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	Polyethylene
B	Polychlorinated biphenyls
C	Polymorphic silicon
D	Polytetrafluoroethylene

2. - E1A03

What is the maximum legal carrier frequency on the 20 meter band for transmitting USB AFSK digital signals having a 1 kHz bandwidth?

Select	Answer
A	14.070 MHz
B	14.100 MHz
C	14.149 MHz
D	14.349 MHz

3. - E1B09

Which amateur stations may be operated under RACES rules?

Select	Answer
A	Only those club stations licensed to Amateur Extra Class operators
B	Any FCC-licensed amateur station except a Technician Class
C	Any FCC-licensed amateur station certified by the responsible civil defense organization for the area served
D	Any FCC-licensed amateur station participating in the Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS)

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. - E1D11

Which amateur stations are eligible to operate as Earth stations?

Select	Answer
A	Any amateur station whose licensee has filed a pre-space notification with the FCC's International Bureau
B	Any amateur station, subject to the privileges of the class of operator license held by the control operator
C	Only those of General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators
D	Only those of Amateur Extra Class operators

6. - E1E03

What is a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator?

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

7. - E1F02

What privileges are authorized in the U.S. to persons holding an amateur service license granted by the government of Canada?

Select	Answer
A	The operating terms and conditions of the Canadian amateur service license, not to exceed U.S. Amateur Extra Class license privileges
B	All privileges of the Amateur Extra Class license
C	Full privileges, up to and including those of the Amateur Extra Class license, on the 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter bands
D	None, they must obtain a U.S. license

8. - E2A04

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

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

9. - E2B06

What is vestigial sideband modulation?

Select	Answer
A	Narrow-band FM modulation achieved by filtering one sideband from the audio before frequency modulating the carrier
B	A type of modulation in which one sideband is inverted
C	Amplitude modulation in which one complete sideband and a portion of the other are transmitted
D	Spread spectrum modulation achieved by applying FM modulation following single sideband amplitude modulation

10. - E2C07

What is the Cabrillo format?

Select	Answer
A	A standard for submission of electronic contest logs
B	A method of exchanging information during a contest QSO
C	The most common set of contest rules
D	The rules of order for meetings between contest sponsors

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	An APRS station with an emergency medical technician can automatically transmit medical data to the nearest hospital
D	APRS stations with General Personnel Scanners can automatically relay the participant numbers and time as they pass the check points

12. - E2E03

How is the timing of FT4 contacts organized?

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

13. - E3A14

What is meant by circularly polarized electromagnetic waves?

Select	Answer
A	Waves with a rotating electric field
B	Waves with an electric field bent into a circular shape
C	Waves produced by a loop antenna
D	Waves that circle the Earth

14. - E3B03

What is the best time of day for transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Late at night
B	Morning
C	Afternoon or early evening
D	Noon

15. - E3C11

What does VOACAP software model?

Select	Answer
A	VHF radio propagation
B	AC current and impedance
C	AC voltage and impedance
D	HF propagation

16. - E4A03

Which of the following test instruments is used to display spurious signals and/or intermodulation distortion products generated by an SSB transmitter?

Select	Answer
A	A wattmeter
B	A time-domain reflectometer
C	A spectrum analyzer
D	A logic analyzer

17. - E4B09

What is indicated if the current reading on an RF ammeter placed in series with the antenna feed line of a transmitter increases as the transmitter is tuned to resonance?

Select	Answer
A	There is an impedance mismatch between the antenna and feed line
B	The transmitter is not properly neutralized
C	There is possibly a short to ground in the feed line
D	There is more power going into the antenna

18. - E4C02

Which of the following receiver circuits can be effective in eliminating interference from strong out-of-band signals?

Select	Answer
A	A front-end filter or pre-selector
B	A narrow IF filter
C	A properly adjusted product detector
D	A notch filter

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 allow selection of the optimum RF amplifier device
C	To provide a range of AGC time constants
D	To store often-used frequencies

20. - E4E10

What might be the cause of a loud roaring or buzzing AC line interference that comes and goes at intervals?

Select	Answer
A	A malfunctioning illuminated advertising display
B	Arcing contacts in a thermostatically controlled device
C	All these choices are correct
D	A defective doorbell or doorbell transformer inside a nearby residence

21. - E5A15

Which of the following increases Q for inductors and capacitors?

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

22. - E5B05

What happens to the magnitude of a pure reactance when it is converted to a susceptance?

Select	Answer
A	It is shifted by 90 degrees
B	The sign is reversed
C	It becomes the reciprocal
D	It is unchanged

23. - E5C05

What is the name of the diagram used to show the phase relationship between impedances at a given frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Venn diagram
B	Near field diagram
C	Far field diagram
D	Phasor diagram

24. - E5D01

What is the result of skin effect?

Select	Answer
A	Thermal effects on the surface of the conductor decrease the impedance
B	Thermal effects on the surface of the conductor increase the impedance
C	As frequency decreases, RF current flows in a thinner layer of the conductor, closer to the surface
D	As frequency increases, RF current flows in a thinner layer of the conductor, closer to the surface

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

26. - E6B09

What is a common use for point-contact diodes?

Select	Answer
A	As a constant voltage source
B	As a high-voltage rectifier
C	As a constant current source
D	As an RF detector

27. - E6C07

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

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

28. - E6D06

What core material property determines the inductance of an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Thermal impedance
B	Resistance
C	Permeability
D	Reactivity

29. - E6E10

What advantage does surface-mount technology offer at RF compared to using through-hole components?

Select	Answer
A	Components have less parasitic inductance and capacitance
B	All these choices are correct
C	Shorter circuit-board traces
D	Smaller circuit area

30. - E6F11

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

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

31. - E7A10

What is a truth table?

Select	Answer
A	A list of inputs and corresponding outputs for a digital device
B	A table of logic symbols that indicate the logic states of an op-amp
C	A diagram showing logic states when the digital device output is true
D	A table of logic symbols that indicate the high logic states of an op-amp

32. - E7B16

What is the effect of intermodulation products in a linear power amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	Transmission of spurious signals
B	Creation of parasitic oscillations
C	Low efficiency
D	All these choices are correct

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

34. - E7D10

What is the primary reason that a high-frequency switching type high-voltage power supply can be both less expensive and lighter in weight than a conventional power supply?

Select	Answer
A	The high frequency inverter design uses much smaller transformers and filter components for an equivalent power output
B	It uses a diode bridge rectifier for increased output
C	It uses a large power factor compensation capacitor to recover power from the unused portion of the AC cycle
D	The inverter design does not require any output filtering

35. - E7E05

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

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

36. - E7F03

What type of digital signal processing filter is used to generate an SSB signal?

Select	Answer
A	A notch filter
B	An elliptical filter
C	A Hilbert-transform filter
D	An adaptive filter

37. - E7G05

How can unwanted ringing and audio instability be prevented in an op-amp RC audio filter circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Restrict gain but increase Q
B	Restrict both gain and Q
C	Increase both gain and Q
D	Restrict Q but increase gain

38. - E7H07

How can an oscillator's microphonic responses be reduced?

Select	Answer
A	Mechanically isolate the oscillator circuitry from its enclosure
B	Increase the bias voltage
C	Reduce noise on the oscillator's power supply
D	Use NP0 capacitors

39. - E8A11

Which of the following is a measure of the quality of an analog-to-digital converter?

Select	Answer
A	Peak envelope power
B	Power factor
C	Total harmonic distortion
D	Reciprocal mixing

40. - E8B02

How does the modulation index of a phase-modulated emission vary with RF carrier frequency?

Select	Answer
A	It does not depend on the RF carrier frequency
B	It varies with the square root of the RF carrier frequency
C	It increases as the RF carrier frequency increases
D	It decreases as the RF carrier frequency increases

41. - E8C11

What is the relationship between symbol rate and baud?

Select	Answer
A	Baud is twice the symbol rate
B	Baud is only used for RTTY
C	Symbol rate is only used for packet-based modes
D	They are the same

42. - E8D01

Why are received spread spectrum signals resistant to interference?

Select	Answer
A	Signals not using the spread spectrum algorithm are suppressed in the receiver
B	The high power used by a spread spectrum transmitter keeps its signal from being easily overpowered
C	The receiver is always equipped with a digital blanker
D	If interference is detected by the receiver it will signal the transmitter to change frequencies

43. - E9A03

What is the radiation resistance of an antenna?

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

44. - E9B06

What is the elevation angle of peak response in the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-2?

Select	Answer
A	7.5 degrees
B	75 degrees
C	25 degrees
D	45 degrees

45. - E9C07

What is the approximate feed point impedance at the center of a two-wire folded dipole antenna?

Select	Answer
A	72 ohms
B	50 ohms
C	300 ohms
D	450 ohms

46. - E9D05

What usually occurs if a Yagi antenna is designed solely for maximum forward gain?

Select	Answer
A	The front-to-back ratio increases
B	The SWR is reduced
C	The front-to-back ratio decreases
D	The frequency response is widened over the whole frequency band

47. - E9E01

What system matches a higher-impedance transmission line to a lower-impedance antenna by connecting the line to the driven element in two places spaced a fraction of a wavelength each side of element center?

Select	Answer
A	The gamma matching system
B	The omega matching system
C	The delta matching system
D	The stub matching system

48. - E9F01

What is the velocity factor of a transmission line?

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

49. - E9G06

On the Smith chart shown in Figure E9-3, what is the name for the large outer circle on which the reactance arcs terminate?

Select	Answer
A	Polar axis
B	Prime axis
C	Impedance axis
D	Reactance axis

50. - E9H02

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

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

Figure E9-2

Figure E9-3