Hi NCRAW,
A few alternatives:
1. If you have a reasonable tripod, there is the Hercules mount available from AliExpress, in two sizes. See
https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/6...z-mount/page-3
I have the 4" version and it has belt drives with an 8:1 reduction which turns out to be fine with a small scope like my 70mm pictured below. The downside with this is that it does not include the counterweight bar or counterweight and its a real ***** to find one that fits and these will add to the cost. Details in my post on page 3 of CN if you need one.
2. There's also this basic alt-az head from TS
https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop...p-to-6-kg.html
To this you need to add:
- a dovetail base,
- counterweight shaft, and
- 1kg stainless counterweight
These are all available from TS. You also need a solid tripod to support this, and if you have to buy all the bits including tripod other alternatives may be attractive.
3. Skywatcher AZ5 mount. This is a pure manual alt-az mount, with worms for fine adjustment, nicely made and solid. Ive seen one with a 127mm Mak so small refractors will also fit, no problem.
4. Up your budget a tad and buy the Skywatcher All-View mount.
I tried one and I think it is excellent value, and much underrated IMHO as SW seem to market it as a panorama head for cameras, but it has a full function SYNSCAN GOTO handset, and comes with tripod. It is perfect for small scopes like your 80mm.