Mirror Coating problem?!? (small pic)

I purchased a used Celestron SP-C6 about two months ago and am trying to optimize its performance. I have had trouble getting a good clean focus at any powers above about 120. From what I have heard, this Vixen made scope should stack up very well if properly collimated. It was built in the mid 80's.

I picked up a cheap (though alignable) laser collimator and used it to no avail. I am still plagued with problems. Tonight I pulled the mirror from the cell to more precisely mark the center and found that my mark was about 2mm off. That I fixed.

I had read that if you hold the mirror up to a bright light or sun that you can detect coating problems. I knew there was a small spot visible on it but until I held it to the light I didn't know how bad the rest of the mirror was. Attached is a pic of the top of the mirror with a 60w bulb on the bottom. I cleaned the mirror so there isn't a speck of dust on it. AS you can see there are hundreds of pin prick sized (though blurry) dots. Had trouble getting the cam to focus and stay steady but you get the idea.

I'm not sure how to proceed. I don't have really deep pockets with the holidays and all. How does this coating effect my image? Will it be noticable? Would it be worth it to construct a knife edge tester to see if the mirror is worth keeping? Or would the coating effect the test?

Thanks for any replies,
Mark Bernhardt

Attached Image:

I'm no expert but looks like it needs recoating.Try http://www.spectrum-coatings.com/telescop.htm
$60 for a 6" mirror.

Coatings sometimes have lots of little pinholes. They look bad, but they should not have any obvious effect on the image. If the images are soft and will not focus above 120x and the scope is correctly collimated, and the seeing is reasonable, you may have a poorly figured mirror. It is also possible you have pinched optics somewhere. Put about 150x on the scope and carefully look at a star image just inside and just outside of focus. Is it round? If it is distorted, especially if there are sharp points to it, you may have the primary or secondary too tightly held.