Will NMEA 2000 terminators work on NMEA 0183?

NMEA 2000 is a completely different protocol, format, and system to that of NMEA 0183. NMEA 0183 uses a 1-to-1 connection most of the time, with the protocol of RS232 / RS422, and without the use of multiplexers and buffers, it can be difficult to get multiple devices talking to one another (There are certain aspects that can be done such as multiple listeners connected to one talker but there is more to that than meets the eye).

NMEA 2000 uses CAN (Controller Area Network) BUS to communicate. This method means that there is 1 network, that all devices connect to, and communicate with one another. Because of this, NMEA 2000 networks need terminators on the backbone, whereas NMEA 0183 devices do not.

The term ‘NMEA 0183 network’, is often used, however, it is not really a ‘network’ like you would imagine an Ethernet network, or NMEA 2000. Instead, it is several single devices talking to another set of single devices, and devices such as multiplexers as mentioned previously, are used to combine all the devices together.

In short, NMEA 0183 devices do not need termination, thus NMEA 2000 terminators are not needed, and will not work with NMEA 0183.

For more information on NMEA 0183 and how it works, please download our free guide to NMEA 0183 networking.
For more information on NMEA 2000 and how it works, please download our free guide to NMEA 2000 networking.