23/05/2018

NMEA2000 and Sail Boats

Does NMEA 2000 Matter ?

OK, maybe controversial but…

If you have a sailing boat does the all singing and dancing NMEA 2000 matter ?

The superhighway of data..

For those of you who haven’t caught up yet – NMEA 2000 is the ‘superhighway’ of data.

Where you can instantly connect copious quantities of equipment to share infinite amounts of data.

So, will you have to go out today and spend a fortune on upgrading your equipment ?

Well if you have a sailing boat the answer will be a very conclusive….

‘it depends’

Yes – it does matter because.

If you don’t know then NMEA 2000 is simply the way the electronic equipment on your boat ‘talks to each other’ – as a means of moving data from one device to another.

In the previous format (NMEA 0183) you would be able to send data from one device to another ‘person to person’ in one direction (one device talking, one device listening).

With the new NMEA 2000 you can not only send information in both directions at once, but you can do this to a variety of devices – so that your AIS receiver, chart plotter, depth gauge, etc. can all talk to each other at once.

In addition the new NMEA 2000 is also ‘plug and play’ – but only if you have only two or three NMEA 2000 devices. So you simply need to unpack the box and connect them to work.  (However if you have more devices they will need to be configured and you might also need to install a network)

And the big advantage is that all NMEA 2000 devices talk to each other, irrespective of make or brand. So you can simply ‘mix and match’ the items of equipment you would like.  (Without being tied into a specific brand)

So yes, NMEA 2000 has a lot of advantages.

And No – it doesn’t matter because.

Quite frankly, most sailing boats simply don’t need it.

If you only have a few items of equipment onboard then the extra data won’t add much to your enjoyment.

Linked to that many sailing boat owners prefer the benefit of WiFi – so you can access your data anywhere on the boat without being tied onto the need to install cables.

But, what if..

The obvious question is.

‘What if I buy a new NMEA2000 chart plotter?’

or depth gauge, gps monitor, etc.

Well the good news is that there is a bit of equipment called ‘NMEA to N2k gateway’ that connects NMEA2000 devices to NMEA0183 devices – so that you can use both on your boat.

That way you can continue to use your current NMEA0183 AIS receivers, multiplexers, etc. and simply add other items of equipment if it suits.

More information

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