An add-on VCR record timer unit for Sky digital satellite TV.

After many months of resisting, the author was finally persuaded to "upgrade" his motorised Pace satellite system to Sky Digital. Once the system was installed, it soon became apparent that the Sky Digibox did not have a record timer feature. Just imagine your frustration if you carefully set your VCR and the satellite to record the match and return home only to find an episode of Sabrina instead! With this in mind he set about investigating a suitable solution. The Digibox is far too complex to even think about internally modifying so a stand-alone external unit was decided upon.

The basic concept behind Digitimer is that at a preset time the Digibox is sent a series of remote control commands to change to the desired channel. These commands can be either via IR (infra-red), as per the remote handset, or r.f. (radio frequency) via the Digilink connector on the rear of the Digibox.