May 15, 2016

Full-day class to feature extensive hands-on training

This summer the National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) will offer the first training class in a new Advanced NMEA 2000® course that focuses on installations, setup, and troubleshooting. The course will debut in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Friday, July 29, 2016, and be repeated later in other locations around the country.

This full-day training course will feature a half-day PowerPoint presentation before the included class lunch. The second half of the day will be all hands-on, as students split into small groups at classroom work stations equipped with complex NMEA 2000 networks. The purpose of the hands-on portion is to allow students to demonstrate the ability to design, build, configure, evaluate, backup network files, and troubleshoot complex NMEA 2000 networks using techniques taught by the NMEA instructor.

“This advanced NMEA 2000 training class is what the industry has been asking for,” said Mark Reedenauer, NMEA President & Executive Director. “The NMEA 2000 standard and its install base have grown well past what anyone within NMEA originally anticipated when the standard was released in 2004. Now, as we see all major marine electronics manufacturers using the standard, the level of complex installations has greatly increased, generating the need for an advanced training course for installers, technicians, and system designers.”

The training class features NMEA 2000-certified products from virtually all major manufacturers, including multi-function displays (MFDs) and multiple sensors of the same function, which require instruction on instancing. Most important, this allows students to get familiar with the advanced NMEA 2000 setup features within each manufacturer’s MFD, as these vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

“We want to thank all NMEA manufacturer companies who have donated their products to make this training class a success for all attendees,” said Johnny Lindstrom, NMEA Board of Directors Chairman. “We are confident that all students will leave the class with an extensive knowledge base of a complex NMEA 2000 network.”

The Advanced NMEA 2000 class is one of four NMEA training courses taught at various locations around the U.S. and in Canada. The long-term goal is to teach this course in Europe and Asia. Other courses in the NMEA training curriculum are Marine Electronics Installer, Advanced Marine Electronics Installer, and Basic NMEA 2000 Installer.

The cost for the Advanced NMEA 2000 course is $450 for NMEA members and $650 for non-members. For more information or to register, visit www.nmea.org or call 410-975-9425.