The reason cable/signal loss is important is because in the USA the FCC regulations state "Maximum Power from Intentional Radiator is 1 Watt". The FCC terminology of Intentional Radiator is the transmitter power of the wireless equipment, such as a wireless access point, router or bridge. Your VHF and ham radio can transmit at much higher power and therfore any signal loss in the coax cable is overcome by high power output of the device unlike WiFi. It is very important to keep the length of coax to a minimum. This also has nothing to do with whether you use a "bridge" type device or a USB device. Just keep the coax short or you will loose signal strength.