Marine NMEA Cables

The National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) is a trade organization that has been setting global standards for networking marine electronics and instruments since the early 1980s. Introduced at that time, the NMEA 0183 standard was approved for most commercial vessels using radars, echo-sounders, autopilots, and other equipment. Today, it's still in use, although it has been mainly supplanted with the NMEA 2000 protocol implemented in newer vessels requiring enhanced digital communication at higher speed. Actually, the NMEA 2000's architecture is quite intuitive: powered by DC 12V, it consists of the main communication channel known as the backbone and a number of T-connectors, one connector for a certain device like a chartplotter, gauge, or autopilot.

To link the backbone and NMEA 2000 device, there are so-called drop cables whose maximum length is limited. On the ends, the backbone has two terminators, the male and female one, which can be removed to expand the network and install an extension cable or other tees. Today, there are equipment and cables supporting either NMEA 0183 or NMEA 2000 standard, and if you're going to connect any device to the existing network of a different kind, the industry offers numerous adapters and converters. A wide range of marine NMEA cables, adapters, and related products are available in our online store.