Astronomy Specialist

Terms of service

Testar Australia Pty Ltd (from now on indicated as Testar) provides products and services for astronomy enthusiasts, astrophotographers and research institutions. Using the testar.com.au website and submitting an order online, i.e., you are proceeding through the check-out, means that you are making an offer which is legally binding and you acknowledge that your age is 18 or above and you accept the following terms and conditions.

Software compatibility issues: Testar does not guarantee compatibility between the latest equipment and legacy software such as MaximDL, The SkyX, and other older software suites, along with outdated versions of Windows such as 8.1 and older. Due to the fast pace of development in astronomy technology, such legacy software may be slow to add support for modern hardware, if at all. It is the customer's responsibility to ensure that the product(s) they are purchasing are compatible with their existing equipment and software.

Warranty

Our goods come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. You are entitled to a replacement or refund for a major failure and compensation for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage. You are also entitled to have the goods repaired or replaced if the goods fail to be of acceptable quality and the failure does not amount to a major failure.

All the products are covered by 12 months warranty from the day of purchase . This warranty does not cover damages caused by misuse, improper handling, installation or maintenance provided by someone other than an authorized Testar technician.

To claim the warranty, you need to:

  • Stop using the product if faulty,
  • Report the fault as soon as it occurs
  • Ensure that reasonable care has been taken while the product was in your possession,
  • The product must not be disposed of, lost or destroyed,
  • Be sure that you did not cause the fault,
  • Contact Testar in writing via e-mail at info@testar.com.au describing the issue which has occurred. Include in your request the order number or the or the proof of purchase.
  • We will provide you with further instruction on how to return the item. The item must be shipped with adequate packaging. 
  • After the product has been returned and inspected, Testar will contact you as soon as possible in order to find the best solution to your claim.
  • If you have a minor problem with a product or service, Testar can choose to give you a free repair instead of a replacement or refund. When you have a major problem with a product, we can send you a replacement or we can issue a refund.
  • A product has a major problem when:
    • it has a problem that would have stopped someone from buying it if they’d known about it
    • it has multiple minor problems that, when taken as a whole, would have stopped someone from buying it if they’d known about them
    • it is significantly different from the sample or description
    • it is substantially unfit for its common purpose and can’t easily be fixed within a reasonable time
    • it doesn’t do what you asked for and can’t easily be fixed within a reasonable time; or
    • it is unsafe.  

- If the product is found not to have a problem, you may be required to pay the transport or inspection costs.

The warranty does not cover:

  • Change of mind,
  • Using the product improperly,
  • Damaging the product producing alterations,
  • Using the product not following the care instructions below,
  • The developing of fungus/mould in the optics,
  • Damages caused by the return of the item caused by a poor packaging.

The warranty will be void if:

  • The housing of the electronic and mechanical components has been open by personnel not authorized by Testar,
  • Optical elements are disassembled from the optical cells (for example opening a refractor lens cell trying to clean the lenses),
  • The product has been dropped, flooded or exposed to extreme conditions or if it has been used inappropriately.

Corrected image circle

Manufacturers often provide vague information on what constitutes a telescope's corrected image circle, but the extent of the correction is not always clear. If a telescope is advertised as having a "full-frame image circle", that does not mean that stars at the edge of the field are perfectly pinpoint. Star quality depends on many factors such as sampling size, tilt, collimation etc. Spot diagrams and the like are theoretically calculated performance under optimal conditions and may not match what you see in your image. Additionally, modern sensors such as the IMX455 have such small pixels that any aberrations are much more visible than they were in the days of CCD sensors when the telescope may have been initially designed. Therefore, no matter how expensive the telescope, some level of optical aberrations will be visible when viewing the image at magnification.

For these reasons, extra-axial aberrations do not constitute a defect, unless the telescope is clearly out of collimation, has tensioned optics or has particular aberrations that are not typical of the specific optical design. Additionally, minor extra-axial aberrations that can be easily corrected in post-processing do not constitute defective optics.

Care instructions

Telescopes are products meant to be used outdoors. However, electronic and optics are sensitive to moisture, dust, extreme temperatures and temperature changes. Testar recommends the following care instruction procedures:

  • Correct voltage for the equipment. Electronic components used in astronomy equipment are sensitive to an excessively high or low input voltage. To avoid any damage, use a voltage within the range prescribed in the instruction manual of the product purchased.
  • Reversed polarity. To supply your equipment, use only the original power supply provided with the product. Not all mounts and electronic equipment have reverse polarity protection.
  • Condensation or rainwater in the housing of the electronic components such as hand controllers or main boards may destroy the electronic components as they are not waterproof. It is recommended to seal the unoccupied jacks and store mounts, hand controllers and electronic components in a dry environment free from moisture.
  • Fungi or mould may quickly grow on the surface of the lenses of your eyepieces and permanently corrode the coating of your optics. Fungi needs darkness and humidity to grow so to avoid any unpleasant surprise, after you have used your telescope outdoors, do not immediately store it in a case or do not put the caps on. Instead, leave your optical tube/eyepiece without caps horizontally for a few hours to let all the humid air inside the tube/barrel evaporate.

Item description

Testar is committed to provide an accurate description, price and photographic pictures of the products on the website. Minor errors however may occur due to incorrect information received by the manufacturer, a typographical error or different versions of the product received by the supplier. Testar reserves the right to cancel the order regardless whether payment has been received or your credit card has been charged.

Limitation of liability

Testar is not liable for any damages, direct or indirect, to people, objects or animals deriving from improper usage of the product or usage beyond its technical specifications.

Payments

Submitting an order online, i.e., you are proceeding through the check-out, means that you are making an offer which is legally binding. Testar accepts pre-payment by Visa, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, bank check and bank transfer. On the website Testar uses Shopify payment that provides a SSL certificate encrypted at a 256-bit, the same level of encryption that many large banks use. In store, Testar uses card readers that complies with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) that ensures all customers’ credit card information is safely and securely stored, processed and transmitted during a credit card transaction.

Prices

Due to currency fluctuations and supplier price increases, Testar can change the price at any time on any item which will affect any unpaid orders that are in your shopping cart. Prices include the Australian Goods and Services Tax which equates to 10% when purchasing in Australia. Prices shown in countries outside of Australia do not include local taxes as well as customs duties if applicable.

Pre-orders

Published availability timeframes for pre-order items on our website are estimates only and may change without warning. If you require a precise ETA, please contact us before placing your order. If you want to cancel your pre-order before the predicted timeframe has passed, fees will apply. Credit card and PayPal commissions will not be refunded.

 

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