Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
# O$ h4 E; A2 U/ ethe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
) L7 G; j& O" s$ |" nthe transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
6 j7 M# p8 V3 q5 |machines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
1 U3 Z0 V7 P& F; U. K3 G. u' k
8 a5 F" ?: N) v/ w# ^9 }(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
! X" c2 `/ R+ a L, f$ \
5 \/ C' Q+ Z9 T! x1 G/ o% Q9 m
2 R3 W2 z5 _: y9 m- ]$ Y
Click on either of the above images for more information.
, ~, B$ E2 w! G' b7 R2 |" h2 Z
5 t3 a) V* t9 `) G1 O- \/ q* @# n( e# R% z+ d
* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
( a2 N6 @2 C6 m7 gbeware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
: m/ F0 @/ h6 TThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
, }$ a4 x7 P+ N) I% r" v, C( }" J9 T3 q& T R( k0 A% e
4 ^4 }- U7 j2 a( k3 ONagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
5 L2 f9 A/ o6 C' O2 k
4 N6 E* w/ k- H* H9 ^1 x
Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
4 `) ?) v6 J$ Z+ I5 J0 R
; n2 C" N' q0 x+ I4 }
Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
6 \9 q8 m- l6 D5 i3 p' L9 ?
& h9 e$ R. R8 S7 wNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
7 i4 z( Q, ]- o+ j" s1 q- F
. Y! u/ p3 ]3 c; G, A
3 W: i9 I* T2 A z* F8 g# dApparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
% p; W e8 ~' Z( z E% E7 ghave some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
" x0 E/ f) p+ Stherefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
5 f' n' ?( K6 Q3 O- Xrecording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
" l$ }8 M- h6 c5 x RDSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
5 K! z& h2 M+ G: ~& s
recorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
) Y* y' p& x) L( T& t: } d8 Q6 i/ j6 ~1 O
truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
8 i! F3 e; y- z( A% W
be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
+ Q+ `( @6 b. W( r5 G5 Aelectronics and be very expensive.
$ g: d# \0 K" q& ~
5 b+ t% C7 z) @' K0 A/ l' Y
) }6 h" j( H! Z$ s. BCheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
3 X. g6 R9 \' Z+ q' }% P' M7 k6 J2 m% ~5 B" Q( R; M5 i
6 ~* E: `6 G R" o, y, lTape for the Nagra SN
; J! R9 e& E7 O
% }& }; P# Z: h* y4 n# U* S- I2 q# r! K
I have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
( e1 @! h7 p4 c8 D5 s
the little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
- t4 T9 Q7 a% v. W
wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
# |! ^9 o3 X @( W! h' Z( _. ~2 f4 Rtape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
1 v5 }+ L" K2 N1 I9 C: L& c" j* [
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
% u! S5 i, ]- L6 v. o$ Othe cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
, g& Q* x5 `' T* A* Y, y' v; dseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
^: t, g% r( n- P5 I# Vonto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
* Z+ R+ P7 t0 P& x' |
things may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
: X; W( O1 J9 t3 A5 r' ?3 B! VVERY silly money.
7 |' u* ^1 Y d$ u6 o4 N4 c Z
2 S! t3 P0 m6 B7 W* I E
0 g, s' \5 R6 L# u2 X