what I do is keep my altitude around 15K or higher, put the plane into a 15 degree (give or take) banking orbit with the target search area on my right wing about 10 miles out.
Get on the targeting pod and search using White hot (my preference) and definitely use the MFD quick view ( I changed mine to NUM0 then numpad 6)... this in my view is crucial otherwise your eyes may explode.
Keep in mind that your pod may get wound up so I suggest using mark points... .when you get a few, change the dial near your CDU to "Mark" and they will show up on your TAD. If you dont use mark points, when your pod does get wound up, and almost certainly will, you will have to start your hard-earned search all over again.