[raymo]

Mike, I assume that you are new to EQ mounts, and maybe therefore you are
doing something wrong/ and/ or unnecessary. Firstly place the mount with the leg beneath the weights facing due South, NOT magnetic South.
Make sure the tripod is reasonably level using a spirit level. Power up and
enter time zone, time and date [using mm/dd/yy]. Do a two star alignment, [3 star is only necessary for allowing for a thing called cone error]. After alignment is done the error should be displayed on the hand
controller as Mel and Maz . If the Mel reading is a + figure raise the mount a little by screwing in the swivel ended bolt at the lower back of the mount, and vice versa. If the Maz error is a + figure turn the mount clockwise a little [looking down on the mount], using the two black knobs at each side of the bottom of the mount, and vice versa. You have to slightly slacken the mount to tripod knob to do this. Do another 2 star align [using the same two stars] and check the error again. Repeat the routine until the error is down to a few arc minutes. Don't bother with the
polar alignment at this stage. The Go To should now place an object well
within the field of a low power eyepiece. When making the adjustments remember to slacken off the opposite side knob, and nip both sides up when adjustments are completed. Make sure you have hand controller
firmware 3.35 or later if the controller is a V.3 model. No problem if it is
a V.4.
raymo