Raymarine Lighthouse vs Navionics charts

Where are you sailing?

Both start form the same official HO data sources.
I think Navionics have more people able to add extra information about leisure craft harbours than Raymarine, so may be slightly better in some locations.
Both will probably do the job.
 
Had the same dilemma ... went for Navionics due to this thread ... LightHouse or Navionics

May now be outdated so worth checking if Lighthouse install/update has got any easier.

Very happy with Navionics for the Med. Bear in mind access to the card slot in touch only devices is on the rear so if they are flush mounted they need to be removed to access the card slot. The Pro versions with buttons have a slot on the front so are easier or you can buy a Raymarine USB card reader 💷 ... if networked (I use Raynet due to radar/sonar) the charts are shared between Raymarine plotters.
 
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When we bought a new axiom 18 months ago it came bundled with lighthouse so we used it for a year until the update subscription ran out.

Generally the charts were fine but we found them less detailed in shallow depths so we tended to rely more on navionics on our mobile devices when anchoring.

As soon as the subscription ran out we switched back to navionics. If lighthouse is significantly cheaper (like it was in our bundle deal) AND you have navionics mobile subscriptions then it can be worthwhile to settle for lighthouse on the plotter I think.
 
lektran said:
When we bought a new axiom 18 months ago it came bundled with lighthouse so we used it for a year until the update subscription ran out.

Generally the charts were fine but we found them less detailed in shallow depths so we tended to rely more on navionics on our mobile devices when anchoring.

As soon as the subscription ran out we switched back to navionics. If lighthouse is significantly cheaper (like it was in our bundle deal) AND you have navionics mobile subscriptions then it can be worthwhile to settle for lighthouse on the plotter I think.
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Good points - but it is generally the shallow bits that are of most concern to yachties - as these are the only bits we hit!
If there is a difference it could be a false economy if end up hitting something?
 
That's true but I'm generally talking very shallow areas that you might anchor in but wouldn't necessarily navigate through on passage. Lighthouse tended to display fewer soundings and contours than navionics which makes it harder to pick the best spot. Carrick Roads in Falmouth is a good example, there's a few pools around that you can anchor in without touching bottom at springs but they're difficult to spot in lighthouse.

So yeah generally lighthouse is OK but I'd prefer navionics if I'm going to have less than 1 or 2 meters below the keel. In those situations we'd just switch to our phones so it wasn't a big deal.
 
lektran said:
... So yeah generally lighthouse is OK but I'd prefer navionics if I'm going to have less than 1 or 2 meters below the keel. In those situations we'd just switch to our phones so it wasn't a big deal.
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I think that at that depth you are relying on interpolations between soundings and crowd sourced depth data, both of which are available on Lighthouse and Navionics, both of which will not meet the quality assurance of a sounding. Navionics shows hazards that could be a danger to surface navigation as small icons even when zoomed in. I find Lighthouse icons much larger i.e. it might be easier to miss a Navionics icon.

I think we all need to exercise caution when assuming one chart vendor is better than the other chart vendor at these sorts of depths, except Antares, which is amazingly detailed data derived from actual surveys. Most of the crowd sourced data is not quality assured and interpolation of soundings might miss that lump of rock or engine block or boiler that was never captured by a surveying authority.
 
I have used Navionics on an Axiom for years and fancied a change to Lighthouse but I looked at Lighthouse running on display plotters at SIBS and in chandleries at places I know very well: my home berth at WicorMarine Portsmouth, where Lighthouse doesn't show recently installed pontoons but Navionics does, and somewhere i anchor often: Newtown Creek, Lighthouse doesn't show the little deep spots that Navionics and my keel find!

My concern it that if Lighthouse doesn't show the shallow water detail in places I know, what about new to me locations?

Despite maybe a fresher feel, does Lighthouse lack fine detail?
 
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