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

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1. - E0A09

Which insulating material commonly used as a thermal conductor for some types of electronic devices is extremely toxic if broken or crushed and the particles are accidentally inhaled?

Select	Answer
A	Uranium Hexafluoride
B	Beryllium Oxide
C	Zinc oxide
D	Mica

2. - E1A13

Who must be in physical control of the station apparatus of an amateur station aboard any vessel or craft that is documented or registered in the United States?

Select	Answer
A	Any person named in an amateur station license grant or a person holding an unrestricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit
B	Only a person named in an amateur station license grant
C	Only a person with an FCC Marine Radio license grant
D	Any person holding an FCC issued amateur license or who is authorized for alien reciprocal operation

3. - E1B12

What must the control operator of a repeater operating in the 70 cm band do if a radiolocation system experiences interference from that repeater?

Select	Answer
A	Cease operation or make changes to the repeater to mitigate the interference
B	All these choices are correct
C	Reduce the repeater antenna HAAT (Height Above Average Terrain)
D	File an FAA NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) with the repeater system's ERP, call sign, and six-character grid locator

4. - E1C03

How do the control operator responsibilities of a station under automatic control differ from one under local control?

Select	Answer
A	Under automatic control there is no control operator
B	Under local control a control operator is not required to be present at a control point
C	Under local control there is no control operator
D	Under automatic control the control operator is not required to be present at the control point

5. - E1D07

Which HF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

Select	Answer
A	Only the 40, 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10 meter bands
B	All HF bands
C	Only the 40, 20, 17, 15, and 10 meter bands
D	Only the 40, 30, 20, 15, 12, and 10 meter bands

6. - E1E09

What may be the penalty for a VE who fraudulently administers or certifies an examination?

Select	Answer
A	A fine of up to $1000 per occurrence
B	Revocation of the VE's amateur station license grant and the suspension of the VE's amateur operator license grant
C	A sentence of up to one year in prison
D	All these choices are correct

7. - E1F10

Who may be the control operator of an auxiliary station?

Select	Answer
A	Any licensed amateur operator
B	Only Technician, General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators
C	Only General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators
D	Only Amateur Extra Class operators

8. - E2A04

What is meant by the term mode? as applied to an amateur radio satellite?

Select	Answer
A	The satellite's orientation with respect to the Earth
B	Whether the satellite is in a polar or equatorial orbit
C	The satellite's uplink and downlink frequency bands
D	Whether the satellite is in a low earth or geostationary orbit

9. - E2B02

How many horizontal lines make up a fast-scan (NTSC) television frame?

Select	Answer
A	525
B	60
C	1080
D	30

10. - E2C08

Which of the following contacts may be confirmed through the U.S. QSL bureau system?

Select	Answer
A	Repeater contacts between U.S. club members
B	Contacts between a U.S. station and a non-U.S. station
C	Contacts using tactical call signs
D	Special event contacts between stations in the U.S.

11. - E2D07

What digital protocol is used by APRS?

Select	Answer
A	802.11
B	AMTOR
C	PACTOR
D	AX.25

12. - E2E03

How is the timing of FT4 contacts organized?

Select	Answer
A	Stations take turns on alternate days
B	It depends on the lunar phase
C	Alternating transmissions at 7.5 second intervals
D	By exchanging ACK/NAK packets

13. - E3A01

What is the approximate maximum separation measured along the surface of the Earth between two stations communicating by EME?

Select	Answer
A	2000 miles, if the moon is at apogee
B	500 miles, if the moon is at perigee
C	12,000 miles, if the moon is visible by both stations
D	5000 miles, if the moon is at perigee

14. - E3B09

At what time of year is sporadic E propagation most likely to occur?

Select	Answer
A	Around the solstices, especially the summer solstice
B	Around the equinoxes, especially the fall equinox
C	Around the equinoxes, especially the spring equinox
D	Around the solstices, especially the winter solstice

15. - E3C09

How does the intensity of an X3 flare compare to that of an X2 flare?

Select	Answer
A	Four times as great
B	Twice as great
C	50 percent greater
D	10 percent greater

16. - E4A06

What is the effect of aliasing on a digital oscilloscope caused by setting the time base too slow?

Select	Answer
A	Calibration of the vertical scale is no longer valid
B	A false, jittery low-frequency version of the signal is displayed
C	All signals will have a DC offset
D	Excessive blanking occurs, which prevents display of the signal

17. - E4B06

How much power is being absorbed by the load when a directional power meter connected between a transmitter and a terminating load reads 100 watts forward power and 25 watts reflected power?

Select	Answer
A	125 watts
B	25 watts
C	100 watts
D	75 watts

18. - E4C05

What does a receiver noise floor of -174 dBm represent?

Select	Answer
A	The galactic noise contribution to minimum detectable signal
B	The minimum detectable signal as a function of receive frequency
C	The theoretical noise in a 1 Hz bandwidth at the input of a perfect receiver at room temperature
D	The noise figure of a 1 Hz bandwidth receiver

19. - E4D11

Why are odd-order intermodulation products, created within a receiver, of particular interest compared to other products?

Select	Answer
A	Odd-order products are an indication of poor image rejection
B	Odd-order intermodulation produces three products for every input signal within the band of interest
C	Odd-order products of two signals in the band of interest are also likely to be within the band
D	Odd-order products overload the IF filters

20. - E4E07

Which of the following can cause shielded cables to radiate or receive interference?

Select	Answer
A	Tying all ground connections to a common point resulting in differential-mode currents in the shield
B	Common-mode currents on the shield and conductors
C	Low inductance ground connections at both ends of the shield
D	Use of braided shielding material

21. - E5A16

What is the resonant frequency of an RLC circuit if R is 33 ohms, L is 50 microhenries and C is 10 picofarads?

Select	Answer
A	7.12 kHz
B	7.12 MHz
C	23.5 MHz
D	23.5 kHz

22. - E5B12

What is admittance?

Select	Answer
A	The inverse of impedance
B	The inverse of Q factor
C	The term for the gain of a field effect transistor
D	The turns ratio of a transformer

23. - E5C02

How are impedances described in polar coordinates?

Select	Answer
A	By real and imaginary parts
B	By X and R values
C	By Y and G values
D	By phase angle and magnitude

24. - E5D10

How can the true power be determined in an AC circuit where the voltage and current are out of phase?

Select	Answer
A	By dividing the reactive power by the power factor
B	By multiplying the apparent power by the power factor
C	By multiplying the reactive power by the power factor
D	By dividing the apparent power by the power factor

25. - E6A12

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

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

26. - E6B05

What characteristic of a PIN diode makes it useful as an RF switch?

Select	Answer
A	Ability to dissipate large amounts of power
B	Low junction capacitance
C	Extremely high reverse breakdown voltage
D	Reverse bias controls its forward voltage drop

27. - E6C07

What best describes a pull-up or pull-down resistor?

Select	Answer
A	A resistor that ensures that an oscillator frequency does not drift
B	A resistor in a keying circuit used to reduce key clicks
C	A resistor connected to the positive or negative supply line used to establish a voltage when an input or output is an open circuit
D	A resistor connected to an op-amp output that prevents signals from exceeding the power supply voltage

28. - E6D04

Which materials are commonly used as a core in an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Cobalt and aluminum
B	Teflon and Delrin
C	Ferrite and brass
D	Polystyrene and polyethylene

29. - E6E04

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

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

30. - E6F02

What happens to the conductivity of a photoconductive material when light shines on it?

Select	Answer
A	It decreases
B	It becomes unstable
C	It stays the same
D	It increases

31. - E7A11

What type of logic defines "1" as a high voltage?

Select	Answer
A	Negative logic
B	Positive Logic
C	Assertive Logic
D	Reverse Logic

32. - E7B02

What is a Class D amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	A type of amplifier that uses switching technology to achieve high efficiency
B	A low power amplifier that uses a differential amplifier for improved linearity
C	A frequency doubling amplifier
D	An amplifier that uses drift-mode FETs for high efficiency

33. - E7C01

How are the capacitors and inductors of a low-pass filter Pi-network arranged between the network's input and output?

Select	Answer
A	An inductor is connected between the input and ground, another inductor is connected between the output and ground, and a capacitor is connected between the input and output
B	Two capacitors are in series between the input and output, and an inductor is connected between the two capacitors and ground
C	Two inductors are in series between the input and output, and a capacitor is connected between the two inductors and ground
D	A capacitor is connected between the input and ground, another capacitor is connected between the output and ground, and an inductor is connected between input and output

34. - E7D04

Which of the following types of linear voltage regulator usually make the most efficient use of the primary power source?

Select	Answer
A	A series current source
B	A shunt regulator
C	A series regulator
D	A shunt current source

35. - E7E04

What is one way a single-sideband phone signal can be generated?

Select	Answer
A	By driving a product detector with a DSB signal
B	By using a balanced modulator followed by a filter
C	By using a loop modulator followed by a mixer
D	By using a reactance modulator followed by a mixer

36. - E7F05

How frequently must an analog signal be sampled by an analog-to-digital converter so that the signal can be accurately reproduced?

Select	Answer
A	At least half the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal
B	At least twice the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal
C	At the same rate as the highest frequency component of the signal
D	At four times the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal

37. - E7G08

How does the gain of an ideal operational amplifier vary with frequency?

Select	Answer
A	It increases linearly with increasing frequency
B	It decreases linearly with increasing frequency
C	It does not vary with frequency
D	It decreases logarithmically with increasing frequency

38. - E7H13

Which of the following is a technique for providing highly accurate and stable oscillators needed for microwave transmission and reception?

Select	Answer
A	Use a rubidium stabilized reference oscillator
B	Use a GPS signal reference
C	All these choices are correct
D	Use a temperature-controlled high Q dielectric resonator

39. - E8A09

How many different input levels can be encoded by an analog-to-digital converter with 8-bit resolution?

Select	Answer
A	256 divided by the gain of the input amplifier
B	8
C	256
D	8 multiplied by the gain of the input amplifier

40. - E8B08

What describes Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing?

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

41. - E8C03

Why should phase-shifting of a PSK signal be done at the zero crossing of the RF signal?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	To minimize bandwidth
C	To improve carrier suppression
D	To simplify modulation

42. - E8D05

What is the most common method of reducing key clicks?

Select	Answer
A	Reduce keying waveform rise and fall times
B	High-pass filters at the transmitter output
C	Increase keying waveform rise and fall times
D	Low-pass filters at the transmitter output

43. - E9A03

What is the radiation resistance of an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	The resistance in the atmosphere that an antenna must overcome to be able to radiate a signal
B	The specific impedance of the antenna
C	The combined losses of the antenna elements and feed line
D	The value of a resistance that would dissipate the same amount of power as that radiated from an antenna

44. - E9B01

In the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-1, what is the beamwidth?

Select	Answer
A	50 degrees
B	75 degrees
C	25 degrees
D	30 degrees

45. - E9C02

What is the radiation pattern of two 1/4-wavelength vertical antennas spaced 1/4 wavelength apart and fed 90 degrees out of phase?

Select	Answer
A	A figure-8 broadside to the axis of the array
B	Cardioid
C	Omni-directional
D	A figure-8 end-fire along the axis of the array

46. - E9D02

How can linearly polarized Yagi antennas be used to produce circular polarization?

Select	Answer
A	Arrange two Yagis perpendicular to each other with the driven elements at the same point on the boom fed 90 degrees out of phase
B	Arrange two Yagis collinear to each other with the driven elements fed 180 degrees out of phase
C	Stack two Yagis fed 90 degrees out of phase to form an array with the respective elements in parallel planes
D	Stack two Yagis fed in phase to form an array with the respective elements in parallel planes

47. - E9E07

What parameter describes the interactions at the load end of a mismatched transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	Characteristic impedance
B	Reflection coefficient
C	Dielectric constant
D	Velocity factor

48. - E9F11

What impedance does a 1/8-wavelength transmission line present to a generator when the line is open at the far end?

Select	Answer
A	The same as the characteristic impedance of the line
B	An inductive reactance
C	A capacitive reactance
D	Infinite

49. - E9G07

On the Smith chart shown in Figure E9-3, what is the only straight line shown?

Select	Answer
A	The reactance axis
B	The current axis
C	The voltage axis
D	The resistance axis

50. - E9H01

When constructing a Beverage antenna, which of the following factors should be included in the design to achieve good performance at the desired frequency?

Select	Answer
A	It must be mounted more than 1 wavelength above ground
B	It should be configured as a four-sided loop
C	It should be one or more wavelengths long
D	Its overall length must not exceed 1/4 wavelength

Figure E9-1

Figure E9-3