Meindert,
I believe you can configure these to distribute by broadcast or by IP
(multiple). I have downloaded the manual. They appear quite capable.

Cable is a problem for me, as I do not have any sources. If you know a good
supplier of 50 or 100 pair 16 ga cable, I would really appreciate the tip.
Steve

"Meindert Sprang" wrote in message
...
"Steve Lusardi" wrote in message
...
Colin,
I completely agree. There has been a recent thread in this NG on this
very
subject. See www.gridconnect.com Their serial to Ethernet gateway
products
should be just what you are looking for and they are DC powered.

If I am correct, all of these products only offer a serial point to point
connection over ethernet, which seems quite pointless to me when you want
to
distribute NMEA from instruments to ANY device on the net. None of these
devices offer the possibility to *broadcast* NMEA data to any device on
the
net who wants to receive it.

Oh and one other thing: on commercial vessels, including luxurious
megayachts, you will not find standard cheap CAT5 cable because that will
not pass any marine/industrial regulation. The sort of cable used is much
more expensive and meets all sorts of requirements for mechanical,
chemical
and fire resistance not found in the usual PC/networking market.

Meindert