Raymarine Update Adds Navigation, Entertainment and Avikus NeuBoat Docking Features
Hudson, NH: Raymarine – global leader in high-performance marine electronics for the recreational boating, marine first-responder and law-enforcement markets – recently announced new features and capabilities for Axiom and Alpha displays with the release of Lighthouse 4.6 and Alpha 2.0 software updates.
This Axiom release includes a much-anticipated integration with the Avikus NeuBoat Dock system, which consists of an innovative six-camera solution, based on the company’s advanced autonomous vessel technology. It provides a 360-degree bird’s-eye view of the vessel through an Axiom chartplotter to assist in maneuvering and docking. The system is also easy for boatbuilders to incorporate, as calibration is simple and can be performed dockside by the OEM with the option of Raymarine’s team assisting remotely.
Another key feature of the LightHouse 4.6 update is the availability of YouTube and YouTube TV as apps on Axiom, giving boaters with internet connection direct access to entertainment, sports, tutorials and much more from onboard. On the chart screen, a Quick Adjust menu has been added to all chart windows for easier navigation through the menus. A Nav Marks icon group has been added and there is now a Distance to Go data point and a fuel-range ring for better route planning. On the radar screen, AIS target data has been expanded and a True/Relative motion toggle has been added to the Quick Adjust menu and to individual target context menus. Mercury engine support has been expanded with an integrate slide out Mercury sidebar with full support for Mercury digital anchoring: SkyHook, BowHook and DriftHook.
Additional features for sailors include an expanded autopilot Wind Vane mode, with Steer to Apparent Wind Angle, True Wind Angle and Target Wind Angle from Polar functionality. For easier route planning, GPS data has been expanded to include Opposite Tack Course Over Ground (COG); Wind data now includes Next Leg Target Wind Angle (TWA), Target Apparent Wind Angle and Target True Wind Angle. Heading data now includes Opposite Tack COG and Opposite Tack Heading.
For powerboaters, a new GPS item cataloguing maximum Speed Over Ground (SOG) is available, as is the option to implement a configurable high-speed alarm. The LightHouse update also includes new features for first responders that improves communication of routes and clarifies chart nomenclature.
The Alpha 2.0 for Raymarine’s new Alpha Performance Display includes a next-leg information page, which is an all-new page layout that provides key data, such as: time-to-waypoint, waypoint-rounding direction, course-to-steer on the next leg and true-wind angle on the next leg – allowing sailors to plan ahead with ease. The update also brings various other improvements, including updated graphical widgets and data items.
“At Raymarine we strive to constantly improve and bring the best functionality and features to our customers,” said Grégoire Outters, General Manager at Raymarine. “These updates offer our users a more seamless and user-friendly experience. Whether sailors, powerboaters or professionals, we’re very excited for boaters to have the chance to take advantage of these new features.”
For a full list of new features, please visit the respective Raymarine Axiom and Alpha software update pages For more information on Raymarine and its full line of marine products, visit www.raymarine.com.
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It’s impressive that Raymarine’s latest Lighthouse MFD operating system now incorporates the ‘brains’ behind the Avikus docking system, which Ben Stein detailed last September:
https://panbo.com/raymarine-and-avikus-debut-neuboat-dock-their-joint-surround-view-camera-system/
But most Axiom owners will be more interested in all the other new features and bug fixes in LH v4.6.103. One that caught my eye, especially for sailors, is how an Axiom can now run an auto Speed Through Water calibration leveraging the advanced sensors built into the Airmar DST810, which isn’t even included in the press release (and why I created the screenshot from the new LH 4.6 manual).
https://panbo.com/airmar-dst810-multisensor-really-smart/
However, the list of new LH features and “resolved issues” — https://www.raymarine.com/en-us/download/lighthouse-4-update-for-axiom-chartplotters — also suggests the amazing complexity of modern MFD operating systems. And note that v4.6.103, which actually came out in March, replaced February’s v4.6.74. That’s good news in the sense that many Axiom owners have probably tried the many new features by now, and apparently some 4.6 are already fixed.
But I take major MFD updates like this quite seriously. I wouldn’t do one right before a big trip, for instance, and if the boat was new to me, I’d wait until I had a good feel of how the MFD was working before the update. I’ve also learned the hard way to read the update instructions carefully, and appreciate it when a company like Raymarine publishes new updated manuals to go with the software update. (Although Ray makes you find them in a separate place: https://www.raymarine.com/en-us/support/document-library )
Finally here’s more on auto STW calibration and other LH4.6 sailing features: https://www.raymarine.com/en-us/learning/online-guides/lighthouse-for-sailing