[Geoff45 (Geoff)]

First identify the directions in your eyepiece. Start with the west (Preceeding) direction. This is the way the star drifts in RA when you are not running the motor. Directly opposite to this is the east (Following) direction. Then for a Newtonian with no eyepiece diagonal, you can identify North and South by going around the edge of your field of view a circle in a clockwise direction PSFN -- Preceeding, South, Following, North--easily remembered as "Poisonous Snakes Fear Nobody". If you do use an eyepiece diagonal, you have to go counterclockwise. (More precisely; if your optical setup has an even number of reflections, go clockwise. If it has an odd number of reflections--eg a refractor with a diagonal-- go counterclockwise)

If you look East to adjust altitude, then if the star drifts North, raise your altitude, if it drifts South, drop the altitude.

If you look West to adjust altitude, then if the star drifts South, raise your altitude, if it drifts North, drop the altitude.

Now pick a star on the meridian near the equator. If the star drifts North, turn the mount clockwise as viewed from above. If it drifts South, turn the mount counterclockwise as viewed from above.

Repeat these adjustments until you get no drift when you swap from one to the other.
Geoff