Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
4 w+ k8 s0 \ U, y7 f
the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
/ ?: Q# G! Z1 k, r$ X* P
the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
) |/ w4 s$ t/ ]4 [' c
machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
* G2 D1 A L0 [7 p( A, j: G
) A* W; I& Q# R7 ?% A
(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
4 z( |, i. n0 E6 W
1 h2 X3 r, k& S, u- P* N% D# S! \' f# N( ^5 I- p2 Q
Click on either of the above images for more information.
6 D; q% y7 q# m8 O
, `2 M5 d. K' B% q9 w0 w2 ?
0 d4 F: c5 g8 H7 g `8 g* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
" {: t7 Q3 A/ g7 \! ~% e0 W' Ebeware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
. d9 c' S; b- z: ]9 LThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
/ N4 E X) l% w' e6 O% b/ d
+ O; \1 N5 Z( b
& I6 V# Z. @5 f% ^
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
5 f, i; F0 M' Q7 H2 Z( k5 l, x/ J0 R
# {- X# n7 v3 b3 z% Y! K- {
Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
5 G, A! x& T; v$ W3 V/ Y% C! k
5 q5 m8 D/ u* YNagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
) B! e7 N9 \7 m$ ^# i; B- T7 x' a8 r
4 z9 c a0 |5 R$ z4 t& o7 ]$ i# NNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
5 t( R3 }6 ] ]0 a& \' V% @* F7 T5 l9 q p
' ]* U) T! W; O2 _ ^2 f2 m
Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
0 Z% Y( v, q8 t1 Y3 q, D shave some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
6 @3 D! D X+ U5 |( x. J
therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
% l0 v7 l2 R P( u7 W1 Y& H
recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
6 B, G i2 I u) c/ Y7 B
DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
! h. s+ R C; q$ |2 E# o+ r) ]
recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
) L- X6 u/ w! x* W, i& ?: Atruly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
0 H4 C5 c* H, \ r, `+ {be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
$ R2 X, |: e0 S" Xelectronics and be very expensive.
+ i1 H' K z, a9 d
9 j% a, ?0 b \8 ]' c
# d! Z0 `0 V; O9 {+ Y/ PCheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
7 N! b$ E: W3 d( t: s9 U5 C0 I. P% t
7 C* I0 c u8 r* x( j
Tape for the Nagra SN
; S2 F8 h- w- B! G" `3 I
) A" P: v: d1 R: W# l6 [# M
9 Q/ G' q$ j! MI have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
$ m7 r6 `* X% _" S, L# f. _the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
5 s) p$ [; V8 r4 t! r8 G) x9 {wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
" J( y2 |& T5 t8 v3 N# o+ `
tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
/ i( P8 \) J2 W7 U1 p: g7 u'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
: e' N, k6 v8 ~5 c/ ~1 u
the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
/ L! ~9 `. P8 T. Y. h" Aseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
. F5 n7 r; f, @0 D4 o. A: B* I: z
onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
$ I. ~/ D" k1 T* d+ H' r
things may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
/ M; K% J1 v8 n9 [- C9 x
VERY silly money.
- v Y/ k# j; b# P* h9 J
2 u+ ~6 N+ [' D8 [" |' L" L3 e
8 v6 ^8 d1 v# t- a, u0 j' a