Automatization of short-circuited line method for dielectric characterization using a network analizer

The short-circuited line method or Roberts-Von Hipple's method for dielectric characterization is usually not found on the bibliography, maybe due to its implementation requires the resolution of a transcendental equation on the complex plane that yields infinite solutions being then necessary to suppress the ambiguity. In this paper, this technique is automated using a vectorial network analyzer HP8719D. The data have been acquired through an interface HP-IB and their treatment and representation has been carried out using HTBasic.