I disassembled my CT-3 trap (20/30 meters) and found absolutely nothing
wrong with it, no carbon, no wetness, no burns and electrically
connected wires. However, is there supposed to be a capacitor in
there, (this is the older one), just the plastic coil forms with the
two rods and properly riveted wire ends. Is the capacitor formed by
the spacing of the two inner tubes. I replaced the trap with the newer
version (I think - no center dimples, but black screws in the center).
Cushcraft tech support states the traps were redesigned and are not
interchangable unless you change CT-2 also, and change the spacing
between the traps. (so why didn't they rename them (CT-3R), so now that
I put the new trap in place, I still cannot transmit on 20, 30, or 40
meters (infinite SWR on built in tuner. Of coursec the spacing between
the traps changed, due to the redesign, so I guess I'll have to lower
the antenna down again and reinstall the original trap. If not the
trap, then is there anything band specific in the matching network?