Confusion with timing

[oysta]

Hi fellow escorters,

Just got my hands on a timing gun to check my timing (2L pinto). The pulley has four large notches, of which the leftmost is TDC. Halfway between each pair of large notches is a smaller notch. The manual says that each notch is 2degrees. Is that between the 4 large notches or the smaller ones.

If it is betweenn the large ones, this means the range is between TDC and 6 degrees yet i read about people going upto 12. How do they measure that?

Lastly, what advance are most people running? I run 98octane petrol and mine is set at TDC when idling. I have a feeling I can advance it a bit.

Hope ive made myself clear and thanks for the help.