Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
) \ @, f) L1 A2 \# u+ ^- wthe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
: V3 x; y8 x$ x) x* K1 `0 athe 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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9 _9 e/ U: v, A5 ^# j) ?) L: K(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
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Click 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
; C8 D7 z% ~: vbeware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
5 [$ D8 S9 G5 V5 M& p: [/ C F, _There 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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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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1 W3 n: `! r! Y2 C4 n3 p/ j; ]$ j* yApparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
9 W( F h& n9 Fhave some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
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optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
, r% c1 Z! Z2 y' ]9 I" S, b$ trecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
w; y& @0 \: S% a; NDSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
; U6 T8 A# |' t& R+ _+ f& zrecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
1 \1 Y% s5 G( Y+ K; \truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
6 `! H+ g1 d% ? Q# \- w4 Z" q' ybe possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
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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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Tape for the Nagra SN
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, M* ~5 f( d+ ]4 Y8 x* E2 NI have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
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the 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
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tape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
8 Q3 X% `4 u: V1 y' u" |1 F'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
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the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
& Y4 u2 _# _; s4 p# M9 xseveral 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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