Hello Chris,
My apologies for not being able to answer your question earlier. I would recommend using the diode configuration (Collector and Base shorted) in your application, primarily because of 2 reasons.
1. Since you are using 10-12 inches of wire you will just need 2 wires in this case where as in the collector ground case you will need an additional wire for ground.
2. Diode connected configuration provides better settling time compared to the collector ground configuration.
Please make sure that your series resistance doesn't exceed the data sheet recommendations (refer to the above diagram).
Best Regards,
Abhi Muppiri
Applications Engineer
AIP- Sensing Products
Texas Instruments
