Temperature sensitivity of HEQ5 mount?

[DarthWombat]

G'day all...

I was just wondering whether it would be a good idea to leave my HEQ5-Pro mount in-place (covered, of course) through a -4C Canberra frost and 14C day.

Is anyone aware of any problems such temperature variations might cause?

Thanks,

Alex

[jjjnettie]

:) IIS Member "Jones" (he's in Finland) leaves his mount outside, and uses it in temps down to -23. His camera froze before his mount did.

[DarthWombat]

Cool (no pun intended)...

I am new to astronomy and still a bit slow getting my physical alignments done, so anything to cut down on my setup time helps.

[Waxing_Gibbous]

Although it rarely gets below 5c here, I replaced the standard grease in mine with Kryo-somethingorother made by Dupont. It ran slightly more smoothly in all temps.

Also, if you don't have an observatory or an easy roll-in-roll-out rig, I highly recommend one of the telescope shrouds made by 'Telegizmo'.
Mine's been covering my EQ6/Mak rig for over a year, outside in all weather with no problem at all.