Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
5 S3 Q5 [% j, T/ ?! n0 F
the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
8 u- g4 G8 h* O- v) L2 ]the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
7 ~! P; ]% h9 \% v! ^* S- xmachines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
: u7 Y- u7 u" Y9 C1 ^2 E: g* _9 c& G: W
(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
$ k3 \5 Y+ O8 L) y/ N( Z! N: a: o5 V5 s
9 @& ~5 L! k' r& _& N6 G# EClick on either of the above images for more information.
) X: [4 ?5 \) d7 e' q
/ S) e# A: p x9 G6 I
( K' U) s1 o+ M
* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
) b9 d6 j2 q* d# i$ @) |% i
beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
% x# B1 Q3 W. F( ? ?; {) H
There are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
. N& }" l' C" m
% j- E: ~* |6 P8 s9 A/ I& U
2 N$ R. d8 i' U" [% Y$ C
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
1 `1 T2 h3 @% s4 P) l* i2 i
; I* U/ J: H, k# J- S& ~2 `( P
Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
- \! ^' c5 t y4 b# ^* L
8 u6 G P5 n5 R. ~1 m, i0 `7 ]2 `5 fNagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
0 Q P- p( R, `) }
9 K/ m8 x9 H- {9 \ Q/ @Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
7 k3 h9 o0 q% a. n" Q& }% @
+ z. U6 m7 W' l$ j8 F0 T
6 ~. Y5 Z6 t# C% j$ r) ~Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
7 g4 e& s" u! s% fhave some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
' a4 z! U- w9 p6 ^ b0 r b8 h+ h
therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
! @$ i4 ~ H# lrecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
B. `+ o& u8 c/ a( W" @DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
3 p0 ^8 j& A4 H4 N; _3 f8 }# O
recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
. Y$ y6 `6 C3 f4 k4 `. v5 `# E. Q1 ntruly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
7 w; b7 X/ \3 K, r3 j/ h5 p2 A6 \* Dbe possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
1 X) e* Z# W0 f9 M _$ ^
electronics and be very expensive.
; K* T, S- r- T4 u1 Z# E: T
' o2 q. c( n B
% U0 w/ x1 Y4 |, g& M! x$ ]Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
* K/ F( R0 o1 }( c/ h
: d0 U" ]( {/ q3 g/ n
6 Y- s) E1 P, H0 G" G$ UTape for the Nagra SN
+ \; O9 a3 v& s6 G/ M
v( K2 h% j5 Q: L: G, U% r& Y. z1 [7 @2 ]5 `+ ?. A
I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
: N9 w' {6 h* L5 S- l
the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
5 B" ?- j; J) H( [wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
! J" O0 V, R/ n* r! F; ctape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
5 B# z2 k' e" @ G9 i
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
& }9 P+ H5 o; F1 O" c: V# K; b, }
the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
' M% K' Q7 p* D% a* \
several pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
& |7 T) K; L* _, ^5 d2 wonto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
6 g) T' h: U6 b. ^+ n5 ithings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
4 J/ R: Z8 `; gVERY silly money.
/ }2 I( O) c& G; N8 S
6 r2 J" T3 a, K
2 \: e1 Z) v' K! P