At the Miami boat show – Mercury launched the new generation of VesselView displays based on updated hardware from Simrad.
Mercury VesselView502
The Mercury VesselView502 (Mercury writes it with and without spacing) – seems to be based on the Simrad GO5 button-less touchscreen chartplotter. It has a 5″ multi-touch screen with 800 x 480 resolution (if Simrad GO5 specs are to be trusted 🙂 )
The VesselView502 can show data from up to 4 engines
I’m not quite certain about sounder capability. The VesselView502 says it is compatible with Broadband Sonar with Chirp and Downscan imaging. So maybe the VV502 has retained the sounder interface from the Simrad Go5 – and the Engine Interface is added. But more later when we find out.
The VesselView502Â has built in 10 Hz GPS receiver, WiFi & Bluetooth & NMEA 2000 interface. The VesselView502 has the data-card slot on the back – so make certain you install in a way you can access the data-card for updates or for adding chartplotter maps.
Since the 502 does not have Simrad Ethernet interface – I doubt it will be compatible with Ethernet connected accessories like Radar or advanced Sonar boxes. But maybe the future will make that happen via WiFi despite the heavy data load.
The VesselView502 will be available (in the USA) in May 2016 – and SRP/retail price is not known yet.
Mercury VesselView702
The VesselView 702 is a 7″ Widescreen display – based on the Simrad NSS7m Evo2. With a screen resolution of 800 x 480 – you get same amount of pixels as the Simrad GO5 & VesselView 502. The display is of course multi-touch – but the VesselView 702 has buttons and rotary dial – just like the Simrad NSS7m Evo2. That does also mean the “mark” button for waypoints is missing compared to the bigger siblings in the Simrad NSS Evo2 family.
The VesselView 702 supports displaying data from up to 4 engines at the same time. It has two video inputs & a MicroSD data slot on the front. The 702 DOES have Ethernet interface so it can interface with Simrad devices via Ethernet like Radar and Sounder modules plus ability to share or get charts from other devices. So it is a full “NSS7m Evo2” plus Engine Managment interface. The 702 has built in 10 Hz GPS receiver but does not have WiFi built in. So Mercury is supplying the [IMHO] excellent Simrad GoFree WiFi module with it as a bundle.
The VesselView 702 (like the 502) does have NMEA 2000 interface and both are compatible with NMEA 2000 devices, incl. full support for AIS, Mastervolt C-Zone Digital power switching, Garmin Fusion Link & Simrad Sonic hub.
Software updates will be delivered via Navico / Simrad GoFree online store /Â platform – from which you can also purchase and update maps directly from the device screen – of course only if the device has Internet Connection.
The VesselView502 will be available (in the USA) in May 2016 – and SRP/retail price is not known yet.
I do hope they will continue with the VesselView 4 (The 4″ kind of “Instrument only” display as it does fill a need – and is a capable little bugger) – but lets see what the future will bring – or remove as it might be. But from now on there is no point in buying a VesselView7 that is for sure unless you have the “older” Simrad NSS devices on your boat. And even then….
All the pictures of new VesselView’s above are from Mercury. And I’m sorry but the quality is not great from the originals either.
