Matt, I don't believe the accuracy that you will get from an electronic compass will be any better than that of a mechanical one. I have a good quality electronic compass, made for yachting, and it is affected in exactly the same manner as any other compass (e.g. pipes, metal roof or railing nearby). Added to that is increased sensitivity to level alignment; the device has to be level to achieve any sort of accuracy. I use a vertical stick at solar noon to calculate north. Solar noon can be calculated at your location from this site. http://www.srrb.noaa.gov/highlights/...e/sunrise.html
I already own a GPS unit, so that's handy for entering Long and Lat into my SkyScan hand unit when setting up.
But what it doesn't do is give you the exact direction you're pointing (east/west, or altitude up-down). That'd be handy for polar alignment.
I've discovered a handy little progam which tells me how far East (in degrees and minutes) of magnetic south I need to turn my mount to have it pointing exactly to celestial south.
It'd be spot on if I could mount an accurate compass (preferably digital readout) on the scope and work with it there. It'd also be good to know exactly when you've reached the right altitude based on Lat. The scale on the side of the scope isn't precisely calibrated.
@ Andrew....
