Fule flow and oil pressure for port and starboard engines are shown.

Multi-tasking is the hallmark of NMEA 2000: Up to 50 electronic devices can talk, listen, and transfer data back and forth to each other.

Another innovation, Kahr of NMEA explained, is “true plug-and-play capability.” This means you can add or remove equipment without reconfiguring your network. Manufacturers using NMEA 2000 build on a standardized cabling and connector system, enabling you to plug a variety of products to the network, much like you would through the USB cable on your home computer.

There’s also an inherent safety benefit. Many engine manufacturers are currently developing engine management systems that, with a simple plug-and-play connection, can send data relating to tachometer, voltage, oil pressure, fuel level, engine temperature and cooling water temperature to an engine management program that, using NMEA 2000 protocol, can override the operator’s instructions and shut down the engine, avoiding a potentially dangerous situation.

The NMEA 2000 standard is an improvement over the older 0183 standard, but boaters should be prepared for the fact that many older NMEA 0183 instruments may not communicate with NMEA 2000 electronic instruments.

At the Miami Boat Show in February, industry giant Furuno had its new NavNet vx2 system on display. I asked Jeff Kauzlaric, Furuno communications manager, how they had integrated NMEA 2000 into the newest NavNet system, and was surprised by his answer.

“NMEA 2000 uses a data bus and not a video bus,” he explained, “and just like Raymarine, Garmin, Lowrance and many of the other marine electronics manufacturers, we all support NMEA 2000; it’s just that NMEA 2000 does not have the bandwidth we and many of the other manufacturers need to transfer video (i.e. charts, radar, bottom contours, etc.).” For video transfer, Furuno and the other electronics manufacturers use ethernet cables.

While NMEA 2000 is a giant step forward in the way electronic instruments can share data, it is not yet a cure-all for the boater as it will not let electronic instruments share all of the information on their displays. For more detailed information, visit www.nmea.org.

FS