Explorer 8300

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A Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300HD high-definition Digital Video Recorder Cable Box, issued by Time Warner Cable.

The Explorer 8300 is a digital video recorder (DVR) manufactured by Scientific Atlanta and used by many digital cable companies. It works like a regular cable box with DVR capabilities and features an 80 or 160 GB PATA internal hard drive. Some versions can also be used with an external SATA hard drive through the eSATA connector on the back. The firmware/software generally comes from one of two sources: the Scientific Atlanta Resident Application (SARA) or the PASSPORT software from Aptiv Digital (a spin-off of Pioneer). The choice of firmware is determined by the cable operator and the equipment available at the cable head-end.

Another model, the 8300HD, is a DVR capable of displaying and recording high definition (HD) as well as standard definition (SD) cable television signals. The 8300HD is generally equipped with the 160 GB PATA internal hard drive that can hold ~90 hours of SD or ~20 hours of HD programming. The 8300HD also comes with an HDMI port versus the DVI port on the older 8000HD model. The 8300HD also will (current software versions) output RF, RCA Composite, S-Video, and Component Video (SD & HD) simultaneously, which the 8000HD could not.

The HDMI implementation does not work with all splitters, switches, and switching receivers/converters.

In the United States, these converter/tuner boxes are generally owned by the cable company and rented to cable subscribers. In Canada, they are generally owned by the subscriber, purchased from their cable company or retail outlets. Those obtained through auction sites such as eBay will not be recognized or re-programmed by US cable companies for service.

[edit] External Expansion Ports

Certain versions of the Scientific-Atlanta Explorer 8300 (the 8300 HD, 8300 MR, and 8300 HD-MR) DVRs are compatible with external SATA drives so that you can expand the amount of recordable hours of programming that can be stored. At this time there are SATA drives from Apricorn, Maxtor and Seagate that are only compatible with boxes running the SARA software. Cable companies have a choice between running their 8300 DVR boxes on SARA or Passport software. The current version of the Passport software does not support external SATA drives. Time Warner San Diego currently supports and external SATA drive.