Hi Kosh
The setting circles will be set after you polar align ,basically you go to a bright star of known RA and Dec set the circles and off you go ! once you set the RA of the star in your once time setup ,you lock the RA screw. IF you look closer you will see that there is two sets of numbers on the circles ,we use the top set in the South If memory serves me.
I believe that If your motor drives are turned off ,you need to do the setup again.
Just another reason to learn how to polar align perfectly !
Louie