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

2. - E1A04

With your transceiver displaying the carrier frequency of phone signals, you hear a DX station calling CQ on 3.601 MHz LSB. Is it legal to return the call using lower sideband on the same frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Yes, because the DX station initiated the contact
B	No, U.S. stations are not permitted to use phone emissions below 3.610 MHz
C	No, the sideband will extend beyond the edge of the phone band segment
D	Yes, because the displayed frequency is within the 75 meter phone band segment

3. - E1B04

What must be done before placing an amateur station within an officially designated wilderness area or wildlife preserve, or an area listed in the National Register of Historic Places?

Select	Answer
A	A form FSD-15 must be submitted to the Department of the Interior
B	A letter of intent must be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency
C	A proposal must be submitted to the National Park Service
D	An Environmental Assessment must be submitted to the FCC

4. - E1C06

Which of the following is required in order to operate in accordance with CEPT rules in foreign countries where permitted?

Select	Answer
A	The U.S. embassy must approve of your operation
B	You must bring a copy of FCC Public Notice DA 16-1048
C	You must append "/CEPT" to your call sign
D	You must identify in the official language of the country in which you are operating

5. - E1D08

Which VHF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

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

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	Three VEs must certify that the examinee is qualified for the license grant and that they have complied with the administering VE requirements
D	Issue the examinee the new or upgrade license

7. - E1F05

Amateur stations may not transmit in which of the following frequency segments if they are located in the contiguous 48 states and north of Line A?

Select	Answer
A	420 MHz - 430 MHz
B	53 MHz - 54 MHz
C	440 MHz - 450 MHz
D	222 MHz - 223 MHz

8. - E2A01

What is the direction of an ascending pass for an amateur satellite?

Select	Answer
A	From east to west
B	From west to east
C	From north to south
D	From south to north

9. - E2B07

What is the name of the signal component that carries color information in NTSC video?

Select	Answer
A	Spectral intensity
B	Luminance
C	Hue
D	Chroma

10. - E2C08

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

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

11. - E2D02

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

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

12. - E2E04

What is indicated when one of the ellipses in an FSK crossed-ellipse display suddenly disappears?

Select	Answer
A	One of the signal filters is saturated
B	The receiver has drifted 5 kHz from the desired receive frequency
C	The mark and space signal have been inverted
D	Selective fading has occurred

13. - E3A10

Which type of atmospheric structure can create a path for microwave propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Wind shear
B	The jet stream
C	Dust devil
D	Temperature inversion

14. - E3B05

Which amateur bands typically support long-path propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Only 160 meters to 40 meters
B	Only 30 meters to 10 meters
C	160 meters to 10 meters
D	6 meters to 2 meters

15. - E3C07

Which of the following descriptors indicates the greatest solar flare intensity?

Select	Answer
A	Class B
B	Class M
C	Class X
D	Class A

16. - E4A08

Which of the following measures SWR?

Select	Answer
A	An antenna analyzer
B	A spectrum analyzer
C	An ohmmeter
D	A Q meter

17. - E4B03

Which S parameter is equivalent to forward gain?

Select	Answer
A	S22
B	S11
C	S12
D	S21

18. - E4C01

What is an effect of excessive phase noise in a receiver's local oscillator?

Select	Answer
A	It can affect the receiver's frequency calibration
B	It decreases receiver third-order intercept point
C	It can combine with strong signals on nearby frequencies to generate interference
D	It limits the receiver's ability to receive strong signals

19. - E4D09

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

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

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. - E5A05

What is the result of increasing the Q of an impedance-matching circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Matching bandwidth is increased
B	Matching range is increased
C	It has no effect on impedance matching
D	Matching bandwidth is decreased

22. - E5B09

What is the relationship between the AC current through a capacitor and the voltage across a capacitor?

Select	Answer
A	Voltage and current are in phase
B	Voltage leads current by 90 degrees
C	Voltage and current are 180 degrees out of phase
D	Current leads voltage by 90 degrees

23. - E5C07

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

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

24. - E5D05

What is the power factor of an RL circuit having a 30-degree phase angle between the voltage and the current?

Select	Answer
A	0.866
B	0.577
C	0.5
D	1.73

25. - E6A08

What term indicates the frequency at which the grounded-base current gain of a transistor has decreased to 0.7 of the gain obtainable at 1 kHz?

Select	Answer
A	Alpha rejection frequency
B	Beta cutoff frequency
C	Corner frequency
D	Alpha cutoff frequency

26. - E6B06

Which of the following is a common use of a Schottky diode?

Select	Answer
A	As a variable capacitance in an automatic frequency control circuit
B	As a VHF/UHF mixer or detector
C	As a rectifier in high current power supplies
D	As a constant voltage reference in a power supply

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. - E6D06

What core material property determines the inductance of an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Reactivity
B	Permeability
C	Thermal impedance
D	Resistance

29. - E6E09

Which of the following component package types would be most suitable for use at frequencies above the HF range?

Select	Answer
A	Axial lead
B	Surface mount
C	Radial lead
D	TO-220

30. - E6F11

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

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

31. - E7A02

What is the function of a decade counter?

Select	Answer
A	It produces one output pulse for every 10 input pulses
B	It produces 10 output pulses for every input pulse
C	It decodes a decimal number for display on a seven-segment LED display
D	It decodes a binary number for display on a seven-segment LED display

32. - E7B18

What is a characteristic of a grounded-grid amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	High power gain
B	Low input impedance
C	High filament voltage
D	Low bandwidth

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. - E7D03

What device is typically used as a stable voltage reference in a linear voltage regulator?

Select	Answer
A	A tunnel diode
B	A Zener diode
C	An SCR
D	A varactor diode

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 heterodyne enhancer
D	A de-emphasis network

36. - E7F09

Why is an anti-aliasing digital filter required in a digital decimator?

Select	Answer
A	It peaks the response of the decimator, improving bandwidth
B	It removes low-frequency signal components to eliminate the need for DC restoration
C	It removes high-frequency signal components that would otherwise be reproduced as lower frequency components
D	It notches out the sampling frequency to avoid sampling errors

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 differential input voltage needed to bring the open loop output voltage to zero
C	The difference between the output voltage of the op-amp and the input voltage required in the immediately following stage
D	The output voltage of the op-amp minus its input voltage

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

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. - E8B05

What is the deviation ratio of an FM-phone signal having a maximum frequency swing of plus-or-minus 5 kHz when the maximum modulation frequency is 3 kHz?

Select	Answer
A	0.167
B	1.67
C	60
D	0.6

41. - E8C08

How does ARQ accomplish error correction?

Select	Answer
A	Special polynomial codes provide automatic correction
B	If errors are detected, a retransmission is requested
C	Special binary codes provide automatic correction
D	If errors are detected, redundant data is substituted

42. - E8D09

What is considered an acceptable maximum IMD level for an idling PSK signal?

Select	Answer
A	-30 dB
B	+15 dB
C	-20 dB
D	+10 dB

43. - E9A01

What is an isotropic antenna?

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

44. - E9B03

In the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-1, what is the front-to-side ratio?

Select	Answer
A	18 dB
B	14 dB
C	24 dB
D	12 dB

45. - E9C10

Which of the following describes a Zepp antenna?

Select	Answer
A	An end-fed dipole antenna
B	A dipole constructed from zip cord
C	A vertical array capable of quickly changing the direction of maximum radiation by changing phasing lines
D	An omni-directional antenna commonly used for satellite communications

46. - E9D10

What happens to feed-point impedance at the base of a fixed length HF mobile antenna when operated below its resonant frequency?

Select	Answer
A	The radiation resistance decreases and the capacitive reactance decreases
B	The radiation resistance increases and the capacitive reactance increases
C	The radiation resistance decreases and the capacitive reactance increases
D	The radiation resistance increases and the capacitive reactance decreases

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 stub match
B	The delta match
C	The omega match
D	The gamma match

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	Infinite
D	A capacitive reactance

49. - E9G09

What third family of circles is often added to a Smith chart during the process of solving problems?

Select	Answer
A	Standing wave ratio circles
B	Antenna-length circles
C	Coaxial-length circles
D	Radiation-pattern circles

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 is practical for use only on VHF and higher bands
C	It has no clearly defined null
D	It has a bidirectional pattern

Figure E9-1