High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! 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, 160 or 320 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.