US Amateur Radio - Amateur Extra (Element 4, 2020-2024) Practice Test

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1. - E0A10

What toxic material may be present in some electronic components such as high voltage capacitors and transformers?

Select	Answer
A	Polychlorinated biphenyls
B	Polyethylene
C	Polytetrafluoroethylene
D	Polymorphic silicon

2. - E1A01

Which of the following carrier frequencies is illegal for LSB AFSK emissions on the 17 meter band RTTY and data segment of 18.068 to 18.110 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	18.110 MHz
B	18.107 MHz
C	18.068 MHz
D	18.100 MHz

3. - E1B04

What must be done before placing an amateur station within an officially designated wilderness area or wildlife preserve, or an area listed in the National Register of Historic Places?

Select	Answer
A	A form FSD-15 must be submitted to the Department of the Interior
B	A proposal must be submitted to the National Park Service
C	An Environmental Assessment must be submitted to the FCC
D	A letter of intent must be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency

4. - E1C09

What is the highest modulation index permitted at the highest modulation frequency for angle modulation below 29.0 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	2.0
B	0.5
C	3.0
D	1.0

5. - E1D04

Which of the following is required in the identification transmissions from a balloon-borne telemetry station?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	The station's six-character Maidenhead grid locator
C	The output power of the balloon transmitter
D	Call sign

6. - E1E07

What should a VE do if a candidate fails to comply with the examiner's instructions during an amateur operator license examination?

Select	Answer
A	Immediately terminate the candidate's examination
B	Warn the candidate that continued failure to comply will result in termination of the examination
C	Immediately terminate everyone's examination and close the session
D	Allow the candidate to complete the examination, but invalidate the results

7. - E1F11

Which of the following best describes one of the standards that must be met by an external RF power amplifier if it is to qualify for a grant of FCC certification?

Select	Answer
A	It must exhibit a gain of 0 dB or less over its full output range
B	It must produce full legal output when driven by not more than 5 watts of mean RF input power
C	It must be capable of external RF switching between its input and output networks
D	It must satisfy the FCC's spurious emission standards when operated at the lesser of 1500 watts or its full output power

8. - E2A12

What is the purpose of digital store-and-forward functions on an amateur radio satellite?

Select	Answer
A	To relay messages between satellites
B	To delay download of telemetry between satellites
C	To upload operational software for the transponder
D	To store digital messages in the satellite for later download by other stations

9. - E2B08

What technique allows commercial analog TV receivers to be used for fast-scan TV operations on the 70 cm band?

Select	Answer
A	Using converted satellite TV dishes
B	Transmitting on the abandoned TV channel 2
C	Using USB and demodulating the signal with a computer sound card
D	Transmitting on channels shared with cable TV

10. - E2C02

Which of the following best describes the term self-spotting? in connection with HF contest operating?

Select	Answer
A	An automatic method for rapidly zero beating or tuning to a station's frequency before calling that station
B	The often-prohibited practice of posting one's own call sign and frequency on a spotting network
C	The acceptable practice of manually posting the call signs of stations on a spotting network
D	A manual technique for rapidly zero beating or tuning to a station's frequency before calling that station

11. - E2D01

Which of the following digital modes is designed for meteor scatter communications?

Select	Answer
A	Hellschreiber
B	APRS
C	MSK144
D	WSPR

12. - E2E02

What do the letters FEC mean as they relate to digital operation?

Select	Answer
A	Final Error Correction
B	Forward Error Correction
C	Fatal Error Correction
D	First Error Correction

13. - E3A10

Which type of atmospheric structure can create a path for microwave propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Dust devil
B	Wind shear
C	The jet stream
D	Temperature inversion

14. - E3B11

At what time of day can sporadic E propagation occur?

Select	Answer
A	Only around sunset and sunrise
B	Any time
C	Only in hours of darkness
D	Only around sunset

15. - E3C13

What type of polarization is best for ground-wave propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Vertical
B	Horizontal
C	Elliptical
D	Circular

16. - E4A11

How should an antenna analyzer be connected when measuring antenna resonance and feed point impedance?

Select	Answer
A	Loosely couple the analyzer near the antenna base
B	Connect the antenna feed line directly to the analyzer's connector
C	Connect the analyzer via a high-impedance transformer to the antenna
D	Loosely couple the antenna and a dummy load to the analyzer

17. - E4B07

What do the subscripts of S parameters represent?

Select	Answer
A	Frequency order of the measurements
B	The relative time between measurements
C	Relative quality of the data
D	The port or ports at which measurements are made

18. - E4C09

Which of the following choices is a good reason for selecting a high frequency for the design of the IF in a superheterodyne HF or VHF communications receiver?

Select	Answer
A	Improved receiver noise figure
B	Reduced drift
C	Fewer components in the receiver
D	Easier for front-end circuitry to eliminate image responses

19. - E4D06

What is the term for spurious signals generated by the combination of two or more signals in a non-linear device or circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Neutralization
B	Adjacent channel interference
C	Amplifier desensitization
D	Intermodulation

20. - E4E11

What could cause local AM broadcast band signals to combine to generate spurious signals in the MF or HF bands?

Select	Answer
A	You are receiving skywave signals from a distant station
B	Nearby corroded metal joints are mixing and re-radiating the broadcast signals
C	Your station receiver IF amplifier stage is defective
D	One or more of the broadcast stations is transmitting an over-modulated signal

21. - E5A12

What is the half-power bandwidth of a resonant circuit that has a resonant frequency of 3.7 MHz and a Q of 118?

Select	Answer
A	436.6 kHz
B	218.3 kHz
C	15.7 kHz
D	31.4 kHz

22. - E5B08

What is the phase angle between the voltage across and the current through a series RLC circuit if XC is 100 ohms, R is 100 ohms, and XL is 75 ohms?

Select	Answer
A	14 degrees with the voltage leading the current
B	14 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
C	76 degrees with the voltage leading the current
D	76 degrees with the voltage lagging the current

23. - E5C09

When using rectangular coordinates to graph the impedance of a circuit, what do the axes represent?

Select	Answer
A	The X axis represents the reactive component and the Y axis represents the resistive component
B	The X axis represents the phase angle and the Y axis represents the magnitude
C	The X axis represents the resistive component and the Y axis represents the reactive component
D	The X axis represents the magnitude and the Y axis represents the phase angle

24. - E5D06

In what direction is the magnetic field oriented about a conductor in relation to the direction of electron flow?

Select	Answer
A	In all directions; omni-directional
B	In a circle around the conductor
C	In the same direction as the current
D	In a direction opposite to the current

25. - E6A12

Why do many MOSFET devices have internally connected Zener diodes on the gates?

Select	Answer
A	To protect the substrate from excessive voltages
B	To provide a voltage reference for the correct amount of reverse-bias gate voltage
C	To keep the gate voltage within specifications and prevent the device from overheating
D	To reduce the chance of static damage to the gate

26. - E6B01

What is the most useful characteristic of a Zener diode?

Select	Answer
A	A constant current drop under conditions of varying voltage
B	An internal capacitance that varies with the applied voltage
C	A constant voltage drop under conditions of varying current
D	A negative resistance region

27. - E6C10

In Figure E6-3, what is the schematic symbol for a NOR gate?

Select	Answer
A	4
B	2
C	3
D	1

28. - E6D11

Which type of core material decreases inductance when inserted into a coil?

Select	Answer
A	Powdered iron
B	Ceramic
C	Ferrite
D	Brass

29. - E6E04

Which is the most common input and output impedance of circuits that use MMICs?

Select	Answer
A	450 ohms
B	50 ohms
C	10 ohms
D	300 ohms

30. - E6F11

What is the approximate open-circuit voltage produced by a fully illuminated silicon photovoltaic cell?

Select	Answer
A	0.5 V
B	1.5 V
C	0.1 V
D	12 V

31. - E7A08

What logical operation does an OR gate perform?

Select	Answer
A	It produces logic 1 at its output if all inputs are logic 0
B	It only produces logic 0 at its output when all inputs are logic 1
C	It produces logic 0 at its output if all inputs are logic 1
D	It produces logic 1 at its output if any or all inputs are logic 1

32. - E7B03

Which of the following components form the output of a class D amplifier circuit?

Select	Answer
A	A high-pass filter to compensate for low gain at low frequencies
B	A matched load resistor to prevent damage by switching transients
C	A low-pass filter to remove switching signal components
D	A temperature compensating load resistor to improve linearity

33. - E7C05

Which filter type is described as having ripple in the passband and a sharp cutoff?

Select	Answer
A	An active LC filter
B	A Butterworth filter
C	A Chebyshev filter
D	A passive op-amp filter

34. - E7D06

What is the purpose of Q1 in the circuit shown in Figure E7-2?

Select	Answer
A	It controls the current supplied to the load
B	It provides D1 with current
C	It provides negative feedback to improve regulation
D	It provides a constant load for the voltage source

35. - E7E03

What is a frequency discriminator stage in a FM receiver?

Select	Answer
A	An FM generator circuit
B	A circuit for detecting FM signals
C	An automatic band-switching circuit
D	A circuit for filtering two closely adjacent signals

36. - E7F02

What kind of digital signal processing audio filter is used to remove unwanted noise from a received SSB signal?

Select	Answer
A	A Hilbert-transform filter
B	A crystal-lattice filter
C	An adaptive filter
D	A phase-inverting filter

37. - E7G11

What absolute voltage gain can be expected from the circuit in Figure E7-3 when R1 is 3300 ohms and RF is 47 kilohms?

Select	Answer
A	0.07
B	14
C	28
D	7

38. - E7H04

How is positive feedback supplied in a Colpitts oscillator?

Select	Answer
A	Through a capacitive divider
B	Through link coupling
C	Through a tapped coil
D	Through a neutralizing capacitor

39. - E8A06

What is the approximate ratio of PEP-to-average power in a typical single-sideband phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	2.5 to 1
B	1 to 1
C	25 to 1
D	100 to 1

40. - E8B08

What describes Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	A frequency modulation technique that uses non-harmonically related frequencies
B	A digital mode for narrow-band, slow-speed transmissions
C	A bandwidth compression technique using Fourier transforms
D	A digital modulation technique using subcarriers at frequencies chosen to avoid intersymbol interference

41. - E8C12

What factors affect the bandwidth of a transmitted CW signal?

Select	Answer
A	Keying speed and shape factor (rise and fall time)
B	Modulation index and output power
C	IF bandwidth and Q
D	All these choices are correct

42. - E8D02

What spread spectrum communications technique uses a high-speed binary bit stream to shift the phase of an RF carrier?

Select	Answer
A	Binary phase-shift keying
B	Frequency hopping
C	Phase compandored spread spectrum
D	Direct sequence

43. - E9A11

Which of the following factors determines ground losses for a ground-mounted vertical antenna operating in the 3 MHz to 30 MHz range?

Select	Answer
A	Soil conductivity
B	Take-off angle
C	Distance from the transmitter
D	The standing wave ratio

44. - E9B11

What is a disadvantage of decreasing the number of wire segments in an antenna model below 10 segments per half-wavelength?

Select	Answer
A	The resulting design will favor radiation of harmonic energy
B	The computed feed point impedance may be incorrect
C	Ground conductivity will not be accurately modeled
D	The antenna will become mechanically unstable

45. - E9C09

Which of the following describes a G5RV antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A phased array antenna consisting of multiple loops
B	A wide band dipole using shorted coaxial cable for the radiating elements and fed with a�4:1 balun
C	A multi-band dipole antenna fed with coax and a balun through a selected length of open wire transmission line
D	A multi-band trap antenna

46. - E9D06

What happens to the SWR bandwidth when one or more loading coils are used to resonate an electrically short antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It is unchanged if the loading coil is located at the feed point
B	It is increased
C	It is unchanged if the loading coil is located at a voltage maximum point
D	It is decreased

47. - E9E02

What is the name of an antenna matching system that matches an unbalanced feed line to an antenna by feeding the driven element both at the center of the element and at a fraction of a wavelength to one side of center?

Select	Answer
A	The epsilon match
B	The stub match
C	The gamma match
D	The delta match

48. - E9F02

Which of the following has the biggest effect on the velocity factor of a transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	Dielectric materials used in the line
B	The center conductor resistivity
C	The termination impedance
D	The line length

49. - E9G04

What are the two families of circles and arcs that make up a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Voltage and impedance
B	Resistance and voltage
C	Reactance and voltage
D	Resistance and reactance

50. - E9H02

Which is generally true for low band (160 meter and 80 meter) receiving antennas?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	They must be erected at least 1/2 wavelength above the ground to attain good directivity
C	Low loss coax transmission line is essential for good performance
D	Atmospheric noise is so high that gain over a dipole is not important

Figure E6-3

Figure E7-2

Figure E7-3