I've done a number of PLC projects with RSView32, but they have all been in-house, stand alone systems.

I am in the midst of completing a project where the control system (PLC, RSView32 station…etc.) will be installed thousands of miles away and I will need to monitor what is going on from my remote location.

To do this I have installed a Spectrum Controls Webport. By using transparent forwarding, I am able to remote access the PLC from my laptop with RSLogix5000. I can see what is going on and I can edit the PLC program, if required.

It occurred to me that it would be considerably easier to see what is going on if I also had the same RSView32 app on my laptop. Fortunately, I had an extra version of RSView32 laying around, so I installed it on my laptop. So far so good. The problem is that this extra version is not homeless. The project it was purchased for is being delayed a few months and I will need to give it up at that time.

Question: If I wanted to make this two RSView32 set up permanent, what would be a more efficient and cost effective way to do it?

Right now, I have RSView32 Works 1500 loaded on my laptop and on the PC that is located with the control system. Admittedly, this is a very costly way to have two operator interfaces connected to the same PLC, but it is temporary.

A more cost effective solution might be to have Runtime on the system PC (since it is unlikely they will be doing any editing of the app) and Works on my laptop. However, this is still pretty pricey. Is this my only other option or does anyone know of a way to have two RSView32 displays for one project?

Most developers simply buy an extra license. There's no practical way around it except to run RS-View 32 in "demo" mode for short runs (if it offers that).

You could access the remote desktop. There are several programs to do this but the standard Microsoft Remote Desktop will do it if you save the configuration file and then edit it with a text editor and add the following line to make it "console" access:
connect to console:i:1

Of the alternatives out there, my second choice would be Dameware MRC. It is positively the best remote control/access software I've ever used. It handles low bandwidth connections with the same high quality you get from Microsoft RDP and allows lots of nifty file transfer/control functions as well. It is licensed per USER, not per machine so you only have to pay for a license for yourself.