4 T, n C: R1 v: d& wmachines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
6 l. Z# W" P; T" {
& e' |& Z9 J$ l0 e
(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
, P! e$ m$ D1 B2 j* D, G% ^$ Q) d8 g5 L7 m, y3 s/ e
0 b8 \* ~1 m" _3 J9 {* CClick on either of the above images for more information.
4 M3 i# w2 ~9 O# Z& N- o5 O" e$ z: B* }+ T1 o
# n m# M W6 B1 F; M* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
9 |; y7 b2 b& K+ e+ Ibeware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
$ F1 G' M$ ~8 K% f G/ G. y: mThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
3 x( S$ O! r3 a% l6 S! f
$ w5 O; _0 _. ` Z$ @( h9 {, E1 t z( S: ^! W8 D) `0 G
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
" q; z, z( `! ?( s
" P& F" _ Z6 I3 H: d+ ?' FNagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
/ k; N- W, l Q2 B- o
6 O& h. p* N7 R* }/ Z) M0 q
Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
2 `; ~8 D0 e" ~& i7 n
' v8 W$ ]2 G. f4 fNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
, j6 y2 [) D3 a* D& b# W/ f. P. k; Q& G- g) V
8 b% W; E/ L5 G8 h3 n2 p# |3 I# u
Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
3 d# s& M) M2 [1 c. B* p6 D
have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
& o0 [0 i& `* v; z% _0 ]therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
3 `0 D- y0 q( F3 {7 _recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
* O% J* l7 O3 T% N. Q' eDSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
# h5 |7 \! o# u8 h" V, O8 Srecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
! S) \$ P3 E# m" E
truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
' q, z0 ]( b# o
be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
4 V v; W$ R& i
electronics and be very expensive.
# m0 V8 ^* `, v) r- A$ _
G; ?9 `. R; o0 a" v1 j3 ^
$ ?- D1 ?# I; C) M( W
Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
% B* A. a6 g4 e
$ S) I7 Z& q7 T! a9 u* `5 S9 o+ H0 s$ b% }6 o. E5 c
Tape for the Nagra SN
8 ^: Z S) s7 Z- N
1 g$ g+ S" V/ f# f
2 Z# e% h6 ]; F) E/ O! T
I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
9 Y1 M3 P6 L9 J8 Ithe little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
, D" q3 q; h/ z' k4 jwanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
5 P6 j9 L0 }; m! g Utape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
4 \. l6 Q1 y1 u
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
) x" b' i; N7 t/ @2 m
the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
+ c# P9 r, v8 z5 y0 z* d8 jseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
. w+ W( j. c! t4 \. n% ionto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
4 B* [& n7 F, D, J; @; o9 qthings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
6 Q! ?3 o' {' S3 S: c {6 ?VERY silly money.
2 r9 |) f( N; l/ M4 K2 @7 o0 T4 n2 {) I- f/ ]' R+ T: R
3 t- q8 h) D& |2 N0 P0 K2 W: }$ [+ q