F/F recommendations w/o side scan
 

:)Looking for a nice F/F that does not do side scan. I wanted to mount the transducer it in hull.
a 5 or 7 inch unit. any suggestions?

Budget? Top of the list would probably be an hds 3 touch 7". Bottom I'd say 7" hook

Lowrance Elite 7 Ti

Snatch up that gen 2
 

From Tony. Gen 3 and Gen 2 flat out have the most power. But you also need bigger battery to feed the power . I have a helix 5 on my other ride . It's good for what we do . 200 ft

If I had not just dropped several grand fixing my truck, I'd be jumping on Tony's HDS Touch for my Solo skiff. You say you don't want side scan, but the touch has the firmware for it built-in if you decide you want it in the future, just swap out the transducer. The HDS I have isn't a touch, so I have to install the big hub box to do the processing...

If you want new get the Lorance 7TI with the down scan transducer. It's $100 less then the Total scan transducer model. If that is too high for your budget than get Hook 5 or 7 (no down scanning or total scan available. Or as mentioned get The unit Fullback (Tony) is selling HDS 7" Gen2 touch screen, I believe he's asking $400.

OK I think I figured it out after reading a bunch of old posts. But now I have another question about the HDS 7 Touch, an old post mentioned that the touch screen glitches unless the transducer is touching water to ground it? Is there a solution for this if the transducer is mounted in hull?
Baja Traveler I am looking at it for my Solo Skiff, just picked it up last sat.

solution for everything
 

you can build a box to enclose transducer submerged in water and mount this inside kayak. this was one of the best methods of install prior to lowrance ready coming into play . plastic Tupperware works well . should be some posts around on how to do with pics. cut out bottom of Tupperware to create a straight seal to kayak and figure a way of mounting transducer to lid of Tupperware.

So are you going to be carving out a bunch of foam to get to the outer hull? I've only heard of one guy on the Solo Skiff Owners Group doing it, and it was a big job to get it right. Solo says don't do it.
Again - I know you said you don't want side scan - but if you pick up Tony's unit, ask him to show you the BerleyPro housing on his PA. I saw his at last weekends King Harbor tournament and immediately ordered one - and just installed it in my PA last night. I think it would be the perfect solution to mounting an external transducer to a Solo Skiff. Yes, there will be a bump on the bottom of the boat, but it will be an armor plated mount.

OEX will be doing the install so no worries on that. The transom mount in rear has too much turbulance/interference from the prop being so close to it. Also the extra couple inches it stick out the back makes it harder to load/ unload off a pick up bed extender. I'll take a look at the BerleyPro housing, I wonder how big a hole we would need to install it on the Solo?

I'm not going to put any hole in at all (excluding the screw holes for the mounting plate). I'll center the transducer mounting plate on one of the bottom channels in front of the motor well in clean water, then run the cable back in the channel, and up to an above water bulkhead fitting using screw down cable ties. Because the plate will be centered on the channel, I can't use the front screw-down location intended for the Hobie, so I'll add several on the sides - going from a three screw arrangement to a four screw one.

OK I see now. thanks