Question 1

Section 1: Service Description

Accepted Answer

1.1 This service is provided by M & K Astrophotography (hereinafter referred to as "The Lessor"), allowing users (hereinafter referred to as "The Lessee" to remotely access and control telescopes for astronomical observations via the Internet.
1.2 The Lessee may use the rented system during the hours between Astronomical Dusk and Astronomical Dawn to undertake astrophotography unless the roof is closed due to weather or other unforeseen events, but may also use the system during daytime hours for data transfer, or to conduct image calibration/processing on the local PC.
1.3 The Lessor frequently refreshes system calibration data but The Lessee can either acquire or request new calibration data at any time.

Question 2

Section 2: Lessee Responsibilities

Accepted Answer

2.1 The Lessee shall ensure compliance with relevant laws and regulations while using the remote telescope service and shall not use the telescope for illegal activities.
2.2 The Lessee shall use the remote telescope correctly according to the training given and will be responsible for any damage caused by improper operation.

Question 3

Section 3: Copyright and Ownership

Accepted Answer

3.1 The ownership of the telescope equipment and related software belongs to The Lessor.
3.2 The intellectual property rights of the astronomical data collected through the telescope belongs to The Lessee unless otherwise agreed upon.

Question 4

Section 4: Disclaimer

Accepted Answer

4.1 While The Lessor undertakes rigorous system optimization, The Lessor does not assume responsibility for the imaging quality of the telescope during the rental period. The Lessee can request sample data or a brief trial run to assess system quality before renting.
4.2 The Lessor is not liable for interruptions to the service or loss of observation data due to non-human factors such as network issues or power failures.  However, downtime due to equipment failure will be compensated for in extended rental time commensurate with the downtime experienced.
4.3 The Lessee must understand that astronomical observations are aﬀected by weather, natural disasters, and other force majeure events, as well as potential improper software or hardware settings.  Hence The Lessee should not change hardware settings or update the Operating System or other system software without first consulting The Lessor.  Failure to do so, The Lessor does not guarantee successful observations.

Question 5

Section 5: Privacy Policy

Accepted Answer

5.1 In order to complete Lessee payments and communicate with The Lessee for any software or hardware issues that may arise during the service, the Lessor may collect Lessee' first names, last names, email addresses and phone numbers.  However, credit card information entered via the website is collected by the financial institution e.g Paypal or Stripe, and is completely invisible to The Lessor.   
The Lessor shall protect the personal information provided by users during registration and use of the rented system and shall not disclose it to a third parties without the Lessee's consent.
5.2 Lessee observation activities may only be recorded when the user requests technical support.

Question 6

Section 6: Service Changes and Termination

Accepted Answer

6.1 The Lessorr reserves the right to modify or suspend the service contents upon prior notice.
6.2 If a Lessee violates these Terms of Use, the Lessor has the right to immediately terminate the service for that Lessee

Question 7

Section 7: Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

Accepted Answer

7.1 The establishment, eﬀectiveness, interpretation, and enforcement of these Terms of Use shall be governed by the laws of Australia.
7.2 Any dispute arising from the use of this service shall first be resolved through friendly negotiations between the parties. If negotiations fail, either party may submit the dispute to the courts of the Lessor's registered location in Australia for litigation.
These Terms of Use shall take eﬀect from the date the Lessee accepts the terms, and the Lessor reserves the right to final interpretation within the scope permitted by law.

Question 8

Section 8: Telescope Hosting Services

Accepted Answer

8.1  Telescope Hosting Services are governed by a separate legal contract that will be signed by both parties before equipment is shipped.

Question 9

Telescope Rental Plans Cancellation Policy

Accepted Answer

One month's notice is required to cancel a telescope rental of 3 or more months.   Unless due to special and understandable force majeure circumstances, a make-up fee equivalent to one month’s rental will be charged if a rented telescope is surrendered without notice.
Refund Method: Refunds are issued to the original payment method and typically take 3-5 business days, subject to third-party payment and bank processing times.
Fixed-term Telescope Rentals (a month, a year, etc., one-time payment): Refund amounts are calculated from the remaining days and the purchase price. Setup&Tech-Support fees(if any) are excluded from the refund.
Subscriptions: Services continue until month's end. Cancellations are eﬀective from the next month. However, early termination of the subscription is considered a breach of contract, as the terms regarding the amount paid and subscription duration 
were clearly communicated to the customer prior to the start of the subscription. Unless due to special and understandable force majeure circumstances, a make-up fee equivalent to one month’s rental will be charged. 
Cancellation After Full Completion: No refunds or cancellations are accepted. Additionally, we do not accept refund requests for frames aﬀected by traces of meteors, planes, artificial satellites, space stations, etc. These occurrences are unavoidable and can be easily edited out during post-processing.

Question 10

Terms&Conditions for Remote Telescope Rental at Carina, Crux and Omega Observatories

Accepted Answer

System software:
1.  For rental periods of 3 months or longer the Renter may install a user-defined set of astrophotography applications e.g camera/mount control, image processing and automation software.
2.  The Renter should not undertake Operating System (OS) or Owner-supplied application updates/patches without the permission of the Owner as doing so may render the system and/or applications unusable.  If the Renter performs these updates without permission which then results in an unusable system, no credit for system downtime will be applied.
3.  If the Renter becomes aware of software updates that may be applicable to the imaging system he/she is to notify the Owner who will perform the update.
4.  The Owner will undertake a periodic backup of the imaging PC Solid State Drive and create Windows Restoral disks in the event of a system failure.  The Renter may also request additional backups if necessary.
5.  The Renter is not allowed to install illegal software or software that is unrelated to the operation of the imaging system.  Examples include Peer-to-Peer/File Sharing applications, Network Scanners, hacking tools of any description.

System hardware:
6.  The Renter should not undertake any hardware firmware updates/patches without the permission of the Owner as doing so may render the system and/or hardware unusable.  If the Renter performs these updates without permission which then results in an unusable system, no credit for system downtime will be applied.
7.  If the Renter becomes aware of hardware updates that may be applicable to the imaging system he/she is to notify the Owner who will perform the update.
8.  The Renter is not allowed to alter the mount meridian limits, slew or acceleration speeds.  The mount flip angles have been configured so as any collision with the camera package and the pier will be prevented.  Damage to the hardware caused by unauthorised modification of these settings may incur a surcharge and/or forfeit of any outstanding rental balance.
9.  To prolong the operation of the hardware and to prevent premature failure, the Renter is to fully shut down the imaging PC and remove power from the mount, camera and the 12v supply on completion of the nights imaging/data retrieval process.  This will be of great importance during the Summer months when temperatures in the observatory can become very high.  Note:  Some automation software e.g Voyager, requires the PC to be left on 24x7 in order for data acquisition to occur without user intervention. If this is required, please discuss.
 Acquired Data:
10.  The data acquired by the Renter during the rental period is the property of the Renter.  However, the data is not to be shared, resold or placed in the Public Domain as doing so would undermine the Owner's business interests.  Action contrary to this rental condition will result in the immediate termination of the rental contract.  No refund will be applied.  However, the Renter owns the copyright for an image produced from the data collected by the system.
Sub-Letting
11.  Under no circumstances is the Renter allowed to sub-let the telescope to a third party or collect data on behalf of a third party.  Action contrary to this rental condition will result in the immediate termination of the rental contract.  No refund will be applied.
Network Usage:
12.  In accordance with sub-paragraph 5 above, network usage is strictly limited to the retrieval of acquired data, uploading of user-defined software updates, and typical network traffic generated by the OS.  The Renter is allowed to visit websites that are relevant to the operation of the imaging system.
13.  The Renter is not to visit high-risk, illegal (e.g BitTorrent) or other websites that may contain malware or viruses that may infect the imaging system and the attached network. 
14.  The Renter is to backhaul the acquired data on completion of the nights imaging.  A recommended practice is to upload data to a cloud service first and then retrieve from that storage to the home PC.

OMI Astro

Remote Telescope Rentals - Southern Hemisphere

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