Hi bluesilver,
I have a skywatcher goto 14inch with the synscan handset and this is my routine. I am sure others will have a different one.
1) Colliminate the scope for the primary and secondary mirror/ensure finderscope or rdf is aligned.
2) Ensure the ground is level - others will level the tube horizontal as well.
3) Power on the scope
4) Enter the latitude/longitude/date/time/GMT settings
5) Begin alignment - 2 star alignment
6) Pick a star and use the motors to go to the 1st alignment star
7) Ensure the star is in the centre of the crosshair eyepiece
8) Pick the second alignment star but as far as away as possible to the direction of the first star and if possible around the same height.
9) The scope will slew to the second star by itself - you will need to do the final adjustments to get it into the eyepiece again.
10) Hit enter in which you should get an alignment sucessful
11) Test if the alignment is good by picking an object from the database - ie Messier (m) or NGC/Tour/Planets.
In testing the alignment I would pick something you have seen before - not an obscure object. Planets/Moon/Bright deep sky objects are always good.
You can use the Park scope function to preserve the alignment. To be honest I don't use it as my location my yard will change a fair bit. You will need to check collimination , I do anyway everytime and its always a bit out.
Hope this helps.
Give us a yell on how you go.
m11