Vesper Cortex: An Unpaid Review

[znep]

Originally Posted by shimari

Interesting - I was going to wire in a Shelly 1 plus. I went the Signalk route instead.

I just looked at the Cortex web page at Garmin and it indicates that security updates are only available until 2024-01-17. Hopefully, it's just a failure to update the web page. But, I'm wondering if they're going to kill the product now that they took Vesper out of the game.

The other interesting aspect to that is that after acquisition Garmin released a product based on the Cortex called the Cortex Neuro designed for unmanned surface vessels (USVs). I assume that is a very hot market right now, but have no insights into Garmin's inroads into that market.

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/902861

For operators of uncrewed surface vessels or drones, Cortex Neuro is a robust marine-grade communications gateway offering full VHF and AIS signal sharing and control to a remote command system.

[CyKlop]

My opinion of the M1 is do t get one. I’ve had one for over 3 years and here is the list of problems

1. Main unit failed after 3 months necessitating a replacement, which took several months to complete (partially my fault on the length of time as I was on an extended cruise at the time)

2. Wired in handset failed, necessitating replace,ent after 6 months

3. Wireless handset battery life lasting approx 6 to 8 hours and now won’t charge at all, requiring a replacement. Support useless…

[stanhoney]

I'm happy with my Garmin/Vesper Cortex. The new software update addressed my concerns.

[Yaghan]

I got my Vesper Cortex in 2022 and strongly advice against it
- repeated malfunction of both wired and wireless handset with several replacement - warranty but slow and bad support from Garmin. Also unexplained interference with other instruments when connected to NMEA.
I have now decommissioned the system and replaced it with RayMarine Ray 90

[shimari]

I'm on the fence with our Cortex now. I've not had many of the problems of others, but there have been problems as you would expect with any new product.

I bought it prior to Vesper being acquired by Garmin. Installed after the acquisition, and initially I had problems with the data in the cloud disappearing. That was solved after months as soon as Garmin escalated it to the remaining Vesper team. The latest problem is that there is a fault that causes the system to hang randomly requiring a power cycle. I'm hoping the latest update solves that.

I just wonder what Cortex would be like now if Vesper had remained independent. It's unfortunate as SDR in the marine world has so much potential.

[Networker]

Originally Posted by shimari

I'm on the fence with our Cortex now. I've not had many of the problems of others, but there have been problems as you would expect with any new product.

I bought it prior to Vesper being acquired by Garmin. Installed after the acquisition, and initially I had problems with the data in the cloud disappearing. That was solved after months as soon as Garmin escalated it to the remaining Vesper team. The latest problem is that there is a fault that causes the system to hang randomly requiring a power cycle. I'm hoping the latest update solves that.

I just wonder what Cortex would be like now if Vesper had remained independent. It's unfortunate as SDR in the marine world has so much potential.

I've had the Vesper Cortex since 2020 and had a love/hate relationship with it. The latest 2.1 software absolutely fixed all the issues I had with it, so it's functional now.

The wireless handset quit charging but I was able to fix it by pulling out the copper connectors on the cradle to ensure they were indeed connecting to the handset. Haven't had an issue since.

The wired handset cable is flimsy and not trustworthy, I've had to tape it to keep it alive.

I'm getting a new boat and trying to decide if I get another Vesper, or see if the new Em-Trak Nexus solution will be any good. It has some interesting features I'd like like VHF radio app on mobile phone, handheld AIS for MOB, etc.

Panbo just wrote about it, so I'm torn, I don't need a decision until Nov or so.

https://panbo.com/em-traks-premium-n...icom-m510-evo/