Setting up: level, balance, align, in that order

The sequence exists because each step depends on the one before it, and doing them out of order wastes all of them.

One: set the tripod and level it

Spread the legs fully, put them on firm ground, and level the head using the bubble. Everything downstream — the latitude setting, the polar alignment, the GoTo model — assumes this was done.

Two: set the latitude

Set the altitude adjuster to your latitude before anything is mounted, while the head is light and the adjuster moves freely. Fine tuning comes later; getting within a degree now makes that easy.

Three: mount the tube and balance it

Right ascension first, sliding the counterweight with the tube horizontal until it stays put with the clutch loose. Then declination, sliding the tube in its dovetail. Changing one disturbs the other slightly, so expect a second pass.

Four: polar align

Aim the polar axis at the celestial pole. For visual use, roughly at Polaris is enough. For exposures, use the polar scope reticle or a software routine, and remember that Polaris is near the pole rather than on it.

Five: only now, the GoTo alignment

Centre the stars the handset asks for — the ones it asks for, checked against a chart rather than assumed. An alignment built on a misidentified star produces pointing that is confidently wrong all evening.