Thousands of boaters will get new options for how they mind their engines, and what data they get to see. Apparently those days are almost over, and I dare guess that the possibilities will be stimulating. SmartCraft has always seemed a powerful system, as did its proprietary gateway to MFDs of the Navico brands that parent company Brunswick once owned, but it was still annoying that it wouldn't integrate with NMEA 2000 when both are CANbus-based networks. Plus he recently installed Garmin's new Bennett Trim Tab analog-to-N2K adaptor and a GMI 10, and chucked his old trim indicator. A couple of months ago he detailed the install of a MercMonitor and Gateway on the Verado site, and also on the Hull Truth, and he's been answering questions in both places since. Plus it turns out that a gent named Glen Erly has installed a prototype system and written about it in some depth.Glen runs a great Web resource called the Verado Owners Group, as well as Electronics Unlimited's site, and he seems to be having a good time experimenting with gadgets on his twin 250 center console Reel Estate. If you check out the Gateway PDF above linked to this MercMonitor gauge page, you'll see that it can deliver a whole lot of engine messages to your N2K displays. Never mind that Mercury promised a NMEA 2000 gateway to its SmartCraft engine monitoring system back in 2001, the one it's poised to actually ship in 2010 looks quite powerful and useful.
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