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Scp...
Good one Chris - it's very easy to hit sigma octans and thence the SCP a number of ways: basically noting that it is (almost) mid-point between Acrux and Achernar.
I find using the distinct little triangle of Apus and following a line from beta Apus through gamma Apus (the (just)brighter pair) up to pi1 and pi2 Apus: these 2 little stars appearing like a double surrounded by an "arch/semicircle" of 6 stars stand out very clearly (they're in your first image attach.)
The top 2 stars of this "arch/semicircle" - eta Apus and delta Octans point straight to sigma Octans if you extend the distance between them twice!
Having a green laser pointer on your scope makes it so darn easy to just hit this area visually with its' beam (no stooping whatsoever!) and then use your finder and main scope with illum. ret. to crack a pretty darn accurate polar alignment. (of course having aligned your laser with the finder and main scope first!)
Cheers, Darryl.
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