[whzzz28 (Nathan)]

So i've had my VC200L for three months now and have not been able to get it collimated. It is frustrating me to no tomorrow as i can collimate a Newtonian very easily, yet this thing escapes me.
I took it out the other night to see what it was like. Shocking is the best way to describe it i think.

Tonight i decided enough is enough and that i will spend the next few nights trying to get it collimated, or even better; perfectly collimated.

I have been following the instructions on Vixen's site but i can't help but feel that these visual methods are not very precise. I don't trust my eyes to know that the donut is perfectly centered when doing an out of focus star test, nor that the secondary baffle is evenly centered when adjusting the primary.

What are my options?
I have a glatter laser collimator (with barlow and hologram pieces) and have ordered the tuPlug + orion cheshire eyepiece to see how close i can get it. Mind you finding information on how to use a cheshire eyepiece is rather difficult for some reason.

Tonight i did an indoors test of the primary mirror. It was out, not too far, but far enough. I think it is close to being collimated now and i made sure the screws were done tight so it won't move (but not too tight).
I tried collimating the secondary using the C.2 method on the PDF (point telescope at even bright surface such as white wall or sky), but i am unable to see the dark ring, no matter how bright or dull the surface is or how far racked in or out the focuser is. Unless my idea of "centering eyepiece" is wrong and they mean a Cheshire eyepiece? I am using an orion eyepiece with crosshairs in it.

Does anyone else have any tips if you own a VC200L on what you have done to get great collimation?

Tomorrow, weather permitting, i will try and do an out-of-focus star collimation on the secondary.

Cheers.