Loneranger
Well-Known Member
- May 2, 2008
- 1,068
- Boat Info
- 2000 SeaRay Sundancer 270
- Engines
- 7.4l Mercruiser w/ Bravo III
Why are there so few NMEA 2000 VHF radios?
The only ones I could find were the Lowrance LVR880 and some of the Garmins like the VHF 200. Standard Horizon has none that are NMEA 2000 (they are all NMEA 0183 compatible). It seems that 11 years after a standard is in place there would be more radios. I know you can use the NMEA 0183 but boy plug and play seems so much simpler.
My 1999 raymarine VHF is working fine but it is large and I have limited helm space so next year I may replace it with a smaller unit and add a GPS like the Garmin 740s unit. Standard Horizon even has a GPS/VHF combo unit the CPV-350 which looks neat. I only have a single helm (obviously) and am on freshwater lakes so a lot of the advanced features (like AIS) I do not necessarily need. Anyway, I have been reading about the radios and it just struck me how few NMEA 2000 compatible radios exist now.
I need to finish the stereo and AV upgrade first so I will not be making any purchase until next year so maybe things will start to change.
John
The only ones I could find were the Lowrance LVR880 and some of the Garmins like the VHF 200. Standard Horizon has none that are NMEA 2000 (they are all NMEA 0183 compatible). It seems that 11 years after a standard is in place there would be more radios. I know you can use the NMEA 0183 but boy plug and play seems so much simpler.
My 1999 raymarine VHF is working fine but it is large and I have limited helm space so next year I may replace it with a smaller unit and add a GPS like the Garmin 740s unit. Standard Horizon even has a GPS/VHF combo unit the CPV-350 which looks neat. I only have a single helm (obviously) and am on freshwater lakes so a lot of the advanced features (like AIS) I do not necessarily need. Anyway, I have been reading about the radios and it just struck me how few NMEA 2000 compatible radios exist now.
I need to finish the stereo and AV upgrade first so I will not be making any purchase until next year so maybe things will start to change.
John
