The following policies govern your agreement with Astronomy Acres Remote Observatories ( AARO ).

Deposit Policy:

Deposits made secure your location in our remote hosting observatories and are non-refundable. The deposit amount covers the first two weeks of hosting, commencing upon the date of installation of customer equipment. At the end of the initial two weeks, the customer will have the option to pay for service Monthly or Yearly. Yearly payments enjoy a 10% discount.

Custom Pier Fabrication:

At the customer’s option and expense, a pier can be built to order and can be retained upon termination of hosting services.

Service Agreement:

AARO provides the following:

  • A location for hosting your telescope equipment and necessary computer and other electronic devices for the operation of your telescope.
  • A dedicated network subnet and VLAN which permits access to the internet, but not other customers equipment.
  • Access to a remote power switch for cycling power to your equipment.
  • An un-interruptible power source ( UPS ) which takes over power supply to the equipment during temporary power outages.
  • An on-site generator which starts automatically in the event of a longer duration power outage.
  • Access to Roof state via ASCOM Alpaca as a ‘Safety Monitor’.
  • Access to Observing Conditions via ASCOM Alpaca, collected via on-site weather stations.
  • Access to our Astronomy Acres Discord server.
  • Access to our Help Desk portal for requesting assistance and providing notice of site visits, equipment shipments, etc.
  • AARO has automated safety services in place to close the roof should conditions warrant. The conditions for safety are monitored using on-site weather stations and do not rely in internet hosted services for local safe operation. While We at AARO strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect Your equipment, We cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Liability:

It is the responsibility of each customer to maintain any desired insurance coverage of their hosted equipment. AARO is not liable for any damage or loss incurred while your equipment is hosted with us.

Termination of hosting:

Hosting can be terminated at any time with a 14 calendar day notice. The effective termination date will be the end of the current (or future) paid period.

NOTE: There are no partial / prorated refunds.

On the effective date of hosting service termination, customer equipment will be disconnected and inaccessible. Customer equipment that remains on-site more than 30 days past the effective termination date will incur a storage fee of $50 per month, retro-active to the effective termination date.