Installation & First Launch

ForteMare Tempest is a Windows desktop application that receives trading signals from the Forte Mare signal service and can optionally place orders for you through Interactive Brokers. This page walks you through installing it, accepting the required agreements, and activating your license.

Warning: Trading futures and other leveraged instruments involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor. You may lose some or all of your capital. Signals and assisted execution are informational only and are not recommendations or guarantees. You alone are responsible for your configuration and your trades. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Download and Installation

Download the signed installer from fortemare.net. You will need to sign in or create an account first. The installer is digitally signed so Windows can confirm it came from Forte Mare Tech.

1. Download the installer from fortemare.net.
2. Run the installer and follow the on-screen prompts. If Windows SmartScreen prompts you, confirm the publisher is Forte Mare Tech before continuing.
3. Launch ForteMare Tempest from the Windows Start Menu or the desktop shortcut.

Only one copy of ForteMare Tempest can run at a time. Launching it a second time simply brings the already-running window to the front.

📷 Screenshot: The ForteMare Tempest splash screen shown while the app loads on launch

First Launch: License Agreement & Risk Acknowledgment

The first time you launch Tempest, a signature-required dialog titled License Agreement & Risk Acknowledgment appears before the main window opens. You cannot use the app — not even to view signals — until you sign it.

To accept:

1. Scroll to the end of the agreement. Acceptance stays disabled until you have read to the bottom. (If the text already fits on screen without scrolling, this step is satisfied automatically.)
2. Type your full legal name in the field labeled Type your full legal name: (placeholder: e.g. Jane Q. Trader).
3. Check the box labeled I have read, understood, and accept the Agreement and Risk Acknowledgment in full.
4. Click Accept & Continue to proceed, or Decline & Exit to close the application without running it.

The agreement covers, in plain terms:

• License grant — a non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the software; you may not reverse-engineer, redistribute, or sublicense it.
• Market risk — trading futures and leveraged instruments carries substantial risk of loss; you may lose some or all of your capital.
• No financial advice — signals and assisted order placement are informational only and not financial, investment, or trading advice; you are solely responsible for every trading decision.
• No performance guarantee — losses can occur from market conditions, slippage, latency, connectivity or broker errors, or software defects; no representation is made that any account will achieve profits.
• Data & privacy — license state and your local trade and journal data are stored on your own machine.
• Limitation of liability.

Note: Your signature (your typed name and the date) is saved and re-validated once a year. If a year has passed since you last signed, you will be asked to sign again at the next launch.

Note: Enabling assisted trading later prompts a separate risk disclosure specific to placing live orders. Accepting the agreement above does not turn assisted trading on. See Assisted Trading.

📷 Screenshot: The first-launch License Agreement & Risk Acknowledgment dialog showing the agreement text, the full-legal-name field, the confirmation checkbox, and the Accept & Continue / Decline & Exit buttons

License Activation

After you accept the agreements, the main window opens. If the install has no valid license and no active trial, the License Activation dialog appears automatically once the window has loaded. You can also open it any time from Help → Activate License….

License activation lives only under Help → Activate License…. There is no License item on the File menu.

The dialog has three actions plus a status panel at the top:

Activate with a license key

1. Open Help → Activate License….
2. Paste your license key into the License key: field. Whitespace is trimmed automatically, so a pasted key with stray spaces still works.
3. Click Activate.
4. Tempest contacts the Forte Mare license server to verify the key and authorize this machine. While it works, the buttons disable and the status reads Contacting license server…. This usually takes a few seconds.
5. On success, your tier's entitlements are applied across the app immediately — no restart needed — and the dialog confirms the tier and closes.

If you do not have a key yet, the status panel links to your Forte Mare account, where subscriptions are managed and where you can sign up or resolve an inactive or suspended license.

Start a 14-day trial

If your install has no key, the dialog shows a Start 14-day Trial button:

1. Open Help → Activate License….
2. Click Start 14-day Trial and confirm.
3. The trial unlocks the micro futures MES, MNQ, MYM, and M2K with assisted trading available (each trade requires your confirmation), and includes Price Action Commentary, for 14 days. After starting a trial, restart the application so the trial entitlements apply to every panel.

Note: A trial can be started only once per machine and is tracked on the server side, so reinstalling or clearing local files will not reset it. A trial ends only when the 14 days expire or when you activate a purchased license (which supersedes it) — there is no "end trial" button.

Deactivate this machine

When a license is active, a Deactivate this machine button appears. Use it to free the seat so you can activate the same key on a different computer, subject to your license's machine limit. (Deactivation applies to paid licenses only, not trials.)

Status and diagnostics

The panel at the top of the dialog shows your current state:

• Activated with your tier name and a masked license key (last four characters), or
• Trial — N day(s) remaining, or
• License inactive, with a link to your online account.

For activation problems, click Diagnostics… inside the dialog. It opens a copyable, plain-text report (operating system, app build, initialization state, tier, trial status, last error, and a masked key) with Copy to Clipboard and Email Support buttons so you can forward it to support. The report deliberately contains no secrets.

For more on what each tier unlocks, see Licensing & Tiers.

📷 Screenshot: The License Activation dialog showing the status panel, the License key field, and the Activate / Start 14-day Trial / Deactivate this machine / Diagnostics buttons

Connecting to Interactive Brokers

To show charts, account data, and (if enabled) place orders, Tempest connects to Interactive Brokers Trader Workstation (TWS) or IB Gateway running on your computer. Tempest attempts this connection automatically at startup using your saved connection settings.

• Make sure TWS or IB Gateway is running and that Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients is turned on in its API settings.
• The default connection is 127.0.0.1 on port 7497 (TWS paper account). Common alternatives are 7496 for live TWS, and 4002 / 4001 for IB Gateway paper / live.
• To change the host, port, or client IDs, open Tools → TWS Connection…. Changes take effect on the next reconnect.

If Tempest cannot reach TWS shortly after launch, it shows a dismissible reminder to start TWS with the socket-client setting enabled. The connection indicator in the status bar shows whether the broker link is live, and you can click it to force a reconnect.

For full setup and troubleshooting, see Connecting to Interactive Brokers.

Where Your Data Is Stored

Tempest keeps your settings, layout, license state, and local trade history on your own computer in standard Windows folders under Forte Mare Tech\Tempest:

As the agreement states, license state and local trade and journal data stay on your machine; trading data is transmitted only as required to connect to your broker and to receive signals. Crash reports, if generated, are stored locally and contain no account numbers or license keys.

Note: Migrating from an older AlphaSignals Signal Reader install? Tempest copies your previous settings, layout, and local data into the new Forte Mare Tech\Tempest folders the first time it runs. Your originals are left in place. No action is required.

Staying Up to Date

Tempest checks for updates in the background roughly once every 24 hours. You can also check on demand from Help → Check for Updates….

• If a newer build is available, the updater shows the release notes and offers to download and install it.
• Updates are downloaded over a secure connection and their digital signature is verified before installation. An update with an invalid or missing signature is refused.
• To update, click Install in the updater prompt; the new installer replaces your current version.

📷 Screenshot: The update dialog shown by Help → Check for Updates… listing release notes and an Install option

What's Next

• View signals — once the app is running, incoming signals appear in the Signals view. See The Signals View.
• Connect your broker — finish your TWS / IB Gateway setup in Connecting to Interactive Brokers.
• Understand your tier — see what assisted trading, journal, and other features your license unlocks in Licensing & Tiers.
• Keyboard shortcuts — press F1 or use Help → Keyboard Shortcuts for the full list.

Troubleshooting

• The app won't start. Confirm the installer finished successfully; if you see missing-file errors, reinstall from fortemare.net. Allow network access if Windows Defender or another firewall prompts on first launch.
• License activation fails. Activation needs an internet connection — check your connection and that a firewall is not blocking Tempest. Verify the key is correct, and if you have reached your license's machine limit, deactivate it on another computer first. For persistent errors, open Help → Activate License… → Diagnostics… and send the report to support.
• No charts or account data. Make sure TWS or IB Gateway is running with Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients enabled, and that the host and port in Tools → TWS Connection… match your setup. See Troubleshooting.