Hmmmm...Hi Brendan, in typing this I recognize you are right about software, planks of wood etc however...as a newbie...so no disrespect intended...
I just spent 7 months trying to get alignment right as a newbie and what nailed it was buying an illuminated reticule and using the link below...(reverse for southern hemisphere) as well as discovering that shonky Jim did the finishing work on my mount late on a Friday afternoon..
Www.petesastrophotography.com
and look under techniques, polar technique , drift alignment. Theres even a little widget so you can practice and in fact I am sure I got this link from this site...
I also discovered that whoever glued the declination scale on my heq5 was a nutter as it is 6 degrees out which puts paid to any attempt to find the right angle using iPhone, inter web, etc
I bought a guiding setup for Christmas ( rather, Santa did..) but as I don't have a permanent setup then benefits of using software are lost if guide scope is knocked out of alignment when dismantling after a nights imaging which it invariably is and by the time you have cooked for wife due to guilt trip generated by knowing you are going to be gawping at dso as soon as its dark, it's dark and you can't align the guidescopes with the main scope cos you can't see a damn thing blah de blah...
So, learn to drift align, it's really not that difficult..I cheated by hammering brackets into lawn after finally getting it right, which fit snuggly around legs of mount ( wife was not impressed...) and have left the mount installed as weather is ok, but I know I will need to move it sometime if only to try a new dark site and to be frank, 30 mins drift aligning in a no fuss way against time spent realigning scopes in the dark and then using the software to actually align isn't in my view, at least given my circumstances, going to save much time and you do learn a new skill
Rant over, thanks brendon
