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

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1. - E0A01

What is the primary function of an external earth connection or ground rod?

Select	Answer
A	Reduce RFI to telephones and home entertainment systems
B	Lightning protection
C	Reduce received noise
D	Reduce RF current flow between pieces of equipment

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	18.100 MHz
B	18.110 MHz
C	18.107 MHz
D	18.068 MHz

3. - E1B02

Which of the following is an acceptable bandwidth for Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) based voice or SSTV digital transmissions made on the HF amateur bands?

Select	Answer
A	15 kHz
B	10 kHz
C	20 kHz
D	3 kHz

4. - E1C01

What is the maximum bandwidth for a data emission on 60 meters?

Select	Answer
A	170 Hz
B	1.5 kHz
C	60 Hz
D	2.8 kHz

5. - E1D02

Which of the following may transmit special codes intended to obscure the meaning of messages?

Select	Answer
A	Data containing personal information
B	Binary control characters
C	Auxiliary relay links carrying repeater audio
D	Telecommand signals from a space telecommand station

6. - E1E11

What must the VE team do if an examinee scores a passing grade on all examination elements needed for an upgrade or new license?

Select	Answer
A	Photocopy all examination documents and forward them to the FCC for processing
B	All these choices are correct
C	Issue the examinee the new or upgrade license
D	Three VEs must certify that the examinee is qualified for the license grant and that they have complied with the administering VE requirements

7. - E1F06

Under what circumstances might the FCC issue a Special Temporary Authority (STA) to an amateur station?

Select	Answer
A	To provide temporary operation while awaiting normal licensing
B	To provide for experimental amateur communications
C	To allow regular operation on Land Mobile channels
D	To provide additional spectrum for personal use

8. - E2A10

What type of satellite appears to stay in one position in the sky?

Select	Answer
A	Geostationary
B	Geomagnetic
C	LEO
D	HEO

9. - E2B10

What aspect of an analog slow-scan television signal encodes the brightness of the picture?

Select	Answer
A	Sync frequency
B	Sync amplitude
C	Tone frequency
D	Tone amplitude

10. - E2C03

From which of the following bands is amateur radio contesting generally excluded?

Select	Answer
A	2 meters
B	33 centimeters
C	30 meters
D	6 meters

11. - E2D08

What type of packet frame is used to transmit APRS beacon data?

Select	Answer
A	Unnumbered Information
B	Acknowledgement
C	Connect
D	Disconnect

12. - E2E12

How do ALE stations establish contact?

Select	Answer
A	ALE radios monitor an internet site for the frequency they are being paged on
B	ALE radios send a constant tone code to establish a frequency for future use
C	ALE constantly scans a list of frequencies, activating the radio when the designated call sign is received
D	ALE radios activate when they hear their signal echoed by back scatter

13. - E3A06

What might help to restore contact when DX signals become too weak to copy across an entire HF band a few hours after sunset?

Select	Answer
A	Wait 24 hours before attempting another communication on the band
B	Switch to a lower frequency HF band
C	Switch to a higher frequency HF band
D	Wait 90 minutes or so for the signal degradation to pass

14. - E3B10

Why is chordal hop propagation desirable?

Select	Answer
A	The signal experiences less loss compared to multi-hop using Earth as a reflector
B	Atmospheric noise is lower in the direction of chordal hop propagation
C	Signals travel faster along ionospheric chords
D	The MUF for chordal hop propagation is much lower than for normal skip propagation

15. - E3C08

What does the space weather term G5 mean?

Select	Answer
A	An extreme geomagnetic storm
B	Waning sunspot numbers
C	Moderate solar wind
D	Very low solar activity

16. - E4A02

Which of the following parameters does a spectrum analyzer display on the vertical and horizontal axes?

Select	Answer
A	SWR and frequency
B	RF amplitude and time
C	SWR and time
D	RF amplitude and frequency

17. - E4B02

What is the significance of voltmeter sensitivity expressed in ohms per volt?

Select	Answer
A	When used as a galvanometer, the reading in volts multiplied by the ohms per volt rating will determine the power drawn by the device under test
B	When used as an ohmmeter, the reading in ohms divided by the ohms per volt rating will determine the voltage applied to the circuit
C	The full scale reading of the voltmeter multiplied by its ohms per volt rating will indicate the input impedance of the voltmeter
D	When used as an ammeter, the full scale reading in amps divided by ohms per volt rating will determine the size of shunt needed

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

19. - E4D09

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

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

20. - E4E08

What current flows equally on all conductors of an unshielded multi-conductor cable?

Select	Answer
A	Reactive current only
B	Return current
C	Common-mode current
D	Differential-mode current

21. - E5A15

Which of the following increases Q for inductors and capacitors?

Select	Answer
A	Lower losses
B	Higher self-resonant frequency
C	Lower reactance
D	Lower self-resonant frequency

22. - E5B02

What letter is commonly used to represent susceptance?

Select	Answer
A	G
B	X
C	Y
D	B

23. - E5C03

Which of the following represents an inductive reactance in polar coordinates?

Select	Answer
A	A negative magnitude
B	A negative phase angle
C	A positive phase angle
D	A positive magnitude

24. - E5D12

How many watts are consumed in a circuit having a power factor of 0.2 if the input is 100 VAC at 4 amperes?

Select	Answer
A	50 watts
B	400 watts
C	80 watts
D	2000 watts

25. - E6A05

How does DC input impedance at the gate of a field-effect transistor compare with the DC input impedance of a bipolar transistor?

Select	Answer
A	They are both high impedance
B	An FET has lower input impedance
C	An FET has higher input impedance
D	They are both low impedance

26. - E6B07

What is the failure mechanism when a junction diode fails due to excessive current?

Select	Answer
A	Charge carrier depletion
B	Excessive junction temperature
C	Insufficient forward voltage
D	Excessive inverse voltage

27. - E6C03

What is tri-state logic?

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

28. - E6D08

What is one reason for using powdered-iron cores rather than ferrite cores in an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Powdered-iron cores generally maintain their characteristics at higher currents
B	Powdered-iron cores use smaller diameter wire for the same inductance
C	Powdered-iron cores generally have greater initial permeability
D	Powdered-iron cores generally require fewer turns to produce a given inductance

29. - E6E08

How is power supplied to the most common type of MMIC?

Select	Answer
A	Through a capacitor and RF choke connected to the amplifier input lead
B	MMICs require no operating bias
C	Through a resistor and/or RF choke connected to the amplifier output lead
D	Directly to the bias voltage (VCC IN) lead

30. - E6F10

What is the most common type of photovoltaic cell used for electrical power generation?

Select	Answer
A	Copper oxide
B	Cadmium Sulfide
C	Selenium
D	Silicon

31. - E7A04

How many flip-flops are required to divide a signal frequency by 4?

Select	Answer
A	1
B	2
C	8
D	4

32. - E7B09

Which of the following describes how the loading and tuning capacitors are to be adjusted when tuning a vacuum tube RF power amplifier that employs a Pi-network output circuit?

Select	Answer
A	The tuning capacitor is set to maximum capacitance and the loading capacitor is adjusted for minimum plate permissible current
B	The tuning capacitor is adjusted for minimum plate current, and the loading capacitor is adjusted for maximum permissible plate current
C	The loading capacitor is adjusted to minimum plate current while alternately adjusting the tuning capacitor for maximum allowable plate current
D	The loading capacitor is set to maximum capacitance and the tuning capacitor is adjusted for minimum allowable plate current

33. - E7C10

Which of the following filters would be the best choice for use in a 2 meter band repeater duplexer?

Select	Answer
A	A crystal filter
B	A DSP filter
C	A cavity filter
D	An L-C 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 a constant load for the voltage source
D	It provides negative feedback to improve regulation

35. - E7E05

What circuit is added to an FM transmitter to boost the higher audio frequencies?

Select	Answer
A	A pre-emphasis network
B	A heterodyne suppressor
C	A de-emphasis network
D	A heterodyne enhancer

36. - E7F12

Which of the following is an advantage of a Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter vs an Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) digital filter?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	FIR filters can delay all frequency components of the signal by the same amount
C	FIR filters are easier to implement for a given set of passband rolloff requirements
D	FIR filters can respond faster to impulses

37. - E7G04

What is meant by the "op-amp input offset voltage"?

Select	Answer
A	The output voltage of the op-amp minus its input voltage
B	The difference between the output voltage of the op-amp and the input voltage required in the immediately following stage
C	The differential input voltage needed to bring the open loop output voltage to zero
D	The potential between the amplifier input terminals of the op-amp in an open loop condition

38. - E7H11

What are the major spectral impurity components of direct digital synthesizers?

Select	Answer
A	Digital conversion noise
B	Nyquist limit noise
C	Broadband noise
D	Spurious signals at discrete frequencies

39. - E8A02

Which of the following is a type of analog-to-digital conversion?

Select	Answer
A	Harmonic regeneration
B	Phase reversal
C	Successive approximation
D	Level shifting

40. - E8B04

What is the modulation index of an FM-phone signal having a maximum carrier deviation of plus or minus 6 kHz when modulated with a 2 kHz modulating frequency?

Select	Answer
A	6000
B	3
C	1/3
D	2000

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	IF bandwidth and Q
C	Modulation index and output power
D	All these choices are correct

42. - E8D11

What is one advantage of using ASCII code for data communications?

Select	Answer
A	It uses one character as a shift code to send numeric and special characters
B	It contains fewer information bits per character than any other code
C	It includes built-in error correction features
D	It is possible to transmit both upper and lower case text

43. - E9A09

What is antenna efficiency?

Select	Answer
A	Effective radiated power divided by transmitter output
B	Radiation resistance divided by total resistance
C	Radiation resistance divided by transmission resistance
D	Total resistance divided by radiation resistance

44. - E9B04

What is the front-to-back ratio of the radiation pattern shown in Figure E92?

Select	Answer
A	3 dB
B	28 dB
C	38 dB
D	15 dB

45. - E9C12

Which of the following describes an Extended Double Zepp antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A portable antenna erected using two push support poles
B	An end-fed folded dipole antenna
C	A wideband vertical antenna constructed from precisely tapered aluminum tubing
D	A center-fed 1.25-wavelength antenna (two 5/8-wave elements in phase)

46. - E9D02

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

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

47. - E9E11

What is the primary purpose of phasing lines when used with an antenna having multiple driven elements?

Select	Answer
A	It creates a low-angle radiation pattern
B	It prevents reflected power from traveling back down the feed line and causing harmonic radiation from the transmitter
C	It allows single-band antennas to operate on other bands
D	It ensures that each driven element operates in concert with the others to create the desired antenna pattern

48. - E9F13

What impedance does a 1/4-wavelength transmission line present to a generator when the line is shorted at the far end?

Select	Answer
A	Very low impedance
B	The same as the characteristic impedance of the transmission line
C	The same as the generator output impedance
D	Very high impedance

49. - E9G07

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

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

50. - E9H05

What is the main drawback of a small wire-loop antenna for direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	It has a bidirectional pattern
C	It has no clearly defined null
D	It is practical for use only on VHF and higher bands

Figure E7-2

Figure E9-3