If you have a very small boat, it may be possible to run the E-TEC engine-to-network cable from the stern to your helm area for connection to the network backbone.
The typical installation in a small boat for an E-TEC engine is to carry the network backbone wiring to the stern of the boat, employ a Network-T, a terminator, and connect the E-TEC to the Network-T. This suggests that it is not a recommended practice to extend the length of an E-TEC engine-to-network cable by more than about 1-meter (3.28-feet).
This length was possibly chosen because it is just about the maximum length that a drop cable ought to be. The E-TEC engine-to-network cable is about 5-meters or 16.3-feet long. One can also infer the maximum length of a drop cable to be 6-meters from an illustration found in this NMEA publication: The actual specifications of NMEA for the maximum length of a NMEA-2000 drop cable are not available to me (that I can find on line and at no charge), but based on published information from a respected manufacturer who is a NMEA member, I infer that they allow for the maximum length of any drop cable to be 6-meters or 20-feet: This is an interesting topic and should be discussed in public. I have received several questions on this topic in the form of private messages. View Member Profile Find Member's Topics Find Member's Posts jimh