FreeLists / az-observing / [AZ-Observing] newbie collimation questions.

["Wes Edens" <edensw@xxxxxxxxxx>]

After buying my 8" Orion Dob, I followed the manual's instruction on
collimation (well, I didn't adjust the tilt of the secondary then.)
Yesterday I got a deluxe (rear-view port) laser collimator from Orion. 
I think I figured it out, and hopefully didn't burn any retina in the
learning process.  I adjusted the secondary's tilt first of all--with a
little trouble.  I used a 2mm Allen wrench and loosened the set
screws--it was hard to tell if I was loosening them much, but after my
efforts, I was able to get the secondary more centered than it was--the
laser dot is at least touching the paper circle Orion uses to mark the
center of the primary. (It was a lot farther away before). And I seem to
have got the set screws tightened so that it's held in that position
firmly.
On to the primary.  I figured out finally what the collimator
instructions mean by getting the laser point into the hole.   I was able
to move the point into the hole so that I was left with a little "black
hole" type thing--black disk with the laser spraying out around it.  
The trouble is, when I put on the manual Orion collimating cap, it
doesn't look right.  The center of the primary is considerably off the
black dot in the middle (which I guess is the eyehole in the middle of
the collimation cap). I adjusted the primary so that it was centered,
and of course now the laser said it was off.  I tried this a few times,
pushing Einstein's definition of insanity just a bit. 
Am I doing something wrong?  Any suggestions for this disagreement
between the laser and the collimation cap?
Thanks!
Wes Edens
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