NMEA 2000 - simple display?

neil1967

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I'm looking for a simple NMEA 2000 display for use at the chart table - I don't need a fancy display (those are in the cockpit) so I'm reluctant to spend 350 GBP on a Garmin GMI 20, B&G Triton or similar. I've seen this text display from yacht devices, which looks ideal. Available for around 100 GBP. Any one any experience of them?
 
No experience, but it looks like the sort of disappointingly clunky display which Nasa might produce. I have a couple of Garmin GMI20s in the cockpit, and I've added a third at the chart table. Yes, these multi displays are expensive, but they have huge capabilities. For example, I've programmed my chart table display to include historical graphing of wind speed, atmospheric pressure and temperature, as well as the usual functions. And because you can configure these displays to show a variety of different data on one screen, there's less flipping between screens involved. The presentation of data is also slicker - for instance the analogue wind direction is instantly understandable. Also, if you get a display which matches your cockpit displays, you'll know instinctively how to work it, and won't have to try to remember a different user interface. You don't have to buy new, there are used bargains around - I bought my GMI20 on eBay for £156.
 
I'm looking for a simple NMEA 2000 display for use at the chart table - I don't need a fancy display (those are in the cockpit) so I'm reluctant to spend 350 GBP on a Garmin GMI 20, B&G Triton or similar. I've seen this text display from yacht devices, which looks ideal. Available for around 100 GBP. Any one any experience of them?

It can be done on a laptop, probably on tablets, Apple or Android as well. There's too many software options to list.
 
It can be done on a laptop, probably on tablets, Apple or Android as well. There's too many software options to list.

Two challenges: firstly getting data off the N2K bus, secondly displaying it. There's not nearly so many options for displaying N2K data as there are for NMEA-0183. If the device that takes data off the N2K bus will convert and spit it out in NMEA-0183 format then you lose any N2K info which isn't converted or can't be represented in a standard way by NMEA-0183. Signal K can represent more data but is a bit of a moving target. Without going home-brew the obvious things to look at are the Digital Yacht iKommunicate (more than double the OP's target price) or the non-N2K-certified vyacht.

Unless there are more applications than a simple display to consider the laptop/tablet solution might not work out cheaper than the OP's text display suggestion even if the tablet/computer neil1967 already owns is regarded as a "free" component.
 
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