so ive been going back and forth on this for probably two months now and i cant make up my mind. the situation is i have maybe 60 feet of usable run in the backyard before i hit the fence and my neighbor's shed. the lot is narrow but i do have a decent tree at about 35 feet near the back corner. i was thinking an inverted V hung from that tree would get me on 40m without too much drama, but then i started reading about verticals and now im second guessing everything.

main thing i want to do is work some DX, not just regional stuff. ive heard verticals have a lower takeoff angle which is supposed to be better for that? but also ive heard ground radials are a huge pain and if you dont do them right the vertical just becomes a dummy load basically. the inverted V feels simpler but im worried about the high angle radiation being more of an NVIS thing.

anyone run both and have an actual opinion? not looking for a textbook answer, just what worked for you

ran an inverted V for about three years on 40 before i switched to a vertical with a decent radial field and honestly the difference for DX was noticeable but maybe not as dramatic as the internet makes it sound. the inverted V was pulling in Europe fine most mornings during good conditions, the vertical just did it a little more consistently and with less noise weirdly enough.

the thing people dont tell you about verticals is the radials really do matter a lot. i put down 16 quarter wave radials when i first set it up and it was okay, then i went to 32 and it was better. if youre on a small lot and cant do buried radials, elevated radials at like 6-8 feet can work really well too and you need fewer of them, maybe 4-6. but they have to be resonant. anyway if i was in your situation with that 35 foot tree id probably just hang the inverted V and call it good, 35 feet is a respectable height for 40m and itll work a lot better than people give it credit for.

i went vertical because i had the same space problem and dont regret it but man the ground radials were a whole weekend project. ended up with 24 radials just sort of scattered around the yard under the grass, wife was not thrilled during the installation phase lol. does it work though yeah it does. worked JA twice last winter on 40 with 100w so cant complain too much