Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
5 G8 c" m: W( s: u5 O) i* t9 E) Qthe 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
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machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
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- ~" E( s$ D$ h2 l. ?) E(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
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9 y- B4 C* R$ \# f" ^# P$ }/ `, dClick on either of the above images for more information.
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& J' j+ A' Q( P6 P* 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.
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There are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
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/ w$ U! f/ Z4 [, W8 uNagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
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3 v& D' n& ]/ Z, p5 G% {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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Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
, X3 M1 Q' T& }+ E7 C, ?; i& Ehave some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
& b7 f( U& v |8 t2 j5 otherefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
& U; w( Y% K3 d; t% F8 d6 F/ Lrecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
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DSP) 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
+ ~: S+ i7 F* H5 S6 Ctruly 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
( x3 U1 ^7 N6 ~. ?electronics and be very expensive.
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Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
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L m2 }: d% ^ UTape for the Nagra SN
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I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
+ T( g- l m9 D. R# Ethe 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
3 D Q9 C* |' J( p6 u) k- z+ m$ utape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
: k7 @5 e7 B" R% j" `'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
# O, B9 B- I3 p5 o r& {3 ~0 s7 D& Lthe cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
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several pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
* Y8 N, z. M( n3 X8 R9 j: B9 Ronto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
* o) m6 @# m% }/ H5 Bthings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
4 V/ L- |9 @# T6 J" h( HVERY silly money.
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