Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
) T! S$ G; g" l4 {6 {
the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
- |7 n, @: i3 t5 A5 mthe transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
" } s0 ]( k2 S6 n
machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
4 ^6 f4 p& j( O8 D
2 {8 q* t7 ], J2 R
(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
1 D/ s& H. S( Y. R7 P
2 |8 Q1 }( R+ C: l; n) K" h5 ?2 N c% r
Click on either of the above images for more information.
( G# u8 o m1 e# k
# m4 Y8 {- W: \: H" K+ t4 f- u8 W: ~1 O' }
* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
# d$ ?, L1 q F1 a, J" }4 `
beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
6 Z+ H2 v9 W6 Z D: B1 cThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
$ t; A1 i! a3 `" }' X( X; z
# ]' [, X k0 R4 B s
; n3 g2 ?( A- _9 d) \- C. P
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
1 V' b( I% Z3 `% k0 I1 w, \
[9 v( N5 g7 ^- CNagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
; ~$ g" l" a& D: C0 Q! [
: v9 j" M& _6 Q& a8 d y9 ?
Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
6 g/ e o! q7 P, b% d- _
% O7 {% l) }( i* I0 O0 _7 X2 Z
Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
/ G" W& B6 m( C4 T8 `
5 y3 M! V- m( y/ }
0 U# O u N6 m/ P0 d5 `7 \Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
+ e' j! O. `! H. Q8 g% I% D( M& rhave some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
! \ L2 y9 f! P5 k
therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
/ Z: @2 r8 F5 z
recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
1 |7 x- F+ z0 m7 w ]' k3 ]) YDSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
" [6 R8 h$ q! b+ L4 H& Nrecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
0 e5 L9 T+ X4 S% j5 A& @6 g! Utruly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
. @4 h. L! B! ?8 U
be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
* z" h" A; U% N% c: P" A
electronics and be very expensive.
2 i7 @4 l1 v; V
% T6 h9 C- N' k* L# T) V2 l' E+ V7 \( i% F' l
Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
8 o+ l H: D& [* K( h9 f$ L+ K, \9 X* O
: t% ?2 u( N& K3 m& R" E% FTape for the Nagra SN
- P. t. v9 h* X& U$ _* \
! F/ \3 Y: |) R* j- C/ j7 ]6 s6 Q: a6 ]$ F8 `$ {, I
I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
- n: S. Y; i: Z
the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
/ y- C/ d2 ^& X
wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
8 E3 [0 }4 r8 J h# utape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
' u! a# U/ c" i! G'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
% e0 j2 w# J) h- Cthe cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
% t( e G2 w/ _) E$ X1 p, n: t
several pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
" o5 [/ ~2 }! C* j, c
onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
- |2 n5 p1 m8 z0 \- J! u9 S+ S8 x
things may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
0 }5 g/ @2 A2 t- V/ T9 z1 {VERY silly money.
E* _( ~* i- ~9 i6 P, X+ p
3 m/ K1 N2 U& n, p: V% \9 ~
- i3 S4 o M, z7 ~) a/ ?* U