Why are NMEA 2k cables so....

[Erin]

...expensive?

I'm just about to upgrade to a N2K VHF and will need a couple of short drop cables. Doing a search for something I'd expect to be a fiver turns out to be £20 or more. And the £25 cost of a field installable connector is just

[Chris]

All NMEA 2k stuff is expensive. Dont know why its not that special.

[bedajim]

Originally Posted by Erin

...expensive?

I'm just about to upgrade to a N2K VHF and will need a couple of short drop cables. Doing a search for something I'd expect to be a fiver turns out to be £20 or more. And the £25 cost of a field installable connector is just

What are you after I may have some spare

[Erin]

Thanks for your offer Jim, if you do have spares that would be great. What pains me is that I have a spare 10m backbone cable that came with my GPS which I could easily shorten if the field installable connectors weren't practically the same price as the cable itself.

As you can see from the photo, the modern style T pieces are mounted at the lower left and the hole for the radio is top right. I have a spare T, so just need a cable to connect between the two. The alternative is to mount the T closer to the older N2K connectors beneath the radio and have a shorter cable straight up to the radio, but then I'd also need a short link between the existing T's and the new one. As you can see I've got a couple of older style devices wired in to the same backbone which just complicates things.

[bedajim]

Originally Posted by Erin

Thanks for your offer Jim, if you do have spares that would be great. What pains me is that I have a spare 10m backbone cable that came with my GPS which I could easily shorten if the field installable connectors weren't practically the same price as the cable itself.

As you can see from the photo, the modern style T pieces are mounted at the lower left and the hole for the radio is top right. I have a spare T, so just need a cable to connect between the two. The alternative is to mount the T closer to the older N2K connectors beneath the radio and have a shorter cable straight up to the radio, but then I'd also need a short link between the existing T's and the new one. As you can see I've got a couple of older style devices wired in to the same backbone which just complicates things.

I'll have a look in the toy box on Monday at work

[Erin]

Cheers, I reckon a 1m cable would just about do it.

[Paul Cannell]

I have a 1mtr cable from NMEA2000 Network Cabling if Jim's toy box is empty

[Vandad]

because they are data cables, and not a simple 12v DC cable!

Mind you, you could try connecting your devices using a standard 12vDC cable, BUT chances are that your device won't work, you will get loads of errors in the data you receive (like you may get wird speeds on your GPS, etc.) and eventually burn the sender devide.

NMEA cables are low resistance cables and work similar to high speed data cables used in LAN.

[bedajim]

Originally Posted by Paul Cannell

I have a 1mtr cable from NMEA2000 Network Cabling if Jim's toy box is empty

The toy box is never empty, just careful who looks inside now days

I've got a couple of Garmin 320-00387-00 leads if you want one

Just need to know where to send it

Jim

[Erin]

Originally Posted by Paul Cannell

I have a 1mtr cable from NMEA2000 Network Cabling if Jim's toy box is empty

Cheers Paul, but Bedajim looks like he can sort me out.

Originally Posted by Vandad

because they are data cables, and not a simple 12v DC cable!
NMEA cables are low resistance cables and work similar to high speed data cables used in LAN.

Thanks Vandad. I do appreciate the difference, but the cable involved is nothing particularly special, just a decent quality screened data wire. Not that much different to Cat6 really. And in all fairness, it's the connectors that seem to be the pricey bit.

Originally Posted by bedajim

The toy box is never empty, just careful who looks inside now days

I've got a couple of Garmin 320-00387-00 leads if you want one

Just need to know where to send it

Jim

Perfect, I'll take you up on your benevolence kind sir. Adress via pm.