so ive been going back and forth on this for a couple weeks now and i cant decide. currently running a 40m dipole up about 25 feet in an inverted V config, fed with coax, works okay but i feel like im leaving something on the table especially for DX. a buddy of mine keeps telling me to just put up a vertical with a decent radial field and call it a day.

the thing is i have a pretty small lot, maybe 60x80 feet, so the dipole is kind of crammed in there at an angle. its not ideal. ive read a bunch of conflicting stuff about verticals having better low angle radiation which sounds great on paper but then you also need all those radials or elevated radials and suddenly its not as simple as people make it sound.

anybody run both and actually compared them on 40? not looking for the textbook answer, just what you guys actually experienced on the air. is it worth tearing down the dipole or should i try to get it higher somehow first

ran both for a couple years, had a fan dipole up at 35 feet and then put up a Hustler 6BTV with about 32 radials on the ground. honest answer is the vertical killed it for DX, especially long path stuff early morning. but the dipole was way quieter on receive, like noticeably less noise floor. the vertical picks up every piece of line noise within half a mile it seems like.

at 25 feet your inverted V is probably pretty high angle radiation anyway so yeah you're not gonna punch into europe or japan as well. if you can get it up to 40-45 feet you'd see a real difference. but if the lot is cramped a vertical with even 16-20 elevated radials at like 6-8 feet up can do really well. don't let people scare you with the "you need 120 radials" thing, that's for ground mounted with buried radials. elevated system with 4-8 good radials works surprisingly well on 40.

honestly the answer is just put up both and use a switch lol. i know that sounds like a non answer but seriously, the times when the vertical is better you'll be glad you have it and same for the dipole. i run a trapped vertical and a wire dipole for 40/80 and depending on band conditions and where im trying to work one always seems to be doing better than the other. the antenna switch was like 40 bucks and best money i spent.