Where do people buy their NMEA 2000 networking parts from? I typically purchase form Defender but their offering is limited (eg, no bulk cable). I placed an order with Blue Heron only to have them drop off the grid, and with not even a telephone number I canceled out of fear of another Jack Rabbit Marine scenario.
Finally I moved over to Navstore where I created a wish list of what I needed for my network (their shopping cart kept emptying after every few hours) and send a email asking if they were actually able to ship those items. I get response indicating that did carry all that I needed and that they were working up a final quote for me. (I asked about a price that were double Defender and for a few things not shown on the web site.) And now almost two weeks later Navstore has not responded, even after an additional email last week asking why the delay.
Whew! Why is this so hard? Where do you buy from?
-barry
Find a local Marine Electronics supplier to place orders thru. That's what I had to do. If you look on the Maretron site you can find a dealer: http://www.maretron.com/world-mapdealers.php
Barry, what problems did you have with Blue Heron? I've purchased a lot of Maretron stuff from them without problem. Also, you may want to check out ManVentureOutpost. Stupid name, but their prices are excellent and they seem to have a pretty good selection of Maretron N2K stuff. Also look at Keenzo.
I find Blue Heron very dependable for N2K parts. Spent over $1,000 over the last year on maybe 8 different orders. They were the first I found that carry both the blue and gray versions of the backbone cable I like, and in so many different lengths.
Adam: The problem I had was that they did not respond. After my first order it took over a week to even get them to reply to an email. Then after they came back (with apologies related to vacations or some such) I filled my cart again ($1000+) and sent an email asking of the availability of the items. This was my test to see if they would respond. That was four days ago, still no response. So yesterday I placed my order with Navstore over the phone.
I know Blue Heron has a good rep, and their site is fantastic. But when they don't fill orders for several weeks and don't respond to emails and don't provide any telephone number, well I'm not too comfortable. A similar event happened with Jack Rabbit Marine, where I placed many orders. One day they just went out of business leaving lots people with already paid orders with no product.
I guess I would be happiest if Defender sourced all these products, but they don't.
Thanks for the heads up on ManVenture Outpost. They indeed did have the best prices. Another place I found which was close was Hodges Marine. If Manventure doesn't have it in stock, I'd try there. You can also get West Marine to match their prices, in Seattle though I'm also trying to get away from the 9.9% sales tax!
Just as an update: I placed an order with navstore.com for $1100 of nmea 2000 equipment. The price was as good anywhere else I could find, the service was great (I got personal help in fleshing out the order), and the order arrived within very promptly.
Now only if the management of navstore could merge with excellent web site of blue heron...