So, I'm afraid I'm still not sure whether or not to switch to standby
Why are you not sure? Every ATCO here has said switch to standby. At the end of the day (TCAS excepted) the transponder is their for
OUR benefit, not the instructors - so who you going to believe now? And if any instructor comes to you with one of these B***S**T old wives tales then please feel free to point him in my direction. So far the dross we've seen on this thread in this respect shows that they're talking out of their a***s!
The words about "showing caution" you suggest as meaning you don't need to select standby. As a counter argument I could equally say that selecting standby
IS showing caution. It just goes to show that if you read something sometimes you can read into it what you wish. Or am I just banging my head against a brick wall here
CM