so ive been going back and forth on this for like three weeks now and i cant decide. currently running a dipole for 40m, its an inverted V hung from a 35ft pushup mast, feedpoint probably at 30 feet or so, legs going down at maybe 45 degrees. works okay but ive always felt like im getting stomped on by the verticals when i try to work dx and yeah i know dipoles arent supposed to be great for low angle radiation but mine seems worse than expected.

the thing is i have a decent sized backyard and i could put up a quarter wave vertical with a decent radial field, maybe 20-30 radials laid on the ground. or i could just raise the dipole higher if i can borrow a taller mast. my QTH is suburban, not terrible noise floor but not great either. wondering if anyone has actually done a side by side comparison or has strong feelings one way or the other for 40m specifically. not really interested in a loaded vertical, would rather do it right if im going that route.

honestly the height thing matters more than people give it credit for on 40. your inverted V at 30ft feedpoint is only getting like half wave height at most and those drooping legs are hurting the low angle performance more than the antenna type itself. ive run both at my place and a flat dipole at 50ft absolutely hammers a quarter wave vertical for anything beyond about 2000 miles, at least in my experience here in the midwest. the vertical had an edge on some really shallow angle stuff but it was noisy as heck compared to the dipole.

if you can get that dipole up to 50-55ft flat or close to it id try that before spending the weekend burying radials. just my two cents, terrain and local noise plays into this a lot too so your results might differ.

i put up a vertical last summer, 33ft with 32 radials, took me two full weekends. it works but i kind of wish i had just raised my dipole higher tbh. the radial field is a pain and even with 32 of them i dont think i hit the theoretical efficiency numbers. dx wise its fine but for the regional stuff the dipole was clearly better and thats actually most of what i do on 40 anyway so. both have their place i guess but if youre on the fence and already have a dipole working id look at the height question first before committing to the radial project