Hi,
Do you think, it would be wise to buy a GPS module that is compliant with NMEA 2000 standard ? If so, are you having such a module ?
The [NMEA 0183 is being phased out, as per Wikipedia. Having said that, would a NMEA 2000 compliant module be compatible with the [GPS shield ?](http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9817)](National Marine Electronics Association - Wikipedia)
I think you misinterpreted what was stated in Wikipedia because NMEA 0183 isn’t going anywhere any time soon. They say that NMEA 0183 is slowly being phased out in favor of NMEA 2000 in marine applications. This is partially true since boats and ships tend to have multiple NMEA devices trying to share data together (Radar tracked targets, AIS, GPS, fluxgate, gyro, Autopilot, windbirds, speed logs, echo sounder, ECDIS, rudder angle, shaft RPM, etc., etc.). NMEA 2000 can simplify a lot of the wiring involved in these applications and allow them to share data. For simpler applications, the added capabilities and associated expenses of NMEA 2000 isn’t necessary so there will always be NMEA 0183 products catering to this market (and non marine markets).
To the best of my knowledge, raw GPS modules, like the ones sold by Sparkfun, are not NMEA 2000 devices. Most have the ability to output NMEA 0183 formatted strings but they may not be fully NMEA compliant at the physical layer. To make NMEA 2000 messages would require an external controller of some sort along with the right transceivers to drive the bus. There is no reason why these capabilities couldn’t be integrated into these modules in the future though.
GPS “modules” from companies like Furuno and Lowrance that have NMEA 2000 interfaces are completely integrated finished products which include a raw GPS module, antenna, controller, bus transceivers, and connectors.
-Bill