[woodcote]

The basic Scalextric 4-car powerbase is digital-only, but the C7042 Advanced 6-car powerbase and ARC Pro both have a traditional one-car-per-lane analogue mode too - so non-chipped cars will work in analogue mode, but not in digital mode. An analogue car will simply sit on a digital track and hum (as a result of the un-rectified 15volts AC the powerbase pumps out in SSD digital mode).

All cars will need a SSD-compatible chip (decoder) to function with Scalextric digital. The options are the C8515 digital plug for most DPR (Digital Plug Ready) cars, the C8516 for single-seater DPR cars, the C7005 retro-fit chip for non-DPR Scalextric cars and the Slot.it SP15B SSD chip for Slot.it cars. For other brands of car, it depends on the motor. If you are running non-mag with anything up to around 23,000 rpm (S-Can or FF slim can), the C7005 should be sufficient. A faster motor (or most long can motors) will need either the SP15B or the latest version of the C8515 (Rev H - without the cylindrical capacitor). GregK has some examples of fitting the C8515 chip in non-DPR cars here: slotracer.online/community/showthread.php?tid=848

The C7005 has its LED on wires, so it is easier to fit in tight spaces. The SP15B and C8515 both have a PCB-mounted LED, so the board needs to be mounted flat, with the LED poking through a hole in the chassis. The Slot.it 'remote' LED is only required if the chip cannot be fitted flat in the chassis with the PCB-mounted LED positioned on the centre line of the chassis and no more than an inch behind the rear edge of the guide.

It's worth mentioning that Pioneer cars are DPR and so the C8515 is plug-and-play. There is also the new Slot.it Type C oXigen chip, which will work with oXigen and SSD (and Carrera digital) with only a change of firmware required.