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EQ mounts are designed to allow movement around two axes - one for RA and one for Dec. The most important one is the RA axis. You line up your RA axis exactly with the south celestial pole, and if you do it right the clock drive will move your mount around that axis during the night and track the stars. If you get it right you only need to use the dec motor to move to another object. But more often than not, despite your best efforts it will still be a little off, even with using the drift alignment method to tweak your accuracy, you'll need to use some sort of adjustment to keep things in the field of view throughout the night.
Using a goto often shortcuts all of the above rigmarol (which it can be at times) which is why so many people like them. But they aren't perfect. Nothing is, so still be prepared to do some work.
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