Feb 12, 2016

The National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA), known for high quality education for technicians and professionals, has introduced a new marine electronics course designed for the boating public.

It is intended for technically oriented boaters and end users who would like to apply the NMEA 0400 guidelines to installations that they perform on their own vessels, said Mark Reedenauer, NMEA’s President and Executive Director. 

Called the NMEA 0400 General Overview, the new course provides highlights of NMEA’s acclaimed 0400 Installation Standard. This course provides general knowledge and understanding of common marine electronics installation and operational procedures, regardless of equipment manufacturer. The NMEA 0400 Installation Standard is designed to complement any manufacturer-specific installation manual.

The new course for boaters is not an NMEA Installer Certification course. However, it does utilize parts of the Marine Electronics Installer (MEI) and NMEA 2000® Network Installer courses. 

The new course is also excellent for training marine electronics manufacturer technical support employees and technical/retail sales staffs. 

“As the boating industry and electronics technology are changing rapidly and becoming more plug-and-play, we all know that end users are installing their own marine electronics,” said Reedenauer. “NMEA is taking the approach of educating technical end users by providing them with information on properly installing specific pieces of marine electronics in a basic installation. This includes installing displays, antennas, transducers and a basic NMEA 2000® network. If an end user gets into a situation that is ‘over his or her head,’ the NMEA technical installer base is there to help. Customers can search the NMEA website to locate certified installers in their local area.”

The course is available 24/7 on the NMEA website for a cost of $149. There are roughly 160 PowerPoint slides that students can download and keep for reference. A 25-question quiz is conducted at the end of the course. NMEA members (or people who join as new members on the nmea.org website) who take this course get the 0400 Installation Standard (320-page document) FREE after course completion. The NMEA staff will verify your membership and send you an electronic copy. Non-NMEA members who take this course can purchase the 0400 Installation Standard for $300

For more information, visit www.nmea.org and click on “Online Training for End Users.”