so ive had this gap titan vertical up for about three years now and honestly im just tired of fighting it. the thing needs a really good ground system to perform well and my yard situation just doesnt allow for a proper radial field, i've got maybe 8 radials buried under the lawn and i know thats not enough but the wife would kill me if i dug up more of the garden. performance on 40 and 80 has always felt mediocre at best, like im always 2-3 S units down compared to what guys in the pileup are hearing from other stations in my general area.

anyway im thinking about just pulling it down and throwing up a simple wire dipole for 40m, maybe sloped or inverted vee since i only have one decent support which is a big oak tree at about 45 feet. i know a proper dipole will smoke the vertical on receive at least, but im wondering about the radiation angle difference for DX. with only one support im probably doing an inverted vee and i've read the angle opens up a bit compared to a flat top dipole which hurts you on DX. how much does that actually matter in the real world, like is it noticeable or just a theoretical concern that doesnt really play out on the air.

also thought about a fan dipole to cover multiple bands but ive never built one and not sure if the interactions between the elements cause problems or if its pretty forgiving. anyone running one of those off a single feedpoint with good results

the inverted vee angle thing is real but probably not as dramatic as you're worried about. i ran one for years at about 40 feet apex and was still working europe pretty consistently on 40m during good conditions. the pattern broadens out which actually helps in some ways, less of a sharp null off the ends. the bigger issue with an inverted vee at 45 feet is that on 40m your apex is only a bit over a third wavelength high which isnt ideal but its workable.

fan dipoles are pretty forgiving honestly. ive built a few and as long as you spread the elements out at least 30 degrees or so from each other the interaction is manageable. youll likely need to trim each element individually because they do affect each other a little, but nothing terrible. just do it methodically, tune the highest frequency element first then work your way down. feed it all with a 1:1 choke balun and youre good. compared to your vertical situation it'll be a noticeable improvement on receive for sure, that much i can almost guarantee.

i had almost the exact same setup as you, gap vertical with not enough radials, and switched to an inverted vee last fall. honestly dont miss the vertical at all. the noise floor on receive dropped noticeably and even though im probably not as loud on 40m DX as a well-setup vertical with a big radial field would be, im way louder than i was with mine. real world is what counts and a mediocre vertical vs a decent dipole, dipole wins for most people with compromised lots i think.