Malum I think nailed it on all the big points.
For your friend, they are aware that two males will typically fight? Just making sure before you send one thier way.
I would try to avoid checking the eggs every day, unless your hoovabator has the little window you can peek through.
Any time you open the incubator you'll be letting that heat out. Any time you disturb the eggs themselves, you can risk contamination or accidentally rolling the egg.
What I've done with the eggs I'm incubating currently is leaving the later of vermiculite thin enough on the bottom to shine a light through for candling. That way I don't have to actually open the tub and mess with the eggs. I check on them once a week for molding until they're due to hatch. Then I'll begin checking more regularly.
I threw my hoovabator in the closet and forgot about it. It gave me the same issues Malum had with temp ranged and inaccuracies. I've used the converted aquarium incubator for geckos before with success and my current is actually just an ice chest with some heat tape and a thermostat. Nothing fancy.
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