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	Lightning protection
B	Reduce RFI to telephones and home entertainment systems
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	18.110 MHz
B	18.068 MHz
C	18.100 MHz
D	18.107 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 participating in the Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS)
C	Any FCC-licensed amateur station except a Technician Class
D	Any FCC-licensed amateur station certified by the responsible civil defense organization for the area served

4. - E1C11

Which of the following operating arrangements allows an FCC-licensed U.S. citizen to operate in many European countries, and alien amateurs from many European countries to operate in the U.S.?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	CEPT agreement
C	IARP agreement
D	ITU reciprocal license

5. - E1D06

What is the maximum permitted transmitter output power when operating a model craft by telecommand?

Select	Answer
A	2 watts
B	1 watt
C	5 watts
D	100 watts

6. - E1E03

What is a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator?

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

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 provide additional spectrum for personal use
D	To allow regular operation on Land Mobile channels

8. - E2A02

Which of the following occurs when a satellite is using an inverting linear transponder?

Select	Answer
A	Doppler shift is reduced because the uplink and downlink shifts are in opposite directions
B	Upper sideband on the uplink becomes lower sideband on the downlink, and vice versa
C	All these choices are correct
D	Signal position in the band is reversed

9. - E2B06

What is vestigial sideband modulation?

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

10. - E2C04

Which of the following frequencies are sometimes used for amateur radio mesh networks?

Select	Answer
A	Cable TV channels 41 through 43
B	HF frequencies where digital communications are permitted
C	The 60 meter band channel centered on 5373 kHz
D	Frequencies shared with various unlicensed wireless data services

11. - E2D01

Which of the following digital modes is designed for meteor scatter communications?

Select	Answer
A	APRS
B	MSK144
C	WSPR
D	Hellschreiber

12. - E2E01

Which of the following types of modulation is common for data emissions below 30 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	DTMF tones modulating an FM signal
B	Spread spectrum
C	Pulse modulation
D	FSK

13. - E3A11

What is a typical range for tropospheric propagation of microwave signals?

Select	Answer
A	10 miles to 50 miles
B	1200 miles
C	100 miles to 300 miles
D	2500 miles

14. - E3B04

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

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

15. - E3C14

Why does the radio-path horizon distance exceed the geometric horizon?

Select	Answer
A	Downward bending due to density variations in the atmosphere
B	D-region skip
C	Due to the Doppler effect
D	E-region skip

16. - E4A01

Which of the following limits the highest frequency signal that can be accurately displayed on a digital oscilloscope?

Select	Answer
A	Sampling rate of the analog-to-digital converter
B	Q of the circuit
C	All these choices are correct
D	Amount of memory

17. - E4B06

How much power is being absorbed by the load when a directional power meter connected between a transmitter and a terminating load reads 100 watts forward power and 25 watts reflected power?

Select	Answer
A	125 watts
B	25 watts
C	75 watts
D	100 watts

18. - E4C08

An SDR receiver is overloaded when input signals exceed what level?

Select	Answer
A	The reference voltage of the analog-to-digital converter
B	One-half the maximum sampling buffer size
C	The maximum count value of the analog-to-digital converter
D	One-half the maximum sample rate

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. - E4E04

How can conducted and radiated noise caused by an automobile alternator be suppressed?

Select	Answer
A	By installing a noise suppression resistor and a blocking capacitor in both leads
B	By connecting the radio's power leads directly to the battery and by installing coaxial capacitors in line with the alternator leads
C	By installing filter capacitors in series with the DC power lead and a blocking capacitor in the field lead
D	By installing a high-pass filter in series with the radio's power lead and a low-pass filter in parallel with the field lead

21. - E5A10

How is the Q of an RLC series resonant circuit calculated?

Select	Answer
A	Reactance of the inductance multiplied by the reactance of the capacitance
B	Resistance divided by the reactance of either the inductance or capacitance
C	Reactance of either the inductance or capacitance multiplied by the resistance
D	Reactance of either the inductance or capacitance divided by the resistance

22. - E5B06

What is susceptance?

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

23. - E5C07

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

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

24. - E5D03

What is microstrip?

Select	Answer
A	Miniature coax used for low power applications
B	Lightweight transmission line made of common zip cord
C	Short lengths of coax mounted on printed circuit boards to minimize time delay between microwave circuits
D	Precision printed circuit conductors above a ground plane that provide constant impedance interconnects at microwave frequencies

25. - E6A06

What is the beta of a bipolar junction transistor?

Select	Answer
A	The breakdown voltage of the base to collector junction
B	The switching speed
C	The change in collector current with respect to base current
D	The frequency at which the current gain is reduced to 0.707

26. - E6B06

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

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

27. - E6C03

What is tri-state logic?

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

28. - E6D07

What is current in the primary winding of a transformer called if no load is attached to the secondary?

Select	Answer
A	Direct current
B	Stabilizing current
C	Excitation current
D	Magnetizing current

29. - E6E12

Why are DIP through-hole package ICs not typically used at UHF and higher frequencies?

Select	Answer
A	Excessive lead length
B	Unsuitable for combining analog and digital signals
C	Too many pins
D	Epoxy coating is conductive above 300 MHz

30. - E6F11

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

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

31. - E7A03

Which of the following can divide the frequency of a pulse train by 2?

Select	Answer
A	An XOR gate
B	A flip-flop
C	An OR gate
D	A multiplexer

32. - E7B08

How can an RF power amplifier be neutralized?

Select	Answer
A	By feeding a 180-degree out-of-phase portion of the output back to the input
B	By feeding an in-phase component of the output back to the input
C	By increasing the driving power
D	By reducing the driving power

33. - E7C02

Which of the following is a property of a T-network with series capacitors and a parallel shunt inductor?

Select	Answer
A	It is a low-pass filter
B	It is a band-pass filter
C	It is a high-pass filter
D	It is a notch filter

34. - E7D04

Which of the following types of linear voltage regulator usually make the most efficient use of the primary power source?

Select	Answer
A	A shunt current source
B	A shunt regulator
C	A series current source
D	A series regulator

35. - E7E02

What is the function of a reactance modulator?

Select	Answer
A	To produce PM signals by using an electrically variable resistance
B	To produce AM signals by using an electrically variable inductance or capacitance
C	To produce PM or FM signals by using an electrically variable inductance or capacitance
D	To produce AM signals by using an electrically variable resistance

36. - E7F08

What is the function of decimation?

Select	Answer
A	Converting data to binary code decimal form
B	Attenuating the signal
C	Removing unnecessary significant digits
D	Reducing the effective sample rate by removing samples

37. - E7G08

How does the gain of an ideal operational amplifier vary with frequency?

Select	Answer
A	It increases linearly with increasing frequency
B	It decreases logarithmically with increasing frequency
C	It decreases linearly with increasing frequency
D	It does not vary with frequency

38. - E7H05

How is positive feedback supplied in a Pierce oscillator?

Select	Answer
A	Through a quartz crystal
B	Through link coupling
C	Through a neutralizing capacitor
D	Through a tapped coil

39. - E8A07

What determines the PEP-to-average power ratio of a single-sideband phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	The degree of carrier suppression
B	The frequency of the modulating signal
C	Speech characteristics
D	Amplifier gain

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	1/3
B	6000
C	2000
D	3

41. - E8C03

Why should phase-shifting of a PSK signal be done at the zero crossing of the RF signal?

Select	Answer
A	To minimize bandwidth
B	To improve carrier suppression
C	To simplify modulation
D	All these choices are correct

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. - E9A02

What is the effective radiated power relative to a dipole of a repeater station with 150 watts transmitter power output, 2 dB feed line loss, 2.2 dB duplexer loss, and 7 dBd antenna gain?

Select	Answer
A	1977 watts
B	286 watts
C	78.7 watts
D	420 watts

44. - E9B02

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

Select	Answer
A	14 dB
B	18 dB
C	36 dB
D	24 dB

45. - E9C01

What is the radiation pattern of two 1/4-wavelength vertical antennas spaced 1/2-wavelength apart and fed 180 degrees out of phase?

Select	Answer
A	Cardioid
B	A figure-8 broadside to the axis of the array
C	Omni-directional
D	A figure-8 oriented along the axis of the array

46. - E9D06

What happens to the SWR bandwidth when one or more loading coils are used to resonate an electrically short antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It is unchanged if the loading coil is located at the feed point
B	It is unchanged if the loading coil is located at a voltage maximum point
C	It is decreased
D	It is increased

47. - E9E07

What parameter describes the interactions at the load end of a mismatched transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	Dielectric constant
B	Reflection coefficient
C	Characteristic impedance
D	Velocity factor

48. - E9F06

What is the approximate physical length of an air-insulated, parallel conductor transmission line that is electrically 1/2 wavelength long at 14.10 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	13.3 meters
B	7.0 meters
C	8.5 meters
D	10.6 meters

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	Impedance axis
B	Prime axis
C	Reactance axis
D	Polar axis

50. - E9H01

When constructing a Beverage antenna, which of the following factors should be included in the design to achieve good performance at the desired frequency?

Select	Answer
A	It should be configured as a four-sided loop
B	It should be one or more wavelengths long
C	It must be mounted more than 1 wavelength above ground
D	Its overall length must not exceed 1/4 wavelength

Figure E9-1

Figure E9-3