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

2. - E1A05

What is the maximum power output permitted on the 60 meter band?

Select	Answer
A	100 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to an isotropic radiator
B	50 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to a dipole
C	100 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to the gain of a half-wave dipole
D	50 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to an isotropic radiator

3. - E1B07

To what type of regulations does PRB-1 apply?

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

4. - E1C07

At what level below a signal's mean power level is its bandwidth determined according to FCC rules?

Select	Answer
A	26 dB
B	23 dB
C	3 dB
D	6 dB

5. - E1D04

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

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

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

7. - E1F06

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

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

8. - E2A08

Why should effective radiated power to a satellite that uses a linear transponder be limited?

Select	Answer
A	To prevent the satellite from emitting out-of-band signals
B	To avoid interfering with terrestrial QSOs
C	To avoid reducing the downlink power to all other users
D	To prevent creating errors in the satellite telemetry

9. - E2B11

What is the function of the Vertical Interval Signaling (VIS) code sent as part of an SSTV transmission?

Select	Answer
A	To lock the color burst oscillator in color SSTV images
B	To provide vertical synchronization
C	To identify the call sign of the station transmitting
D	To identify the SSTV mode being used

10. - E2C03

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

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

11. - E2D02

Which of the following is a good technique for making meteor scatter contacts?

Select	Answer
A	Use of special digital modes
B	15-second timed transmission sequences with stations alternating based on location
C	All these choices are correct
D	Short transmissions with rapidly repeated call signs and signal reports

12. - E2E13

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

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

13. - E3A13

Which of these emission modes is best for auroral propagation?

Select	Answer
A	FM
B	RTTY
C	SSB
D	CW

14. - E3B09

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

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

15. - E3C11

What does VOACAP software model?

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

16. - E4A10

Which of the following displays multiple digital signal states simultaneously?

Select	Answer
A	Logic analyzer
B	Modulation monitor
C	Bit error rate tester
D	Network analyzer

17. - E4B10

Which of the following methods measures intermodulation distortion in an SSB transmitter?

Select	Answer
A	Modulate the transmitter using two RF signals having harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a logic analyzer
B	Modulate the transmitter using two AF signals having non-harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a spectrum analyzer
C	Modulate the transmitter using two AF signals having harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a peak reading wattmeter
D	Modulate the transmitter using two RF signals having non-harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a spectrum analyzer

18. - E4C06

A CW receiver with the AGC off has an equivalent input noise power density of -174 dBm/Hz. What would be the level of an unmodulated carrier input to this receiver that would yield an audio output SNR of 0 dB in a 400 Hz noise bandwidth?

Select	Answer
A	-164 dBm
B	-148 dBm
C	-174 dBm
D	-155 dBm

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	Intermodulation
B	Neutralization
C	Amplifier desensitization
D	Adjacent channel interference

20. - E4E01

What problem can occur when using an automatic notch filter (ANF) to remove interfering carriers while receiving CW signals?

Select	Answer
A	Ringing in the DSP filter will completely remove the spaces between the CW characters
B	Received CW signals will appear to be modulated at the DSP clock frequency
C	Removal of the CW signal as well as the interfering carrier
D	Any nearby signal passing through the DSP system will overwhelm the desired signal

21. - E5A15

Which of the following increases Q for inductors and capacitors?

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

22. - E5B03

How is impedance in polar form converted to an equivalent admittance?

Select	Answer
A	Take the reciprocal of the angle and change the sign of the magnitude
B	Take the reciprocal of the magnitude and change the sign of the angle
C	Square the magnitude and subtract 90 degrees from the angle
D	Take the square root of the magnitude and add 180 degrees to the angle

23. - E5C07

Where is the impedance of a pure resistance plotted on rectangular coordinates?

Select	Answer
A	On the vertical axis
B	On the horizontal axis
C	On a horizontal line, offset vertically above the horizontal axis
D	On a line through the origin, slanted at 45 degrees

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	2000 watts
B	80 watts
C	50 watts
D	400 watts

25. - E6A01

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

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

26. - E6B04

What type of semiconductor device is designed for use as a voltage-controlled capacitor?

Select	Answer
A	Silicon-controlled rectifier
B	Varactor diode
C	Zener diode
D	Tunnel diode

27. - E6C08

In Figure E6-3, what is the schematic symbol for a NAND gate?

Select	Answer
A	1
B	4
C	3
D	2

28. - E6D11

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

Select	Answer
A	Ceramic
B	Brass
C	Powdered iron
D	Ferrite

29. - E6E11

What is a characteristic of DIP packaging used for integrated circuits?

Select	Answer
A	Low leakage doubly insulated package
B	Two chips in each package (Dual In Package)
C	A total of two rows of connecting pins placed on opposite sides of the package (Dual In-line Package)
D	Package mounts in a direct inverted position

30. - E6F11

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

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

31. - E7A06

What is a characteristic of a monostable multivibrator?

Select	Answer
A	It switches momentarily to the opposite binary state and then returns to its original state after a set time
B	It stores one bit of data in either a 0 or 1 state
C	It produces a continuous square wave oscillating between 1 and 0
D	It maintains a constant output voltage, regardless of variations in the input voltage

32. - E7B14

Why are switching amplifiers more efficient than linear amplifiers?

Select	Answer
A	The power transistor is at saturation or cutoff most of the time
B	Linear amplifiers have high gain resulting in higher harmonic content
C	Switching amplifiers operate at higher voltages
D	Switching amplifiers use push-pull circuits

33. - E7C12

What is one advantage of a Pi-matching network over an L-matching network consisting of a single inductor and a single capacitor?

Select	Answer
A	Pi-networks provide balanced input and output
B	The Q of Pi-networks can be controlled
C	Pi-networks are more stable
D	L-networks cannot perform impedance transformation

34. - E7D01

How does a linear electronic voltage regulator work?

Select	Answer
A	It eliminates the need for a pass transistor
B	It has a ramp voltage as its output
C	The control element duty cycle is proportional to the line or load conditions
D	The conduction of a control element is varied to maintain a constant output voltage

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. - E7F01

What is meant by direct digital conversion as applied to software defined radios?

Select	Answer
A	A switching mixer is used to generate I and Q signals directly from the RF input
B	Incoming RF is converted to a control voltage for a voltage controlled oscillator
C	Software is converted from source code to object code during operation of the receiver
D	Incoming RF is digitized by an analog-to-digital converter without being mixed with a local oscillator signal

37. - E7G04

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

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

38. - E7H11

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

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

39. - E8A03

What type of wave does a Fourier analysis show to be made up of sine waves of a given fundamental frequency plus all its harmonics?

Select	Answer
A	A sine wave
B	A cosine wave
C	A sawtooth wave
D	A square wave

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

41. - E8C07

What is the bandwidth of a 4800-Hz frequency shift, 9600-baud ASCII FM transmission?

Select	Answer
A	9.6 kHz
B	15.36 kHz
C	4.8 kHz
D	5.76 kHz

42. - E8D01

Why are received spread spectrum signals resistant to interference?

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

43. - E9A01

What is an isotropic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A theoretical, omnidirectional antenna used as a reference for antenna gain
B	A spacecraft antenna used to direct signals toward Earth
C	A grounded antenna used to measure Earth conductivity
D	A horizontally polarized antenna used to compare Yagi antennas

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 antenna will become mechanically unstable
C	Ground conductivity will not be accurately modeled
D	The computed feed point impedance may be incorrect

45. - E9C08

What is a folded dipole antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A type of ground-plane antenna
B	A half-wave dipole with an additional parallel wire connecting its two ends
C	A dipole one-quarter wavelength long
D	A dipole configured to provide forward gain

46. - E9D01

How much does the gain of an ideal parabolic dish antenna change when the operating frequency is doubled?

Select	Answer
A	3 dB
B	2 dB
C	4 dB
D	6 dB

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 omega match
B	The delta match
C	The gamma match
D	The stub 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 index of shielding for coaxial cable
C	The velocity of the wave in the transmission line divided by the velocity of light in a vacuum
D	The ratio of the characteristic impedance of the line to the terminating impedance

49. - E9G11

How are the wavelength scales on a Smith chart calibrated?

Select	Answer
A	In fractions of transmission line electrical wavelength
B	In fractions of antenna electrical wavelength
C	In fractions of transmission line electrical frequency
D	In fractions of antenna electrical frequency

50. - E9H08

What is the function of a sense antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It increases the sensitivity of a DF antenna array
B	It allows DF antennas to receive signals at different vertical angles
C	It modifies the pattern of a DF antenna array to provide a null in one direction
D	It provides diversity reception that cancels multipath signals

Figure E6-3