Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
5 {! Z, {0 G4 u& `: w; m# u: uthe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
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the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
2 r3 a( p/ x' D, D* [, J1 Xmachines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
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(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
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Click on either of the above images for more information.
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; N$ ?, F3 C- T( }. k, @( x4 _* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
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beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
) x+ a- F7 ^8 h4 Y) M. OThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
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5 x1 L4 W* n7 w) f: _Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
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Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
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Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
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Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
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) f; t+ B Y2 K$ @. i9 hApparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
" b( f. d. h+ \6 [have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
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optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
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recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
# z, i; B9 H2 L, aDSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
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recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
& M# M3 C1 b# y+ m" Rtruly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
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be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
. P! z5 { y" T% r5 l& X" ?electronics and be very expensive.
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3 g: v7 U& n2 s0 [Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
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7 c4 ?# i9 W5 ?& \% T5 p# P- gTape for the Nagra SN
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* P2 {! ?6 h+ AI have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
/ D& B/ f3 P* _) A' ^( ithe little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
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wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
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tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
+ l5 {- M& \% z'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
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the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
$ z8 ~6 k( ^; @ sseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
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onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
7 l' c$ A4 N% S: X. Pthings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
: s) J# i/ C4 E: B& t9 @VERY silly money.
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