so ive been running a flat top dipole for 40m for a couple years now, center fed with 450 ohm ladder line into a tuner, and it works fine but im trying to figure out if theres any real world benefit to drooping the ends down into an inverted V configuration. my supports are pretty good, got a 35ft fiberglass mast in the middle and two trees on either side but the trees arent perfectly placed so the flat top always ends up a little saggy in the middle anyway.

the reason im even thinking about this is i helped a buddy put up an inverted V for 40m last weekend and his SWR was way better across the band without a tuner than mine ever has been, and he only has a 30ft support. i know the inverted V has a slightly lower feedpoint impedance so that probably explains some of it but his signal reports on 40 have been comparable to mine on most paths which surprised me honestly. was expecting the lower angle lobes to favor my flat top more.

anyone actually done a real comparison or is this one of those things where its like 3db either way and nobody can hear the difference in practice

the impedance thing is real, inverted V at around 90 degree included angle comes in closer to 50 ohms so if your feeding it with coax its just easier to deal with. the radiation pattern difference between the two is honestly pretty small at typical backyard heights, both are NVIS-ish on 40m unless your apex is way up there like 60-70ft or more. at 35ft your flat top isnt exactly punching out low angle DX either so the practical difference between the two is probably in your head a little.

the sag issue on a flat top is annoying though. ive fought that for years. inverted V actually handles wind loading better in my experience because the ends can move more freely without stressing the center insulator. that alone might be reason enough to switch if your current setup is always pulling weird on the feedpoint.

yeah i went through this exact thing last year, switched from flat top to inverted V on 80m and the only thing i really noticed was it was easier to put up lol. signal wise couldnt tell a difference and i was going back and forth checking with a buddy about 200 miles out. he said same either way. i think for most of us the antenna height matters way more than the shape of the dipole honestly