Ad Astra Observatory

The cheat sheet you found does sound daunting. I find that most of the time

too much information is just not useful when you are in the field. There is
a time and place for that type of stuff, but in the heat of things, don’t
give me theory, give me practical examples.

These are some of the things I found that made it more simple for me:

<http://www.aa6g.org/Astronomy/article_index.html>http://www.aa6g.org/Astronomy/article_index.html

This one really helped me understand it better:

<http://www.minorplanetobserver.com/htms/Drift_Alignment_Made_Simple.htm>http://www.minorplanetobserver.com/htms/Drift_Alignment_Made_Simple.htm

I would chuck that complicated cheat sheet!!

My house blocks everything from about -10 down to the southern horizon. It
does not matter what side of the meridian you are on (when you are
adjusting azimuth) the directions are the same (drift up, move the polar
axis east, drift down, west). To help me remember, I make a backwards L
with my hand (when facing south): when the star moves up, I go east. With

picking a star at 30 to 40, the drift won’t be as noticable. Just pick a
star close to the meridian, either side. It’s the best you can do.

For altitude, I just remembered one of them: When I am using stars setting
in the west, the adjustment and drift are the same (drifts up, move the
altitude up).

Oh yea, I also have a cheat sheet!