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It seems these are NMEA messages generated by the hub? It’s not clear what remedies need to be made, especially since neither Cortex Onboard nor the H1 handset give any indication of issues. When it’s connected to the hub (over WiFi), it complains about numerous AIS alarms, a list of which appears below. The Cortex settings groups “At the helm,” “On watch,” and “Autopilot engaged” don’t make sense to me (what do those mean exactly?), and I don’t see a way to view or configure the alarm criteria for those groups. Is there a way to tune the AIS collision alarm settings like on the XB-8000? The XB-8000 had settings groups such as “Harbor” and “Offshore,” which could have their alarm criteria fine tuned.Is it possible to change the WiFi SSID? For security reasons I’d rather not broadcast that there’s a Cortex aboard.Is there a way to turn off the 3G network access? I’m almost certain I’ll never use this functionality, and I don’t need the system to “phone home” and upload who knows what data.Nothing should ever interfere with the system’s primary function as a safety device.

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I never want to be prompted for an update with a pop-up, which invariably comes at an inopportune time.

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Is there a way to disable automatic checks for updates? I only want to check for and install updates when I explicitly initiate the process.Is it possible to re-use the Vesper GPS antenna which came with the XB-8000? Yes

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The manual suggests that use of any GPS antenna besides the one supplied may damage the hub.

Is it possible to silence AIS/collision alarms while at anchor (so that only anchor alarms will be announced)?.

Is there a way to connect a loud piezo buzzer if desired? Not at present.

Is it possible to have just alarms on the speaker so you’re not hearing VHF chatter all night? Yes, VHF can be muted.

Is the external speaker needed for this functionality? Yes.

Does the Cortex retain this feature? Yes….

One of my favorite features of the XB-8000 is that it can alarm (collision, anchor watch) when no display is connected.

There’s huge potential for this little unit.

The manual mentions a built-in barometer?.

I’m hoping that it will output the heading PGN on the NMEA 2000 network.

I won’t be able to say more until it calibrates.

I’m really excited about the built-in heading sensor.

As a software engineer I can appreciate the tremendous amount of effort represented by the hub, handset, and mobile app software.

(Answers to questions, as obtained from Vesper Marine support, appear in bold.) Praise I’ve only experienced Cortex at the slip so far, and will update this article as I learn more. Compared to the XB-8000, its splitter, and miscellaneous associated hardware, the Cortex saved quite a bit of real estate in the installation area. Installation took about a day and was straightforward. So this weekend I updated from the Vesper XB-8000 to Cortex.

It was also the simplest way for me to get VHF capability at the helm. In a nod to this other vendors are now scrambling to catch up. It just makes so much sense to combine VHF and AIS in one unit. I’ve been excited about the possibilities for the Vesper Cortex ever since first hearing about it.

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