Introduction:
Moving Map has the ability to run on a second computer. This means you can have Flight Simulator running on your main computer, and Moving Map running on a second computer. This has a couple of advantages, the main one being you could run moving map full screen on the second computer while still having a complete view of flight simulator on the main computer.

What Is Needed?
To run moving map on a second computer you will need a "Null Modem Serial Cable". This is a cable that will connect the two computers together. A normal serial cable will not work, a null modem serial cable is a special kind of cable meant for connecting two computers. Having said that, you can get one of these special cables from just about any electronic shop.

You will also need a second computer (naturally) running either Windows95 or Windows NT. Even a slow 386 computer will do the job as a second computer. Moving Map takes very little processing power, so will work perfectly on a slow computer.

You will need a free COM port on each computer. Most computers have 2 COM ports. These ports are typically used for modems, the mouse and so on. You can actually buy more COM ports if you really want to, most personal computers will support 4 COM ports.

You will need the Moving Map software loaded on each computer.

You will need the scenery files that you will be using loaded on the remote computer. More about this later, but you won't really need to copy all your BGL scenery files to the second computer. What you can do is to save your scenery set in MMP (Moving Map) format which is really just a text file. All you then need to do is copy this text file to the second computer.
 

Step By Step:
I will refer to the MAIN computer as the one running Flight Simulator and the REMOTE computer as the one that will be running Moving Map.

1. Make sure both computers have got a copy of the Moving Map software loaded on them including the Moving Map Tool. The software does not have to be in the same directories or anything like that on each computer.

2. Make sure both computers are connected using the null modem serial cable. You will need to know which COM port you are plugging this cable into on each computer.

3. Make sure the scenery area you will be flying around in is located on the REMOTE computer. You have two ways to do this. The first is to just copy all the Flight Simulator BGL files that will be used onto the second computer somewhere. For example, in our earlier tutorial for creating scenery sets for Chicago, you can copy all the Chicago scenery BGL files onto the second computer. The second way and probably the easiest way to get the scenery onto the second computer is to save your scenery set in MMP (Moving Map format). This will create a text file that can simply be copied to the REMOTE computer. To save a scenery set, start up MMAPTOOL.EXE on the MAIN computer, select the scenery set you want to save (in this example, Chicago) and click the "Edit/Save" button then click the "Refresh" button to load the scenery data. Click the "Save As" button and make sure the "save as type" list box is set to MMP format (this is the default). Enter a filename and save the file. MAKE SURE YOU SAVE THE FILE WITH A .MMP EXTENSION, if you do not the Moving Map Tool will not recognize it when you create a scenery set. You have now created a text file of the Chicgo scenery that can be read my Moving Map. All you need do now is copy this new text file to the REMOTE computer.

4. On the REMOTE computer, start up MMAPTOOL.EXE and click on the "Remote" tab. Make sure the "Remote Mode" check box is checked. Select whatever COM port you have your serial cable plugged into.

5. Click on "Scenery Sets" and create a scenery set for the area you will by flying around in. This is done in the usual way. If you have an MMP file for your scenery (that is, you saved your scenery in MMP format in step 3) just select the directory on the REMOTE computer where you copied this file. Because the file name will end with .MMP it will be detected and added to your scenery set. Once you have made a scenery set you will not need to do this step again next time.

5. Still on the REMOTE computer, close down MMAPTOOL.EXE and start MMAP.EXE. Because Moving Map will know that it is being run on a remote computer it will not sit and wait for Flight Simulator. It will start straight away. You will see an empty Moving Map screen. As per normal, click on the "LOAD" indicator on the left hand side of Moving Map and select the required scenery set.

6. On the MAIN computer start MMAPTOOL.EXE and click on the "Remote" tab. Make sure the "Remote Mode" check box is checked. Select whatever COM port you have your serial cable plugged into. This does not have to be the same port number as the port selected on the REMOTE computer.

7. Still on the MAIN computer, close down MMAPTOOL.EXE and start start Flight Simulator. Once Flight Simulator has been started, run MMAPHOST.EXE. This will display a small window which can be minimised so it is not in the way. At this point the remote computer should come to life and the map should now be displaying Chicago navaids.

8. Well done! You should now be able to fly around with the Moving Map being displayed on the REMOTE computer. If this is not happening, check the COM port numbers and check the scenery sets. Check that the cable is connected firmly to both computers.

9. Well, I know it sounds like a lot to work through. That is only because I have explained it step by step. It is really very straight forward once you have done it a couple of times. Moving Map will remember its previous settings, so when you do all this the second time, it will be much quicker.

10. SOMETHING TO BEAR IN MIND. If you have been using Moving Map on a remote computer and you now want to use it normally, don't forget to run MMAPTOOL.EXE and turn off "Remote Mode".