I have been using drift alignment to align my mount since starting and always rely on it. Not because I am so clever but because it is all I know and can’t see the pole. But I have got pretty good and quick at it to check after I have bumped the pier plate.. Thanks to
http://canburytech.net/DriftAlign/DriftAlign_1.html
I notice when I checked this with the PhD drift tool it seemed to agree with my visual set up which I did not expect. The HeQ5 however has not enough resolution in its encoders to give as good an alignment answer as the old Argo Navis 10000 step encoders on a fork . It is all over the shop and perhaps you have pointed one of the reasons.