Crank trigger

Well, got the old duster running today, but I have a question, just put a crank trigger on it, set it up at 36 degrees, and phased the dis. in , my question is when I go to change the timing on the pick-up do I have to phase the Dis. in to that timing??? Also I have a timing retard of 20 degrees, but seems not to work sometime, The light that says its working blinks on a off when cranking, but when I let it set for a couple of seconds it fires right up?? Is that normal with crank triggers??? Thanks :salut: