Personal preference. I’m not a big fan of tech to begin with, but there are times you need/or should tech. I just perfer to tech big. Plus if you go tech big in rd 2 and UK nails HB and/or IT and/or LR, then the US can just drop 70 IPC of a navy in the Atlantic or Pacific and not bother with tech.
Certainly with 6-7 rolls in rd 1 you could get a tech, but too many times I’ve rolled with 7, 8, 9 and missed, so I’ve just learned if you’re going to try to win the game via tech, GO BIG, get your techs and end the game.
The key with tech big is to get multiple techs the combination of IT, HB, and LR basically ends the game. (see SUD post on Jap tech - somewhere around here)
I agree on keeping the tranny alive you still have 2-3 turns of inf/arm to shuttle to Fin. 2 inf in Eus, 2 in Wus, 1 arm somewhere too.