What are the NMEA 0183 Listener and Talker Designations?

The NMEA have updated the NMEA 0183 specification to ensure a consistent naming convention is used for labelling ports. The designation follows the same rules as used for Rx and Tx labelling but uses the descriptions’ Talker’ and ‘Listener’ instead. The input/receiving (Rx) port on a device will be labelled as a ‘Listener’ port. The output/transmitting (Tx) port on a device will be labelled as a ‘Talker’ port. When a port is labelled ‘Listener’ it is an input and when it is labelled ‘Talker’ it is an output.

Another common notation used on NMEA 0183 devices is ‘A’ and ‘B’, where the same principles as above apply. The manufacturers literature will denote what A and B relate to. Commonly A is the Talker and B is the Listener, however occasionally we have seen manufacturers using these the other way around.

For more information on NMEA 0183 and how it works, please download our free guide to NMEA 0183 networking here: https://actisense.com/everything-to-know-about-nmea-0183-guide/
For more information on NMEA 2000 and how it works, please download our free guide to NMEA 2000 networking here: https://actisense.com/complete-guide-to-building-an-nmea-2000-network/