Paul, the 360 FOV requirement was actually made in the FAQ:

"Question: Can fairings be applied to the fuselage that “in effect” fair the antenna if they remain at least the specified 3” away.
Answer: No. The statement “the antenna must not be faired in any manor” can also be viewed such that the “antenna must have an unobstructed 360 degree horizontal field of view”. An exception to the field of view will be made for the vertical tail(s) and/or wing struts. "

Otherwise, your "ahead of the nose" configuration would be an extremely smart way to go - the wake would impinge on the fueslage and reattach, substantially reducing the drag increment from the radome. Balancing would be the only problem I see, and could be taken care of by moving the payload for that config.