Step 2. Use a piece of tape to hold the laser pen ON button down. Lock the DEC at 90º and rotate the scope so that the top of the OTA is at the 12 o'clock position and lock the RA. Set the laser pen in front of the corrector plate so that the beam strikes the corrector plate at the 6 o'clock position and reflects off the corrector plate onto the wall several feet away. Note that there will likely be several reflections from the scope. Make sure that you use the reflection from the surface of the corrector plate for this procedure. The corrector plate is coated to reduce reflected light so the reflected beam will be rather dim compared the other reflected beams possibly leaving the front of the scope. It doesn't matter where the beam strikes the corrector plate as far as distance from the edge of the corrector plate is concerned. I chose to have it strike the corrector plate half way between the outer edge and the secondary mirror at the 6 o'clock position. It doesn't matter at what angle the beam strikes the corrector plate, so you can change the angle to project the reflected beam where you want.
Step 3. Tape a piece of paper to the wall where the reflected beam is located and mark the location of the beam. Rotate the OTA 180º and mark the new location of the reflected beam. Adjust the DEC slow motion knob so that the reflected beam moves to a point halfway between the two marks. Rotate the OTA 180º again so the top of the OTA is again at the 12 o'clock position and check the location of the reflected beam. It should still be near the middle of the two marks. If not repeat this procedure until you have closed the gap between the first and second mark as much as possible.
Figure 21 - Scope with top at 12 o'clock
and laser beam positioning
Figure 22 - Scope with top at 6 o'clock
and
laser beam positioning
As you adjust the DEC slow motion knob the beam probably will not move directly toward the half way point of the two marks. It will more than likely move in a skewed manner. As a result you probably won't be able to get both marks aligned. The reason for this is because the OTA is more than likely tilted toward one of the fork arms. This tilt is probably a major contributor to your pointing accuracy problem. You will correct it in the next step.
Step 4. Place a new piece of paper on the wall. Rotate the OTA so that the top of the OTA is at the 12 o'clock position and mark the location of the reflected beam on the wall. Rotate the OTA 180º so the top of the OTA is at the 6 o'clock position and mark the new location of the reflected beam. If there is a gap between the two marks then the OTA needs realigned. If not you should be able at this point to rotate the OTA 360º while the reflected beam remains still. If this is the case then your scope is now aligned and pointing accuracy should be much improved.
Step 5. On each side of the scope where the fork arms attach to the OTA you will find an OTA side mount plate with two bolts an a screw. These six screws/bolts, three on each side, are the only place where the OTA attaches to the OTA side mount plates. Notice that the mount plate is slotted so that the OTA can be slid for and aft in relation to the OTA side mount plates.