# introduction Picture yourself using prepar3d or fsx for steam. You have to check where you are, the fuel burn, etc and you cannot. At least, you could not until now. Enter a nice little suite of tools called "Talking Flight Monitor," heretofore known as (TFM) I've been involved with the talking flight monitor project since its start in may 2019. It started as a way to know where you were when you were flying, or in my case, crashing, and has since evolved to be what it is today. A full fledge suite of tools to help the blind flight simmer fly anything from a tiny 1 person prop plane to a 787-900.. So, what can you do with tfm? Read more in the sections below. # a note on hotkeys hotkeys are keys you press either in single, in a pair or 3 or more keys together. if I say "alt plus t" or "control plus ," \[if using a screen reader, read character by character here and when hotkeys are presented\] that means to hold alt and press t, then let go. If you do have some sight, you may click the relevant areas I talk about as well. # so, where do I get this Talking Flight Monitor tool At the time of this writing you can visit the [talking flight monitor website.](http://talkingflightmonitor.net) Once you click that link, scroll to the downloads area. If you are wanting the stable version you can grab that, or you can grab the snapshots version by clicking the appropriate links. # How to get this running. The following will cover how to get this writing. Keep in mind all of this might or might not change before the final release. Keep an eye on this read me for info. ## after downloading, then what. After you download the program, run the installer. If your anti virus program flags it, consult your antivirus software and add the exe as an exclusion. Follow the prompts in the installer to install the application to your windows machine. You need windows 7, 8, and 10, for simulators, you will need prepar3d version 4.5 and up, and or Microsoft flight simulator 10 from steam. Once you have the program installed you may launch it by clicking the appropriate icon on the desktop. Now is where the fun begins. ## how do I use this thing Once you click the TFM icon on your desktop, you will need to enter you geo names user name. The site is a bit hard to use so here is a step by step. 1. go to the [geo names](http://geonames.org) website 2. create an account. 3. if needed verify your email address 4. after you create your account, log back into the website 5. find the section in your account that talks about using the API outside of the geo names website. 6. check the box. Once you are done with that, return to tFM and enter your geonames user name. for example if your geonames user name was JaneDoeLovesTFM then enter JaneDoeLovesTFM into the box. If you don't want to do this, or want to wait, you may access the settings with "control ,", or via the tools menu with either alt, plus t, or alt, and right arrow to tools. If you want the maps portion see on how to get a bing API key in the next section. If you do not want to use the maps section, skip the next section and come back when you are ready. ## getting a bing maps API key To do this if you want to use the right bracket, shift c to know where you are do the following. Note. The following comes from [Micrfosoft's help docs regarding the subject.](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/bingmaps/getting-started/bing-maps-dev-center-help/getting-a-bing-maps-key) * Go to the [Bing Maps Dev Center](https://www.bingmapsportal.com) * If you have a Bing Maps account, sign in with the Microsoft account that you used to create the account or create a new one. For new accounts, follow the instructions [here.](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/bingmaps/getting-started/bing-maps-dev-center-help/ * Select My keys under My Account. * Select the option to create a new key. * Provide the following information to create a key: * Application name: Required. The name of the application. * Application URL: The URL of the application. This is an optional field which is useful in helping you remember the purpose of that key in the future. * Key type: Required. Select the key type that you want to create. You can find descriptions of key and application types [here.](https://www.microsoft.com/maps/create-a-bing-maps-key.aspx) * Application type: Required. Select the application type that best represents the application that will use this key. You can find descriptions of key and application types [here.](https://www.microsoft.com/maps/create-a-bing-maps-key.aspx) * Click the Create button. The new key displays in the list of available keys. Use this key to authenticate your Bing Maps application as described in the documentation for the Bing Maps API you are using. You can then download a CSV of your keys. click the download link after clicking "my account' followed by the "keys" link. If you need any clarity regarding the creation of a Microsoft bing maps API key, please submit an issue in the github for this repository. YOU can also consult your favorite search engine for help. then submit a pull request if for example a link is dead etc. # the lovely TFM key Actually it should have ben TFM keys, as you will be accessing most of the program through these keys. Most of the program is designed to work when not in focus. You will accomplish most tasks by hitting right bracket then either a single key, or set of keys. The "right bracket" will be called "Tfm." I said that there are two keys. The second one is "left bracket" which will let you access autopilot functions. Hence this key will be called \"autopilot\" so if I say hit "auto pilot, a" press left bracket then let go and press A." The action will then be taken. It should be noted thus by the way. Each of these keys has a different sound. the right bracket or TFM key has a high pitched single beep, and the left bracket or Autopilot key has a lower pitched double beep sound. Practice will make it easy in time to learn these among other sounds in the app. # a key to the keys The keys are very simple to learn as most of them have nmunonic values.