I have an old Foxtel box (Flinders box from when they were Austar) that allows me to record directly onto my dvd recorder. However, the ABC channel was recently lost and can't be recovered so I'm looking at getting the latest Foxtel box so I can resume receiving Rage broadcasts.
My understanding is that you can record directly onto the Foxtel box hard drive itself but not onto an external hard drive such as a dvd recorder that is connected to it.
I'm assuming the recordings could be transferred onto a usb device but does anyone know if direct recording from the Foxtel box to a stand alone dvd recorder is possible?

I don't see why it wouldn't be possible, as long as it's not done via an HDMI cable (because that would bring its digital copy protection into play).
What I'm not sure about is what types of outputs a current-day Foxtel box actually has on it. Maybe they're HMDI-only these days rather than having things like RCA and SCART plugs like they used to. In which case it would not work for your application. (or at best it would get messy, as you'd have to find some type of HDCP-stripping, HDMI-converting device to plug between the box and the recorder)

Personally I think you'd be better off getting something like this
https://www.kogan.com/au/buy/bourne-electronics-srt5434-hdtv-digital-set-top-box-and-usb-recorder-strong-srt5434/
... since DVD format is an inherently poor quality means of storage, and recordable DVDs have a limited lifespan.
Plug in a USB stick or USB HDD and get HD recordings straight onto it in full quality.
As long as you have an antenna and decent free-to-air reception of course.

Thank you Luuuc for your suggestions. I'm not sure what outputs/cables are involved with the latest Foxtel box but I suspect they might be HDMI-only.
I know I should move on to a type of USB HDD but I am partial to the DVD format.
I do have free-to-air reception and a digital set-top box but they are unreliable in my area, whereas the Foxtel broadcasts are generally free of error.

Fair enough if your cable/satellite Foxtel reception is better than your free-to-air reception.

I just had a look out of curiosity and the current Foxtel box (iQ4) is indeed HDMI only, and so is the previous iQ3.
That's gonna make things tricky for you I think.

Yeah I suspect the HDMI connection will be the problem.
I'm not sure if I can somehow adapt these to RCA plugs or not but I'll give it a go.
Thanks again Luuuc.