Simrad IS42 Marine Digital Instrument Display Unit

The Simrad IS42 is a compact digital instrument display for boats that want depth, speed, wind, heading, engine, battery, and autopilot information in a dedicated gauge. Its square 4.1-inch color screen fits a small instrument cluster, while NMEA 2000 and SimNet bring the data together. It is an instrument display, not a chartplotter or full fishfinder.

The optically bonded transflective LCD is designed for daylight viewing, and the 320 x 320 layout works well for pages built around large data fields. Active draw is listed at 50mA, rising to 130mA at full brightness, so it is easy to add to a 12V network. The IS42 can show depth from a compatible transducer, but it does not create sonar images itself. Up to four engine configurations are supported according to the supplied specification.

Who Is This For?

This NMEA 2000 instrument display suits offshore center consoles, sailboats, cruisers, and sport yachts that need a compact data repeater. It is not ideal for buyers seeking charts, radar, or sonar imaging; depth appears only when a compatible network sensor supplies the data.

Warranty & Support

The supplied specifications do not state a warranty term. Confirm current Simrad warranty coverage before purchase.

The IS42 is a compact way to keep important boat data visible without using space on the main MFD. It is especially useful as part of a distributed instrument cluster. The trade-off is that it depends on the NMEA 2000 or SimNet network and connected sensors, so it cannot replace a chartplotter or sounder display.