WinTAK on a Windows computer

WinTAK is the TAK program for Windows computers — the big-screen view for whoever is running a callout. It shows the same map, markers, drones and beacons as the phones.

Phones are easier. If you just want to get on the map, use iTAK or ATAK on your phone — they connect by scanning a QR code, and take about a minute. WinTAK has no QR option: you install two certificate files by hand. Budget fifteen minutes.

Before you start

You need	How to get it
A QSAR server account	An admin makes it for you — there is no self-signup. Ask for one before you start; the certificate is issued against your username.
WinTAK installed	Download from https://tak.gov (free account required). These steps were confirmed on WinTAK-CIV 4.1.0.231.
Your certificate password	An admin gives you this. It is the same for every certificate the server issues.

Step 1 — Download your certificate bundle

1. On the Windows computer, open https://tak.qsartak.org and log in with your QSAR username.
2. Go to the Data Packages page.
3. Click the button to generate a certificate. It creates a bundle for the account you are logged in as — so make sure you are logged in as yourself, not as someone else.
4. Two files appear in the list. Download the one named <your-username>_CONFIG.zip.

Do not download the _CONFIG_iTAK.zip one — that is the iPhone version and will not work here.

Step 2 — Unzip it twice

The bundle is a zip inside another zip. You need the two certificate files buried in the middle.

1. Open <your-username>_CONFIG.zip. Inside is a folder with a long jumbled name, containing another zip file.
2. Copy that inner zip out to your Desktop and open it too.

3. Inside that one, find these two files and copy them somewhere you can find again (make a folder called qsar-certs):

   • truststore-root.p12 — proves our server is really our server
   • <your-username>.p12 — proves you are really you

Ignore the preference.pref file. It is written for Android tablets and its settings do not apply to Windows.

Do not try to import the whole _CONFIG.zip into WinTAK. It looks like it should work and it does not — the settings inside point at Android folder paths that mean nothing on Windows. Install the two certificate files by hand instead, as below.

Step 3 — Add the server in WinTAK

Open WinTAK’s TAK server settings and add a new server with:

Setting	Value
Address	tak.qsartak.org
Port	8089
Protocol	SSL / TLS — on

Step 4 — Install both certificates

In the same server dialog there are two separate buttons. You need both — they do different jobs.

1. Install Client Certificate Authority → pick truststore-root.p12 → enter the certificate password. Without this, WinTAK does not trust our server and refuses to talk to it.

2. Install Client Certificate → pick <your-username>.p12 → enter the same password. Without this, the server does not know who you are and hangs up on you.

Step 5 — Tick “Use Authentication” ← the one everybody misses

Turn on “Use Authentication” and enter your QSAR username and password.

This is the step that wastes an afternoon. It feels like it should be optional — you just installed a certificate, so surely that is your login? It is not enough on its own. Our server ignores every position and marker from a Windows client that has not sent a username, even when the certificate is perfectly valid.

What that looks like when it is wrong: WinTAK appears to connect, no error message appears, and then nothing ever shows up on the map. So: tick the box.

Step 6 — Set your callsign

Set your callsign to something a searcher would recognise on the radio — your name, or the position you are filling. It is what the rest of the team sees next to your dot.

Check that it worked

The cloud icon in WinTAK should show as connected — a red X over the cloud means you are not on the map.

The real test is the other direction: ask an admin to confirm your computer appears in the server’s device list. WinTAK can look connected while the server is quietly ignoring it, so the server’s view is the one that counts. You should also see the other team members, the drones and the wave buoys appear on your map within a few seconds.

Fix: red X over the cloud

Work through these in order — these are the three that actually bit us, most common first.

1. “Use Authentication” is off. See Step 5. This is the most likely cause by a wide margin, because everything else looks correct.
2. Only one certificate is installed. Both buttons in Step 4 must be done — the authority and your own certificate. Installing one and not the other fails silently.
3. The server was added by typing the address only. An address and port with no certificate files can never connect on port 8089. Delete the entry and redo Steps 3–5.

Two more worth knowing:

• Your account has to exist on the server first. A certificate whose name does not match a real QSAR account is rejected. If an admin created your account after your certificate, get a fresh certificate.
• Stale entries confuse things. If you have been retrying, delete the old server entry and add it fresh rather than editing it.

Still stuck? Tell Sean, and say which of the steps above you have done — the server keeps logs of every connection attempt, so a failed attempt can be looked up and diagnosed directly.