Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
/ z; Q# u; j2 n, q! J- d1 lthe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
: T) |6 p7 y/ O( O# j3 x% M$ X% Wthe 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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(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
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5 u z% h( w0 m* S6 tClick 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
6 U2 e w% _5 h" qbeware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
4 F7 d! `% F3 H3 y6 p( y2 UThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
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" u G% s2 G c2 sNagra 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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% O9 y0 m/ \8 o' N0 D$ L# B" l* GNagra 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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0 K" O1 V a0 C$ |Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
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have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
9 o3 D% o, r* }1 ^, s" ztherefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
) t9 C2 ~! v1 {" p+ l) y; Qrecording 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
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truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
. |' W1 E u* e: {+ \be 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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B$ x! o: \7 W& e2 v0 YTape for the Nagra SN
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3 y6 f, ?! n+ u4 t% ~1 d; F/ SI have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
$ p! [0 a a5 g: V. e4 X/ `1 C5 kthe 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
p4 S- P+ I7 f Ytape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
. B* C; p; J" k+ M0 \'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
4 a: [, b% \( b5 S, |several pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
, o# h( o9 L9 C; I" qonto 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
$ c+ T, o( s3 V3 ?VERY silly money.
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