Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
( m% n) T9 p; [the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
+ F" S! D, k( C' l& b7 @5 p
the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
" [; d! P( i) o! c7 u3 s: I0 m
machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
7 R: z: J5 ~( C. `! }$ s5 d z: I, r/ `$ L7 c
(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
, @: A& D& @7 i/ e1 C8 b5 E t! F, b) O7 G
& P$ h( I# y% V; SClick on either of the above images for more information.
8 ?3 {& f. N7 X$ [" O) d$ x. R8 v4 C- O% Z
9 X1 R; i* T" a R* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
8 w8 }* e" w6 t% Q) X" Y/ p
beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
8 O+ |" a7 S+ v) _( @: z) ^9 g8 Z* FThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
& u7 H/ K A2 O- [ R/ Z7 _' k
( k; g8 {, f4 U% x: z' f/ e6 s0 x3 \, ?2 j, Z
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
7 G0 O' O: o R$ v
1 ~) `) U5 s/ B4 V5 I
Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
4 K, ^0 F* Q+ I4 ?) I& v1 h
: N" t( p) {4 o& A
Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
5 U; c2 w! m* T4 b4 t v! E$ t6 S: \/ r6 o
Nagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
0 s! `% n! X- X
& \8 T7 \; m9 _' a( ]
7 ~8 {& J8 S7 k- A, [3 WApparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
0 _8 Z6 l7 s6 g$ l2 f$ o3 w1 [have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
/ M+ l# j7 O3 _ y7 j
therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
0 E; g+ v6 N" ~& N
recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
- j" h8 I+ V& Q ~4 H+ ADSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
$ W; A$ |( y* f9 E
recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
, M& l& b8 P2 H! xtruly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
7 u* m/ k3 r) S$ }
be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
1 `( U; x! l8 K! \3 l
electronics and be very expensive.
9 g* O* i3 ]) t8 p6 \( B! f
- _$ ]- o$ x, V; v: z& n7 N. [
1 _& |: h8 ~% S" P. xCheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
5 `, V& S# E4 f( X# @/ y
k2 B6 \6 a- p- E5 F' n6 d$ V# c/ n# E
Tape for the Nagra SN
, g8 ^) k6 g' ]% s( w' r7 J7 |& M! h" E" o( m3 Q4 Q+ k& h
! |8 B `, L7 x# j" Y4 P' `I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
* C4 E4 j( \8 Kthe little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
3 ]9 {; U5 C5 L1 Z
wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
, P- Z( k3 O( D. B* M. M
tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
2 P4 `% d0 C* H; B+ i2 {2 S& o
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
/ j& Y7 B& p* g2 {' d
the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
5 |. }% T, D) zseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
# i: y! S- t7 |- ~7 w( r$ ^
onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
$ C* Q% X* a2 M1 V
things may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
3 p5 d" a# N) P7 a( \1 M
VERY silly money.
& I. W# P+ G. @, g7 k3 q. ?1 J" P& E2 I8 ^ p- Y. |# t
" q$ G' R( d- i0 L3 ^8 [+ z