A de-icing apparatus for a flexible conductor, for example a suspended power line, is supported for longitudinal displacement along the conductor. The system then employs the characterizations as the basis for rudimentary image editing operations so as to produce a digital document. The protocols defined herein take advantage of the intrinsic features of the human ear anatomy and the geometry of the electronic components to ensure that design and manufacturing of ITEs are optimized for efficiency and the process can be completely automated to ensure consistence and practice reproducibility. The second output of one element is used as a reference signal, with the second output from the remaining elements routed to a switch. The tubular nose portion is exteriorly threaded to accept a lock nut or resilient locking ring for securing the connector to a panel or junction box and for properly grounding the cable to the panel or box.