so ive been running an inverted V for 40m for about two years now, center at maybe 35 feet with the legs sloping down to about 8 feet at the ends. works fine, gets contacts, no real complaints. but i keep reading that a flat-top dipole with the ends at the same height as the center performs noticeably better, lower takeoff angle, more gain broadside, etc. my problem is i only have one decent tall support which is a pine tree in the back yard, so getting the ends up high means either finding two more tall supports or going with a flatter slope

question is whether the real-world difference is actually worth the hassle of rigging up additional supports or if im mostly just reading about a theoretical improvement that wont matter much in practice. the inverted V pattern is more omnidirectional which i kind of like for just working around the country. curious what people who have actually tried both setups think, not just what the modeling says

honestly the difference on 40m is probably not going to blow your mind. the inverted V does have a bit higher takeoff angle and loses maybe a dB or two broadside compared to a flat dipole at the same apex height, but were talking real-world signals here not an anechoic chamber. if you're working DX regularly and chasing that last dB then yeah maybe its worth the effort, but for general domestic use on 40 i wouldnt bother dragging extra lumber around just to flatten it out.

the omnidirectional-ish pattern is actually a legit advantage the way you described using it. flat dipole has more pronounced nulls off the ends and if one of those nulls points at somewhere you care about youll notice it. keep what you got and put the energy into maybe getting that apex up another 5-10 feet if you can, height helps more than geometry at that point

i went through this exact thing last spring. ended up running a temporary flat dipole using two painters poles and some paracord off the end insulators just to compare back to back. the difference on 40 to europe from the midwest was real but not dramatic, maybe stations that were 57 on the inverted V were more consistently 58-59 on the flat one. on 75m i barely noticed anything. wasnt worth the permanent hassle for my situation so im still on the inverted V. your mileage may vary and all that but thats what i found