[sealevel]

I agree with Mr. F.
In my case I got the C7030 with PB-Pro + SH, the lap tower, and Pit-Pro. I do not plan to get the 2 lane analogue mod because I could get the APB for less, PROVIDING I desire to run analogue.

The main reason I returned to slot cars was the analogue and all the above neat stuff..... which is most only for digital right now. Plus I have chipped my cars for digital, so I am staying with the PB-Pro (sunk cost) until the APB is "debugged" by Hornby, and is no longer "new" (so the prices will stabilize and with more product out there, may actually be available at RRSP or lower prices).

That's my 2 cents/pence worth.

Summary:
If you have PB-Pro + SH.... stay with it until the APB is warranted (PB breaks or ???) / on sale / improved or debugged
If you do not have PB-Pro + SH.... consider an APB as the next step
If you have PB-Pro but not SH...... consider an APB as the next step
If you do not have PB-Pro (i.e. 4 car PB) ... consider an APB as the next purchase to justify your digital investment

Oh, and thanks for the excellent discussion to get this going.

Cheers!

 

[sealevel]

Either somewhere on this thread or another one there is a picture of the guts of the C7042. It has TWICE the power cables connected differently but I think the data wires are the same.
I am sure someone will be in shortly to correct me!

Separating my PB-Pro is on my to-do list after spring break... Did you go the RJ45/cat5e cable route for the data? That is my plan (see JeremyR's photo of his PB with the power and data connectors).

Cheers!