Hi Carl,
Please don't get too hasty in condemming your mount. Stars within about 15 degrees altitude can cause inaccurate settings due to atmospheric refraction. To start the alignment process I usually choose stars within 10 degrees of transit that are very close to the celestial equator (eg. 34 Alp Aquarii, 55 Zet Aquarii, 62 Eta Aquarii). To aid in my polar alignment I have compiled a list of about 60 bright stars with right ascensions from 0Hrs to 23:59 and within 0.5 degrees of the equator - if you like I could post the list here. Some stars are perfect for fast checking polar alignment. (eg. TYC 4766-1369-1 in Orion RA = 5h 34m 29.3s, Dec = - -0° 0' 44" , mag = 6.4)
Regards,
Jerry.
