[TG] [TG11] Lighthouse 3 locking up and crashing

[Chris.au]

When I first installed my system 4 years ago, I had two eS98 mfd's, which behaved well. The screen resolution was optimal for am 9" screen. A year ago, the screen in the cockpit mounted eS98 failed and I had to upgrade this mfd to an Axiom Pro. This meant upgrading the software for both mfd's to Lighthouse 2. Whilst the menu structure in the original software was a bit convoluted, there were no major bugs and for me, there have been NO benefits in migrating to Lighthouse 2 and 3. I have experienced several significant problems: the software locks up or crashes at least once a day so that as a safety precaution, if I am approaching an area where navigation is critical, I will power down/up the system to minimise the risk of it crashing at a vital moment. For the first time, I tried following a route that I had created. Maybe it was a coincidence, but when an AIS alarm occurred, the entire system locked up. I could not clear the alarm. I could not return to the home screen. I could not power down the mfd using the power button. I had to turn off power at the switch board to reset the fault. This is just not good enough. Quite frankly, from a cruising sailors point of view, I think that Raymarine have totally lost the plot. Every software upgrade adds useless functions which as far as I can see, simply slows down the system and makes it less stable. What I want is an absolutely rock solid chart plotter and the Axiom Pro is nowhere near that. I find myself using my Samsung Galaxy S9 with Navionics Charts for many functions in preference to my Raymarine mfd with Lighthouse 3. Ican only conclude that the cruising sailor is now an insignificant sector of the MFD market and that it is more important to be able control my Fusion Sound system from the MFD than it is to be able to measure distances on a chart. Maybe I'm old-school, but I have no desire to use my MFD as a remote control for my sound system. I would dearly love to be able to use my MFD as a full function remote control for my autopilot, but the AP control capability available through lighthouse 3 is next to useless.
If all this sounds negative it's because after 4 years experience with Raymarine's mfd's, I have little to be positive about. I regret not going with B&G or perhaps a PC based navigation system, which would have been much less expensive and far more capable.