The total mag is about 5.9 and the brightest star is 6.9, so it is easily visible in an 8" scope. I have wanted to image this little cluster since I saw it on APOD.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051118.html
more here
http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/n2169.html
There was also some strongish wind last night which made accurate guiding difficult. The result is the star images are not quite round.
Bert