Garmin and Lowrance nmea 2000 system compatability?

[joyceboat]

Greetings from Great Britain.

I am considering installing a lowrance 2000nmea back bone starter system to connect Lowrance hds units. The basic system over here plus extras are quite expensive! I have been offered parts from a garmin nmea 2000 system left over from a recent boat install. Would it be compatable with my Lowrance hds units? Wouls I encounter any problems or require adapters?

Regards
joyceboat

 

[Auger01]

Re: Garmin and Lowrance nmea 2000 system compatability?

What parts exactly? The basic cables and T's are compatible and by design most components from different manufacturers will work together, but some sensors work best when used with brand specific equipment.

 

[joyceboat]

Re: Garmin and Lowrance nmea 2000 system compatability?

Thank you Auger01 for your reply.
What I require is:
A backbone,
T-connectors,
Drop cables (to connect a lowrance hds fishfinders/sonar to the back bone)
Male and female terminaters
Power cable.
Regards
joyceboat

 

[dingbat]

Re: Garmin and Lowrance nmea 2000 system compatability?

Thank you Auger01 for your reply.
What I require is:
A backbone,
T-connectors,
Drop cables (to connect a lowrance hds fishfinders/sonar to the back bone)
Male and female terminaters
Power cable.
Regards
joyceboat

No problem. I have Lowrance backbone on my Garmin

 

[joyceboat]

Re: Garmin and Lowrance nmea 2000 system compatability?

hello dingbat,
Thank you for your interesting reply but is it feasable to do the reverse a lowrance hds unit to a garmin backbone.
regards,
joyceboat

 

[dingbat]

Re: Garmin and Lowrance nmea 2000 system compatability?

hello dingbat,
Thank you for your interesting reply but is it feasable to do the reverse a lowrance hds unit to a garmin backbone.
regards,
joyceboat

Humm...if Lowrance is the same as a Garmin, doesn't that make Garmin the same as Lowrance?

Hardware and protocols as specified as part of the NMEA 2000 standard. If they are not interchangeable, they are not NMEA 2000 compliant.

BTW: I ended up with a Lowrance backbone because it was cheaper, and in stock....

 

[joyceboat]

Re: Garmin and Lowrance nmea 2000 system compatability?

Hello dingbat,
Forgive my ignorance but the nmea 2000 system is quite new to me. I just wanted confirmation that the drop cable from a garmin nmea2000 system would fit the connection on the rear of the lowrance hds.
Many Thanks!
joyceboat

 

[jhebert]

Re: Garmin and Lowrance nmea 2000 system compatability?
... the nmea 2000 system is quite new to me. I just wanted confirmation that the drop cable from a garmin nmea2000 system would fit the connection on the rear of the lowrance hds...

Your concern is completely justified. Just because two devices are noted as having NMEA-2000 support does not guarantee they will use the same connector. Many manufacturers use connectors that different from the recommended connector.

In the case of Garmin and Lowrance, they both use the recommended NMEA-2000 Micro connector on their devices. The network backbone wiring accessories are generally also compatible, but the Network-T connectors are slightly different. I do not recommend mixing them if you plan to connect the two different brands of T-Connector together.

Just because two devices are both NMEA-2000 does not mean they will work together. The protocol provides for thousands of datagrams, referred to by their protocol group number or PGN. In order to determine if two NMEA-2000 devices can work together you must compare the PGN's that they can send, receive, or respond to.