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

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1. - E0A11

Which of the following injuries can result from using high-power UHF or microwave transmitters?

Select	Answer
A	Localized heating of the body from RF exposure in excess of the MPE limits
B	Blood clotting from the intense magnetic field
C	Hearing loss caused by high voltage corona discharge
D	Ingestion of ozone gas from the cooling system

2. - E1A06

Where must the carrier frequency of a CW signal be set to comply with FCC rules for 60 meter operation?

Select	Answer
A	At the center frequency of the channel
B	At the lowest frequency of the channel
C	On any frequency where the signal's sidebands are within the channel
D	At the highest frequency of the channel

3. - E1B07

To what type of regulations does PRB-1 apply?

Select	Answer
A	Homeowners associations
B	FAA tower height limits
C	Use of wireless devices in vehicles
D	State and local zoning

4. - E1C03

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

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

5. - E1D08

Which VHF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

Select	Answer
A	6 meters and 2 meters
B	2 meters and 1.25 meters
C	2 meters
D	6 meters, 2 meters, and 1.25 meters

6. - E1E03

What is a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator?

Select	Answer
A	An organization that has entered into an agreement with the FCC to coordinate, prepare, and administer amateur operator license examinations
B	The person who has entered into an agreement with the FCC to be the VE session manager
C	A person who has volunteered to administer amateur operator license examinations
D	A person who has volunteered to prepare amateur operator license examinations

7. - E1F04

Which of the following geographic descriptions approximately describes "Line A"?

Select	Answer
A	A line roughly parallel to and north of the border between the U.S. and Mexico
B	A line roughly parallel to and west of the U.S. Atlantic coastline
C	A line roughly parallel to and south of the border between the U.S. and Canada
D	A line roughly parallel to and east of the U.S. Pacific coastline

8. - E2A12

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

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

9. - E2B01

How many times per second is a new frame transmitted in a fast-scan (NTSC) television system?

Select	Answer
A	120
B	30
C	90
D	60

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. - E2D10

How can an APRS station be used to help support a public service communications activity?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	An APRS station with a Global Positioning System unit can automatically transmit information to show a mobile station's position during the event
C	APRS stations with General Personnel Scanners can automatically relay the participant numbers and time as they pass the check points
D	An APRS station with an emergency medical technician can automatically transmit medical data to the nearest hospital

12. - E2E13

Which of these digital modes has the fastest data throughput under clear communication conditions?

Select	Answer
A	170 Hz shift, 45 baud RTTY
B	PSK31
C	AMTOR
D	300 baud packet

13. - E3A09

Which of the following frequency ranges is most suited for meteor scatter communications?

Select	Answer
A	10 MHz - 14 MHz
B	1.8 MHz - 1.9 MHz
C	220 MHz - 450 MHz
D	28 MHz - 148 MHz

14. - E3B04

What is meant by the terms "extraordinary" and "ordinary" waves?

Select	Answer
A	Refracted rays and reflected waves
B	Long-path and short-path waves
C	Independent waves created in the ionosphere that are elliptically polarized
D	Extraordinary waves describe rare long-skip propagation compared to ordinary waves, which travel shorter distances

15. - E3C02

What is indicated by a rising A or K index?

Select	Answer
A	Increasing disruption of the geomagnetic field
B	An increase in the critical frequency
C	Decreasing disruption of the geomagnetic field
D	Higher levels of solar UV radiation

16. - E4A07

Which of the following is an advantage of using an antenna analyzer compared to an SWR bridge to measure antenna SWR?

Select	Answer
A	Antenna analyzers display a time-varying representation of the modulation envelope
B	All these choices are correct
C	Antenna analyzers automatically tune your antenna for resonance
D	Antenna analyzers do not need an external RF source

17. - E4B04

Which S parameter represents input port return loss or reflection coefficient (equivalent to VSWR)?

Select	Answer
A	S11
B	S12
C	S22
D	S21

18. - E4C07

What does the MDS of a receiver represent?

Select	Answer
A	The meter display sensitivity
B	The multiplex distortion stability
C	The maximum detectable spectrum
D	The minimum discernible signal

19. - E4D09

What is the purpose of the preselector in a communications receiver?

Select	Answer
A	To store often-used frequencies
B	To provide a range of AGC time constants
C	To increase rejection of signals outside the desired band
D	To allow selection of the optimum RF amplifier device

20. - E4E09

What undesirable effect can occur when using an IF noise blanker?

Select	Answer
A	The audio frequency bandwidth of the received signal might be compressed
B	FM signals can no longer be demodulated
C	Nearby signals may appear to be excessively wide even if they meet emission standards
D	Received audio in the speech range might have an echo effect

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	31.4 kHz
B	436.6 kHz
C	15.7 kHz
D	218.3 kHz

22. - E5B06

What is susceptance?

Select	Answer
A	The magnetic impedance of a circuit
B	The imaginary part of admittance
C	A measure of the efficiency of a transformer
D	The ratio of magnetic field to electric field

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 phase angle and the Y axis represents the magnitude
B	The X axis represents the reactive component and the Y axis represents the resistive component
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. - E5D14

What is reactive power?

Select	Answer
A	Wattless, nonproductive power
B	Power consumed in circuit Q
C	Power consumed in wire resistance in an inductor
D	Power lost because of capacitor leakage

25. - E6A01

In what application is gallium arsenide used as a semiconductor material?

Select	Answer
A	In very low-frequency RF circuits
B	In high-current rectifier circuits
C	In high-power audio circuits
D	In microwave circuits

26. - E6B11

What is used to control the attenuation of RF signals by a PIN diode?

Select	Answer
A	Reverse voltage larger than the RF signal
B	Forward DC bias current
C	A sub-harmonic pump signal
D	Capacitance of an RF coupling capacitor

27. - E6C03

What is tri-state logic?

Select	Answer
A	Proprietary logic devices manufactured by Tri-State Devices
B	Logic devices that utilize ternary math
C	Logic devices with 0, 1, and high-impedance output states
D	Low-power logic devices designed to operate at 3 volts

28. - E6D12

What is inductor saturation?

Select	Answer
A	The inductor windings are over-coupled
B	Adjacent inductors become over-coupled
C	The inductor's voltage rating is exceeded causing a flashover
D	The ability of the inductor's core to store magnetic energy has been exceeded

29. - E6E06

What characteristics of the MMIC make it a popular choice for VHF through microwave circuits?

Select	Answer
A	Controlled gain, low noise figure, and constant input and output impedance over the specified frequency range
B	Nearly infinite gain, very high input impedance, and very low output impedance
C	The ability to retrieve information from a single signal even in the presence of other strong signals
D	Plate current that is controlled by a control grid

30. - E6F04

What is the photovoltaic effect?

Select	Answer
A	The tendency of a battery to discharge when exposed to light
B	The conversion of light to electrical energy
C	The conversion of electrical energy to mechanical energy
D	The conversion of voltage to current when exposed to light

31. - E7A05

Which of the following is a circuit that continuously alternates between two states without an external clock?

Select	Answer
A	Astable multivibrator
B	J-K flip-flop
C	T flip-flop
D	Monostable multivibrator

32. - E7B01

For what portion of the signal cycle does each active element in a push-pull Class AB amplifier conduct?

Select	Answer
A	More than 180 degrees but less than 360 degrees
B	Less than 180 degrees
C	Exactly 180 degrees
D	The entire cycle

33. - E7C07

Which describes a Pi-L-network used for matching a vacuum tube final amplifier to a 50-ohm unbalanced output?

Select	Answer
A	A matching network in which all components are isolated from ground
B	A Phase Inverter Load network
C	A network with only three discrete parts
D	A Pi-network with an additional series inductor on the output

34. - E7D02

What is a characteristic of a switching electronic voltage regulator?

Select	Answer
A	The controlled device's duty cycle is changed to produce a constant average output voltage
B	It gives a ramp voltage at its output
C	It is generally less efficient than a linear regulator
D	The resistance of a control element is varied in direct proportion to the line voltage or load current

35. - E7E11

Which type of detector circuit is used for demodulating SSB signals?

Select	Answer
A	Phase comparator
B	Product detector
C	Phase detector
D	Discriminator

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

37. - E7G12

What is an operational amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	A digital audio amplifier whose characteristics are determined by components external to the amplifier
B	An amplifier used to increase the average output of frequency modulated amateur signals to the legal limit
C	A high-gain, direct-coupled differential amplifier with very high input impedance and very low output impedance
D	A RF amplifier used in the UHF and microwave regions

38. - E7H12

Which of the following must be done to ensure that a crystal oscillator provides the frequency specified by the crystal manufacturer?

Select	Answer
A	Provide the crystal with a specified parallel capacitance
B	Provide the crystal with a specified parallel inductance
C	Bias the crystal at a specified voltage
D	Bias the crystal at a specified current

39. - E8A05

What of the following instruments would be the most accurate for measuring the RMS voltage of a complex waveform?

Select	Answer
A	A true-RMS calculating meter
B	A grid dip meter
C	A D'Arsonval meter
D	An absorption wave meter

40. - E8B10

What is frequency division multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	The transmitted signal is divided into packets of information
B	Two or more information streams are merged into a digital combiner, which then pulse position modulates the transmitter
C	Two or more information streams are merged into a baseband, which then modulates the transmitter
D	The transmitted signal jumps from band to band at a predetermined rate

41. - E8C06

What is the bandwidth of a 170-hertz shift, 300-baud ASCII transmission?

Select	Answer
A	0.3 kHz
B	1.0 kHz
C	0.1 Hz
D	0.5 kHz

42. - E8D10

What are some of the differences between the Baudot digital code and ASCII?

Select	Answer
A	Baudot uses 4 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot uses 1 character as a letters/figures shift code, ASCII has no letters/figures code
B	Baudot uses 7 data bits per character, ASCII uses 8; Baudot has no letters/figures shift code, ASCII uses 2 letters/figures shift codes
C	Baudot uses 6 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot has no letters/figures shift code, ASCII uses 2 letters/figures shift codes
D	Baudot uses 5 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot uses 2 characters as letters/figures shift codes, ASCII has no letters/figures shift code

43. - E9A05

What is included in the total resistance of an antenna system?

Select	Answer
A	Radiation resistance plus loss resistance
B	Transmission-line resistance plus radiation resistance
C	Radiation resistance plus transmission resistance
D	Radiation resistance plus space impedance

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

45. - E9C06

What is the effect of adding a terminating resistor to a rhombic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It changes the radiation pattern from bidirectional to unidirectional
B	It changes the radiation pattern from horizontal to vertical polarization
C	It reflects the standing waves on the antenna elements back to the transmitter
D	It decreases the ground loss

46. - E9D04

Why should an HF mobile antenna loading coil have a high ratio of reactance to resistance?

Select	Answer
A	To lower the radiation angle
B	To swamp out harmonics
C	To minimize the Q
D	To minimize losses

47. - E9E03

What is the name of the matching system that uses a section of transmission line connected in parallel with the feed line at or near the feed point?

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

48. - E9F01

What is the velocity factor of a transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	The velocity of the wave in the transmission line multiplied by the velocity of light in a vacuum
B	The ratio of the characteristic impedance of the line to the terminating impedance
C	The index of shielding for coaxial cable
D	The velocity of the wave in the transmission line divided by the velocity of light in a vacuum

49. - E9G04

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

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

50. - E9H10

How can the output voltage of a multiple-turn receiving loop antenna be increased?

Select	Answer
A	By reducing the permeability of the loop shield
B	By winding adjacent turns in opposing directions
C	By increasing the number of turns and/or the area
D	By utilizing high impedance wire for the coupling loop