John Agnew said:
I've been thinking about getting a scope(& mount) that would be more easily dealt with on a camping trip than my C9.25 CPC. My initial thoughts were leaning towards an ETX 127 or something similar. I know there are some nice refractors of about the same size that might work too, but I'd like to keep the price below $700. What small scopes will give me the best views of DSO's? I just spent a few weeks in an area with amazing skies, armed only with a small pair of birding binocs. Never again.
We can continue the refractor vs reflector fight here, I suppose.
http://www.buytelescopes.com/product.aspx?p_id=13462&store_id=2&did=1
Having taken my C8 on a couple of camping trips, I know what you are talking about. Though I don't go camping much as I used to, I use a WO 66 on a used Orion Astroview mount. It is portable enough that I can get it out the door easily. The apurature is less than ideal, but it cures the itch to observe well enough when I am intersted in a quick peak without spending to much time or effort to set up.
It is what it is...