Guiding is totally automatic on exposures of 180 seconds or more. Most of our telescopes have separate guide telescopes and guider cameras. The process is totally automatic.
Guiding starts when your selected exposure time exceeds an admin set period of seconds.
Sometimes in very sparse patches of sky the guide scope may need to hunt around for a suitable candidate star. Or lose it in cloud. Be Aware and check the weather and skies often.
This weather data is available on the Launchpad via the individual site links.
We also have a video tutorial about these links here.