Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
( s% e. b) ~4 p3 I2 C8 B6 N+ c# S6 k
the various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
/ K) M5 U2 t/ n, A+ L# V2 {the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
1 n' J2 e( J% O" }& Kmachines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
6 L9 b/ k1 H' ?7 @% x& o. u) W, d3 U* ]; _2 Y; f& u7 G
(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
2 O( B$ {* v2 @$ {. i* d+ ?* M) \3 z
* U" l! _: b5 g6 V. @" V1 W; b# E% e" h
Click on either of the above images for more information.
4 v# {4 q9 a+ u
$ s5 ~1 j N2 h/ ~4 l
+ ^& ?% e) j7 C& v$ h8 |
* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
1 |0 M$ V4 B' l8 E; m- `- g
beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
- ~) j; I9 v$ Y$ y. ]: JThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
' F2 ?7 Q9 }* m7 k
3 {2 ?9 A: A& Y2 W
4 r' z0 T- O5 h' r0 v q8 f3 |Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
' R8 `8 k4 v) e& f7 S* Z5 b, [9 J$ u# q( s* n/ u6 Y) j* w
Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
6 S V/ t4 u" B4 z
5 O5 v7 m" O8 L2 ?3 aNagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
8 R$ E# G: `, S+ E4 G5 G
6 J( t9 F; R4 p B8 XNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
1 N5 R$ K* |7 q0 V) b! T
! n, q& V; J! c' a. q
! h; F% Y- ~! v+ i/ U& u# x
Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
, v5 Z! {" d4 s$ I. `( Y' L8 r. u' O
have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
0 `+ P7 c4 N( u% I4 W3 ~
therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
* ?7 b& k/ G0 C! O& F8 V) l
recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
: U, f2 w6 Y' d4 i5 P. l L+ K# W- r
DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
4 O* ?- p5 `* B' B0 @- @% ?recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
! S" q$ k4 m$ l" @% Ptruly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
3 ?, k: s1 U' {- Z+ abe possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
1 ?8 X' g9 M5 V: m" g, Y% Jelectronics and be very expensive.
8 @. |9 w, q: E' Z8 ]+ e" D
" a: s. p/ d) D E, l X' X/ `+ E; h q ^- k4 Y$ c5 O
Cheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
2 n( ^$ I/ w3 I+ P |- c# i5 D
& _9 v4 @3 g; \ Z6 p+ d4 ~7 `8 A% u1 `3 y8 u& j4 m
Tape for the Nagra SN
. A+ g: J% z' [0 Q6 c) n0 X9 X/ ]: W! J; s9 k" X# o
) A1 F- n8 ^2 uI have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
% A% m4 E% Q K o5 V
the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
) U! z/ O" J; F4 [9 W4 o
wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
+ Z$ [" K0 v5 \; j' U# }
tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
6 X5 {# j o( }
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
# x9 u$ B; h6 a: X8 X% x
the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
4 I2 T& ]5 j5 @several pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
" f' F, U! i) A: f4 p2 S0 N, O' N
onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
: x1 X+ f2 W+ T4 W# x/ E
things may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
7 T# ^: v+ [. U1 f; tVERY silly money.
$ @5 e8 |1 Y: L# h; y/ Q5 v/ p+ V# ?* Z4 P
+ f. c: j. p+ n6 j; \# h: J