ok trying a calm mind and have a fresh look.
its fully clouded

out so I cant even try it on the sun yet
platform is level,

I adjusted the mount to be lined up, level and pointing straight.
I adjusted the lat to be 32.9 on the digital level
ok so that seems ok.
now to the concept I seem to be stuffing up

- I have taken off 12.3 degrees from the magnetic south bearing on the compass so simply in my understanding the physical compass needle pointing to S, then rotated mount to point at 12.3degrees to the east from S which then should have the mount now (almost) pointing to true south?

am I missing something crucial but simple here?

