but it isn't correct. The new instruments from the major players have standard NMEA2000 connections now. Really, look at the Raymarine i70 and e7, the B&G Triton, the new Garmin stuff, the new Simrad stuff, etc. They may also have additional proprietary connection ports, NMEA 0183 ports, etc, but they contain fully functional standard 2000 connections - even if they have the mini connector instead of the mid sized one (similar to USB connectors having different sizes). The B&G stuff you are looking at is not the new stuff, and the expensive stuff you mention is their professional gear.

Yes, the Furuno takes rate information from other compasses as long as they transmit that information at (I think) 10Hz. This is now standard operation on all current rate sensors and compasses from all companies.

I'm not harping on you, it is just that I am refitting our boat completely and have been immersed in this for a while now so have all of the current information at hand. It really is a different world today. And I am eating my own dog food here because I am putting together a soup to nuts refit of the entire boat using NMEA2000 gear from 11 different manufacturers. And I have talked to them all to ensure that they don't have issues working with gear from other companies. The autopilot alone will be a combination of gear from 3 companies, not including cabling and that decision was made with the blessing of all 3 competing manufacturers. Simple depth and speed transducers now are manufacturer independent and simply connect to a network backbone to be used by any component that wants their data. Same with wind, GPS, etc. Buy the sensor and plug it in. No more being caught in a single manufacturer web, or having to replace whole systems because one component stopped working, etc.

It is in the interest of the manufacturers to move in this direction - technology moves so fast, that an entire manufacturer's product line can be frozen out instantly if they have a proprietary system. Proof of the pudding is in Raymarine completely capitulating on this after having the entire marketplace run away from Seatalk once others became standardized and offered better features, performance and prices. It cost Raymarine their company.

When I have the stuff in hand, I will try to remember to report back on how it works and any gotcha's. Eventually, it will find its way into our blog www.svreach.com

Mark