so ive been running an inverted V for 40m for a couple years now, center fed with the apex around 35 feet and the legs drooping down at maybe 120 degrees or so. works fine, no complaints really, but i keep reading that a flat top dipole is supposed to be noticeably better and i'm wondering if anyone has actually done a direct comparison or if its mostly theoretical.

the problem is my yard situation makes a flat top kind of a pain — i'd need to get both ends up to at least 30 feet and theres really only one tree that cooperates, the other side would need a mast of some kind. just trying to figure out if the gain difference is actually meaningful on the air or if im chasing a small number on paper and wouldnt notice it in practice.

running about 100w into an lc tuner, mostly rag chewing on 40 and sometimes 80 if i use it as a loading coil situation. any real world input appreciated

honestly the difference is pretty marginal at those heights, especially if your inverted V apex is already decent. the flat top picks up maybe a db or two broadside and the radiation angle is a bit lower which helps for dx, but if youre mostly doing domestic rag chews on 40 you probably wont notice much. ive had both setups at various points and the flat top felt a little punchier but i couldnt swear to it being the antenna vs just band conditions that day.

the real argument for flat top is if you can get it significantly higher than the apex of your V — like if your V is at 35 feet and you could do a flat top at 50 feet, then yeah its worth it. but swapping one 35 foot configuration for another 35 foot configuration, the math just doesnt favor making your life complicated over it. id save the energy for getting more height if thats ever an option.

I went through this exact thing last spring. ended up building a simple painters pole mast on the far end and it works ok but the inverted V was honestly fine. the main thing I noticed going flat was 80m seemed to open up a bit more consistently, 40 i couldnt really tell a difference with my ears. take that for what its worth, im not running any fancy measurement gear just a swr meter and opinions