Boating writers judging the 2026 IBEX Innovation Awards picked Garmin's VHF with a built-in transmitting AIS, a radio with roots in Auckland's Vesper Marine.
Garmin's Signal VHF 400 has won the OEM Electronics category at the 2026 IBEX Innovation Awards, presented in Tampa, Florida, on 6 October during the International BoatBuilders' Exhibition and Conference. The programme is managed by the US National Marine Manufacturers Association and judged by Boating Writers International, and this year's judges chose 12 winners and three honourable mentions from 100 entries, according to the IBEX winners announcement.
IBEX is a boatbuilders' show, and judge Steve Mitchell's citation reads like it, spending as much time on installation as on features. He described a radio that combines VHF, DSC and a Class B SOTDMA AIS transponder in "a unit small enough for almost any helm", listens to three channels at once, replays the last three minutes of audio and has diagnostic screens for tracking down antenna and cabling faults. NMEA 2000, 12V and 24V support, and a separately powered fist mic with a magnetic mount, rounded out his list.
Garmin is no stranger to industry awards. At the installer-voted 2025 NMEA Product of Excellence Awards it won categories including AIS and was named manufacturer of the year in the large-manufacturer tier.
One antenna, one box
For most owners the AIS is the headline. The VHF 400 doesn't just display nearby AIS traffic; it transmits your boat's name, position, course and speed to other AIS-equipped vessels, and Garmin says voice, DSC and AIS all run through a single VHF antenna. That does away with the separate transponder and the antenna splitter otherwise needed to share one aerial between a radio and an AIS unit.
The SOTDMA part of the description matters too. SOTDMA Class B transponders reserve their transmission slots in the same way commercial Class A sets do, rather than waiting for gaps in traffic, and Garmin's specifications put the VHF 400's AIS output at 5 watts.
The rest of the package is a 3.5-inch colour touchscreen, a built-in GPS receiver, a 25-watt transmitter and Wi-Fi for Garmin's ActiveCaptain app. In New Zealand the VHF 400 has a recommended retail price of NZ$2,399. The VHF 220, at NZ$1,799, has the same connections but receives AIS only, and the RM 100 remote station costs NZ$1,199. Each radio supports up to five remotes.
The Vesper connection
The Signal VHF 400 has roots in Auckland. Garmin acquired Vesper Marine in January 2022, bringing the AIS specialist into its existing Auckland operation. Vesper developed Cortex, which combined VHF communication, an AIS transponder and remote vessel monitoring.
Garmin told marine electronics website Panbo that Signal carries Vesper’s DNA in its features and functionality. Automatic squelch, background channel scanning and combined VHF and AIS capability reflect that heritage. Garmin designs and manufactures the Signal range in house.
Garmin positions Signal as a successor to its VHF 215 AIS. It brings Vesper’s influence into a conventional fixed radio, with a touchscreen and separate fist mic. Cortex remains a different proposition, with extras such as anchor watch and remote vessel monitoring that Signal does not include.
