Above is another view of Mr Blackham's unusual Nagra SNN. As far as I can see, apart from not having
( a, U9 p* k6 p* ?1 Rthe various anodised legends on the deck plate, also absent are the adjustable AGC threshold knob and
6 T' J4 e% }/ O. G* T+ T
the transport lock-out 'switch' next to the meter. The cover 'hinge' arrangement differs slightly from later
. _- q0 b- E3 @( Hmachines, as does the 'patina' of the anodised finish. A most interesting version, has anyone got another?
, ^. W- _( | d8 |0 w# N8 n
# }8 U. @2 ^- n' Q8 r2 }(Apparently yes, I have recently been advised.)
0 u& n4 L- P! h
1 O/ q7 m! G! d8 x" |: A8 \
; Z6 v' N4 }. j. J1 x1 R5 GClick on either of the above images for more information.
9 n. T; ^0 n- d4 f8 a2 @- c* h4 m
6 w; L& T" [: f v
7 @) N! n c6 b4 m- z
* For those who are looking at the stereo versions of this recorder often to be found on 'Eday', do
& }8 f0 S0 E0 @" a- Z+ k3 z
beware, as It is unlikely that these will be the recent versions designed to record high quality music.
3 y* o1 h9 Y; h/ }- w% m) C4 MThere are now apparently four versions of the Nagra 'SN':
& {9 O+ }3 ?9 ]3 C. q6 F" Y1 }+ U k: N
' e+ o1 [/ {& S+ J% @
( o, o2 l, v9 Z/ Z
Nagra SNN - full track recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Mono
, t* J- n1 M& Y1 S; X' E* D9 v8 S) q `( i I: [7 W! D' ^5 i
Nagra SNS - half track recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Mono
/ N/ ~& J Z7 l3 { H( u8 j/ ]0 `" J3 ~( `" R
Nagra SNST - Stereo recording at 1 7/8 and 15/16 i.p.s. - surveillance quality recording in Stereo
! z0 }8 d* n4 e) \$ v$ b
. |, |1 `5 T+ `" k) A( W+ NNagra SNSTR (recent) - Stereo recording at 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 i.p.s. - high quality recording in Stereo
1 X( ^% k5 i% W1 T D$ k( c
# I8 |/ I; D/ R9 R y
) V, ?+ }, J% G6 q
Apparently for covert surveillance use it was preferable to have two separate recording channels to
- E+ T5 `9 g+ X9 g5 e: ^! E/ a
have some chance of capturing a muffled or distant conversations. So these older stereo machines will
9 y$ U$ p# {8 m1 F A
therefore be
optimized for speech recording only, and will also
run at low speed for maximum
5 G6 c& Z& \: K" Q
recording time and not fidelity. Actually Nagra made a special playback loudspeaker system (25100
0 r- x$ d( b; }DSP) with built in equalization to compensate for the quite limited frequency response of these
; v2 x& I. s! m: \6 m2 L9 Q6 b9 jrecorders. A standard mono Nagra SNN running at 3 and 3/4, like the ones on this page are capable of
$ ?4 G, W0 e E+ q1 N* }truly Hi-Fi recording, but
the slow speed SNS and the SNST stereo versions are not. Perhaps it might
8 h# y3 m: Q1 ~( g! o% x6 e
be possible to convert these machines for Hi-Fi use, but this would involve replacing most of the
2 g$ C4 G# J( C! u
electronics and be very expensive.
+ L3 C" H, ^ t2 m. R# a" w p: I5 Y' Z$ _: s7 l
) @4 H- o, g9 C1 o9 \: @$ oCheaper to buy a rather bette
r stereo
IV-S in the first place!
5 _. C8 |+ v. U0 r
) l) J, W0 ` r' g
, x8 x3 F) _0 |& @: gTape for the Nagra SN
+ D e) Z* W0 m* U$ z
8 l2 q& ^* [) [3 i
+ @3 t8 h& m" \' e. UI have been amazed at the prices some people have been willing to pay on that wild west auction site for
) W3 C0 x! F# g$ u9 L. N: F2 fthe little reels of tape for this machine. When I first acquired my example from the BBC naturally I
, g9 {% B0 U3 r
wanted to play with it and make some recordings. I knew that the tape was basically re-reeled cassette
# U* Y3 I7 h2 etape so I approached a tape duplication house in the UK and quite easily obtained a few part used
* s2 ?( l5 w) f
'pancakes'. These are the un-flanged bulk reels of tape (about 10" dia) that are automatically wound into
* G9 a& O; G# ^! z. Z2 W; g- |( V
the cassette shells. I then contacted Nagra UK (always helpful) and obtained for around ?5 each
& X4 a! l4 Z& o/ c. R$ W: r4 Kseveral pairs of empty plastic reels. It then was quite a simple matter to wind tape off the pancake and
3 u/ g; L" |4 @! s3 L5 C* |onto the Nagra plastic reel (by using the hand crank on the machine). I did this a few years ago and
# [9 A. y+ ^8 I. P2 tthings may be slightly different these days, but perhaps worth investigating rather than spending some
9 R" z% b8 e) V' W5 Z; {+ b; K
VERY silly money.
: X. ?+ N5 w; X. L$ B2 L8 `! Z5 X: D! p- o
$ U+ T, g- T; o8 g5 g