Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
5 o# w9 h+ j2 u' P# p* b# G+ R0 V) gthe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
" P$ Q) A d q( Othe transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
g; P! G( v- y K) s7 ymachines, 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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: P, a% ^$ u6 [, X# p) EClick on either of the above images for more information.
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* 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* y3 J+ j A4 w5 }' j7 K3 mThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
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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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! {, w3 N- \) e2 t0 g0 X9 {5 sNagra 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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% X( z7 y( ]) {3 {# v' KNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
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% J4 L+ `) q6 @% yApparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
( T& {) r5 l% I; b$ {have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
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therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
) m! j6 E. \5 q' T* brecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
* X+ f& L% K$ L# Q9 Q; iDSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
# A& z9 ^; o$ vrecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
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truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
# x- ^( ^* f- ?) R3 _be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
' n* L$ m: [$ ~7 {7 d5 I3 relectronics and be very expensive.
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0 c2 T( E# X/ l+ RCheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
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+ b1 Q/ G: Q! |% X5 LTape for the Nagra SN
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/ U7 f W% P$ Y8 LI have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
& w: E' y1 R5 @( Ythe little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
, O2 E# c$ R9 C y4 u* G# @# n |7 wwanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
1 K( M; h1 ~- U. r& U5 ^4 gtape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
- O' {/ A: f) t. {'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
) X. m6 t' I1 E5 Fthe cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
0 b. T. e! {7 B) O, tseveral 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
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things may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
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VERY silly money.
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