Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
c8 ? p# D4 Q$ S
the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
$ N. C' X. V- h" Zthe transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
5 D' a% t7 E, I9 F7 ymachines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
# X, \8 e- x* l' l2 n
" e" `. X% ?1 q- s- T3 I" a(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
9 [5 R V: M" e4 \
! D( Y+ e8 o1 `
$ J5 M, G* ?0 s/ DClick on either of the above images for more information.
7 W" ?' C' h. E5 }
8 F9 y2 Z4 R/ q4 Z6 K
8 G& T8 A: N( X E7 L) y7 M$ _, H2 w* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
, T# w# O) i& U+ ^1 U
beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
. o: a5 l/ l& G2 F' P( O3 O+ U/ HThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
, @" v5 `4 Y' f3 ^9 u
( F. _3 @: c7 E8 R* k4 G4 P6 a) p- G# q8 C
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
0 i; Y1 H2 ^* g( x" B% n; Q w2 N/ T0 F
Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
3 e* {" _* y% Z& c% ^
" n, W0 C: x+ J# I. \6 o9 jNagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
% U+ v7 h- C0 m t) d+ \
+ f- m$ P5 |+ d# ]. D; N* qNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
3 n- U- r7 v% r. Q6 y. ~9 b0 {" _4 ~, S7 m( O" {+ l
9 `; ]4 _. Q% s: L6 y
Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
6 z* P) G# u* D# Uhave some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
/ t2 m7 `8 O C- J o: i; W
therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
0 K/ h1 M. {' k X* frecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
5 V4 W, I7 l, j4 O- D; c
DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
+ V( o, g& X9 ^7 b( B# \/ v; e& ?4 Srecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
1 m' S1 B6 X' I8 d. o+ K
truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
: f5 d" o3 I% `, v) w0 R
be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
7 B8 l' S6 B3 S0 S' X$ e/ ~electronics and be very expensive.
7 T$ o4 Y& I$ O3 z- d0 i
+ K9 B2 V+ S+ |) H
- l9 }: o( Z4 J7 a0 |& N' qCheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
3 a: K, g7 }* ^, S" l( C
$ u5 Y, m$ B; ?
) g4 V& \- U' t2 | u( nTape for the Nagra SN
- I! |- g* u4 D& J/ c: S& Y) K8 F. g. f8 V
m6 K* M$ Y3 [! y6 ?( t
I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
: O# ]7 N4 g4 Mthe little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
. \8 w8 h' c$ Y/ c& ?
wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
" A E1 r( c% p. H5 `+ j. }7 i4 t) s
tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
; _+ K1 Z0 B) H4 t9 v9 x
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
8 }& d4 z. Y; ?. b) Kthe cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
. q e5 c) b \- G$ c% G4 v
several pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
0 f* _" }7 S3 Wonto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
0 v9 A) O" [8 Ethings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
! J; ?% R8 X( c2 W8 L: E! s+ VVERY silly money.
: N% b- g% [& }
3 _9 k8 h3 Q% n8 f6 P8 ?1 Q
7 i, J4 S+ _( T; F2 h' J0 O+ Z