[TowerTalk] Measuring Coax Loss

[jimlux]

> How many measurements of coax loas have you actually made? How did you do it? 
> How did you know that you had good data? At some point, you've got to know 
> exactly how long that piece of coax is. RG8 is big and heavy, so unspooling 
> enough of it to get a good measurement isn't always easy. You've got to deal 
> with the length of cable sample you can get.

This is why the measurement with the network analyzer (or one port 
analyzer) is interesting...it can "measure the length" as well as the 
loss.  (well, the electrical length.. I don't know if you can figure out 
the epsilon or the propagation velocity purely with a network analyzer 
and no tape measure...)