If you can't hear them, you can't work them ! I worked 45 "zone 3" stations during the contest, despite the reported "bad conditions". Here are a few of them. A few QSO's are pretty much like EME ! A special mention to our friend Dick W7ZR from Arizona, met last march in Casablanca. 
A selection of AS and OC QSO's. Here also a few ones are very close from EME qso's (when they were done random on CW !). You may note the difference between the NNE beverage and the ENE one on the QSO with VK6HD (i switched to the right beverage only at the end of the QSO, when Mike was sending his zone). There is only 30 to 35 degrees AZ between the 2, but it makes quite a difference !
Unfortunately, due to a bad configuration of the MK2R, I recorded only the main radio during the contest. However this recording, made at home using one verticaly and an one horizontally polarized antennas, gives an idea of the benefit which can be expected from the "antenna diversity" in the headphone. Obviously you have to listen it in stereo, and preferably using a headphone.
This audiogram, shows one of the problem I experienced and slowed me down a bit: The 600ms delay between the last transmitted dash and the return of the RX, is defenitely too long, and generated quite a few "prefixes" misses (as you can hear in the following recording). As a security, I just used Joseph's sequencer (which protects the RX and the beverage preamp) on the "PA-PTT" output of the MK2R... I should have looked at this more carefully before the contest ! 10mn of the second hour, with a good rate (>200). As mentionned above, quite a few prefixe repetition requests could have been avoided by optimizing the RX return time... my mistake !
Beyond the QRM made by my compatriots, starting a +170Hz from my freq, the benefit of the diversity receive is illustrated on the QSO's with W1TO and EA4AYD (only the "beverages receiver" is recorded here). Nothing was audible from W1TO before I switched to the NW beverage, but I heard him calling on the delta in my left hear... the same for EA4AYD, who was too QRM on the beverage, but perfectly audible on the transmit antenna.
With Gisele in Saint-Malo one week before the contest. Who said it is always raining in britanny !
After testing the concept last year in the ARRL-DX from home (see http://f6irf.blogspot.com/2006/02/low-cost-2-elements-for-40m.html ) I designed a new antenna, especialy for the ARRL-DX from CN2WW. The terrasse dimensions, limiting us to 8m spacing, I used a director rather than the classical reflector. The drawing shows the 2 beams (40 and 80) using the same supports. Obviously with a such a reduced spacing (0.1 wl), the antenna cannot be designed for z=50 while giving satisfactory performances, but using a UNUN provides a perfect and broadband match, with very low losses (The steppIR uses the same type of broadband matching device). The multi-UNUN based on a W2FMI design and commercialized by CWSbytemark ( http://www.cwsbytemark.com/ ) offers an easy and flexible solution. A second unit allowed the 40 beam to be designed for max gain, with impedance around 36 ohms. The only difference is that the 40m UNUN was placed after a 1/2wl of cable, and not directly at the feed point ( the 40m dipole being on a fiber mast). The following graphs show the performances of the 80m aerial.
The bandwith was the main concern, but as shown by the graphs most of CW-contest band is usable with SWR below 2. Although I have full confidence in computer simulation, the results obtained with this aerial during the ARRL-DX really surprised me. see http://lists.contesting.com/archives//html/3830/2007-02/msg01551.html ). I believe that on top o f the 3.5dBd gain its main quality has been to protect us from the heavy EU-QRM. 
View of the aerials installed at CN2WW, the fiber mast supports the 40m dipole and the 80m director while the tower supports the 40m reflector and the 80m dipole. 
Today I have uploaded the 100,000 QSO, since march 2002 to LOTW. Those include QSO's done with F6IRF, F6IRF/P, TM6A, IS0/F6IRF, FG/F6IRF, UT/F6IRF/P and CN2WW callsigns.
Stew Perry Topband Challenge
Above, the mast, also supporting a 30m dipole, and here the R7 antennaI have been active all week, mostly on 160, 30 and 17m both in CW and digital modes... CN2DX on 160m, recorded fm F6IRF/P (CW and SSB)
