Good day to all. I'm building some new antenna cables from a super-flex equivalent to=20 LMR-240 coax cable. This is exactly the same size as RG-59 cable but=20 this particular cable has a stranded core and a polyurethane jacket. Prior to installing the crimp BNC connectors, I slide a Pomona 5515-0=20 rubber boot onto the cable. I then slide the boot over top of the=20 connector's ferrule after its been crimped. These Pomona 5515 rubber boots are intended for use on RG-58=20 cable. They are a tight fit on this cable but, by lubing them up=20 with Hellerene lubricant (intended for Hellermann neoprene insulating=20 sleeves), they usually go on the cable with no problem. Most cable, that is. No problem with real LMR-240 cable and the=20 clone cable that I normally use (DBRF-240, FLL-240), all of which has=20 a solid core and polyethylene jacket. But this super-flex cable is just too, well, flexible. Its not rigid=20 enough for me to twist and push the rubber boot on, no matter how=20 much lube I use. I've been faking it by using a beefy pair of long-nose pliers to=20 expand the boot just before I slide it onto the cable. But the=20 pliers don't go into the boot far enough to be completely=20 effective. I do both ends of the boot but the middle portion is=20 still too small to slide easily onto this super-flex cable. What I'm looking for is some method of easily expanding these boots=20 long enough to get them onto the cable. They can then retract to=20 their normal diameter and not cause me any grief. My first thought was to grab two pieces of 0.20" drill-rod and grind=20 an flat taper over a 3" length on each. Insert one piece in each end=20 of the boot, then use a press to slide the tapers past each other and=20 thus expand the boot. Couple of problems with this approach: 1) Its probably gonna be hard to pull the drill rods back out of the=20 boot. I can see myself clamping one end of one of the rods in a=20 bench vise, then levering the boot off of the rod. But: it will probably w= ork. 2) Its not portable for field work. The rods themselves are=20 certainly tiny and easy to toss into a tool-kit, but I can't see=20 myself packing my hydraulic press to job-sites. Not the bench vise, either= .. What I'd love to find is something that uses a screw to pull a wedge=20 through the boot. It would be child's play to chuck the screw into a=20 battery drill. But I can't quite envision the whole thing. So: PIClist to the rescue, I h= ope. Anyone have any ideas? Many thanks! dwayne --=20 Dwayne Reid Trinity Electronics Systems Ltd Edmonton, AB, CANADA (780) 489-3199 voice (780) 487-6397 fax www.trinity-electronics.com Custom Electronics Design and Manufacturing --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .