so ive been running an inverted V for 40m for a couple years now, apex at about 35 feet off a push up mast, ends drooping down to maybe 8 feet off the ground on each side. works fine, i get out, no complaints really. but i keep reading that a flat top dipole is supposed to be better and i'm starting to wonder if i'm leaving performance on the table.

the thing is my yard isnt huge and getting a flat top up at any decent height would mean either a really tall support in the middle or two supports at maybe 25-30 feet which i dont have. the inverted V at least lets me use one center mast. so is the radiation pattern difference actually noticeable in practice or is this more of a theoretical thing that doesnt matter much in real world conditions. i feel like on 40m especially the angle stuff gets complicated and im not sure the inverted V is as bad as some people make it sound.

anyone actually compared the two back to back with the same feedline same location? or is this one of those things where the answer is always just get more height

honestly the height matters way more than the configuration in my experience. an inverted V at 35 feet is going to outperform a flat top at 20 feet pretty much every time. the pattern difference is real — flat top has more low angle radiation which helps for dx, inverted V is a bit more high angle so it can actually be better for regional stuff on 40m depending on what you're trying to do. but were talking maybe a few db difference in specific directions, not night and day.

i ran both for a while when i had a temporary second support up, did some back to back comparisons on 40 during a few evenings. flat top was maybe marginally better into europe from my qth but it wasnt like the inverted V was embarassing itself. if the inverted V is working for you and raising it higher isnt in the cards, i wouldnt lose sleep over it. get the apex as high as you possibly can and call it done.

yeah this is basically the answer is always get more height lol. im in the same boat, inverted V at about 40 feet and i work dx on 40 just fine. worked a bunch of pacific stuff last winter so it cant be that bad. the other thing nobody mentions is the inverted V is way easier to deal with when a storm comes through — i can drop the whole thing in like 10 minutes and the flat top situation with two tall supports sounds like a pain.