My advice to anyone seeking to understand 'fixed' ie laser-ring platforms is to start with the old-fashioned gyro-based platforms and understand how they aligned. That way you will learn about earth rate and schuler etc. It makes it much easier to get to grips with something that not only does not move, but does not hum or even glow red
For BHenderson - the 'time' is basically needed because the blackboxery has to
see some 'changes' before it can carry out its accurate alignment.