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Hi all, thanks for the comments!
Neil, I'd mainly follow what Bo said, good advice. I downloaded the PolarFinder app for Android, and it's great to go with the Skytracker.
It's the first time I've done polar alignment properly, and being originally a northern guy, finding Sigma Octantis was hard! If anyone has good tips, then I'm all ears. But it is clearly visible in the polar scope from my suburbs (I can barely make out a smudge of LMC on a good night). I levelled the mount and roughly pointed it, then the trick is finding the asterism of four stars near the pole including sigma, then home in on the little straight line of three of which sigma is the brightest. Stellarium in red light mode can help with the expected orientation of the asterisms.
It seemed to me that the accurate positioning on the alignment rings does matter quite a lot. Also, there is a little rotational 'play' when the polar scope is locked in place. That'll make it harder to get ideal alignment, and will obviously matter more for longer focal length shots. I need a good night and time with it to see how important it is.
Any other tips or suggestions with alignment etc are most welcome!
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