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

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1. - E0A05

What is one of the potential hazards of operating in the amateur radio microwave bands?

Select	Answer
A	The high gain antennas commonly used can result in high exposure levels
B	Microwaves often travel long distances by ionospheric reflection
C	Microwaves are ionizing radiation
D	The extremely high frequency energy can damage the joints of antenna structures

2. - E1A08

If a station in a message forwarding system inadvertently forwards a message that is in violation of FCC rules, who is primarily accountable for the rules violation?

Select	Answer
A	The control operator of the packet bulletin board station
B	The control operators of all the stations in the system not authenticating the source from which they accept communications
C	The control operator of the originating station
D	The control operators of all the stations in the system

3. - E1B09

Which amateur stations may be operated under RACES rules?

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

4. - E1C01

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

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

5. - E1D12

Which of the following amateur stations may transmit one-way communications?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	A local repeater or linked repeater station
C	A space station, beacon station, or telecommand station
D	A message forwarding station or automatically controlled digital station

6. - E1E06

Who is responsible for the proper conduct and necessary supervision during an amateur operator license examination session?

Select	Answer
A	The VE session manager
B	The FCC
C	Each administering VE
D	The VEC coordinating the session

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

8. - E2A01

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

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

9. - E2B11

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

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

10. - E2C07

What is the Cabrillo format?

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

11. - E2D10

How can an APRS station be used to help support a public service communications activity?

Select	Answer
A	APRS stations with General Personnel Scanners can automatically relay the participant numbers and time as they pass the check points
B	All these choices are correct
C	An APRS station with a Global Positioning System unit can automatically transmit information to show a mobile station's position during the event
D	An APRS station with an emergency medical technician can automatically transmit medical data to the nearest hospital

12. - E2E07

Which of the following is a possible reason that attempts to initiate contact with a digital station on a clear frequency are unsuccessful?

Select	Answer
A	Your transmit frequency is incorrect
B	All these choices are correct
C	Another station you are unable to hear is using the frequency
D	The protocol version you are using is not supported by the digital station

13. - E3A04

What do Hepburn maps predict?

Select	Answer
A	Locations of auroral reflecting zones
B	Probability of tropospheric propagation
C	Sporadic E propagation
D	Likelihood of rain scatter along cold or warm fronts

14. - E3B07

What happens to linearly polarized radio waves that split into ordinary and extraordinary waves in the ionosphere?

Select	Answer
A	They become elliptically polarized
B	They become phase locked
C	They become depolarized
D	They are bent toward the magnetic poles

15. - E3C10

What does the 304A solar parameter measure?

Select	Answer
A	The solar wind velocity at 304 degrees from the solar equator, correlated to solar activity
B	UV emissions at 304 angstroms, correlated to the solar flux index
C	The solar emission at 304 GHz, correlated to x-ray flare levels
D	The ratio of x-ray flux to radio flux, correlated to sunspot number

16. - E4A05

What is the purpose of the prescaler function on a frequency counter?

Select	Answer
A	It divides a higher frequency signal so a low-frequency counter can display the input frequency
B	It amplifies low-level signals for more accurate counting
C	It multiplies a higher frequency signal so a low-frequency counter can display the operating frequency
D	It prevents oscillation in a low-frequency counter circuit

17. - E4B05

What three test loads are used to calibrate an RF vector network analyzer?

Select	Answer
A	50 ohms, 75 ohms, and 90 ohms
B	50 ohms through 1/8 wavelength, 1/4 wavelength, and 1/2 wavelength of coaxial cable
C	Short circuit, open circuit, and 50 ohms
D	Short circuit, open circuit, and resonant circuit

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	-174 dBm
B	-148 dBm
C	-164 dBm
D	-155 dBm

19. - E4D09

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

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

20. - E4E05

How can radio frequency interference from an AC motor be suppressed?

Select	Answer
A	By installing a high-pass filter in series with the motor's power leads
B	By installing a bypass capacitor in series with the motor leads
C	By installing a brute-force AC-line filter in series with the motor leads
D	By using a ground-fault current interrupter in the circuit used to power the motor

21. - E5A16

What is the resonant frequency of an RLC circuit if R is 33 ohms, L is 50 microhenries and C is 10 picofarads?

Select	Answer
A	7.12 MHz
B	23.5 MHz
C	23.5 kHz
D	7.12 kHz

22. - E5B02

What letter is commonly used to represent susceptance?

Select	Answer
A	G
B	Y
C	X
D	B

23. - E5C11

Which point in Figure E5-1 best represents the impedance of a series circuit consisting of a 300-ohm resistor and an 18-microhenry inductor at 3.505 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	Point 8
B	Point 3
C	Point 1
D	Point 7

24. - E5D06

In what direction is the magnetic field oriented about a conductor in relation to the direction of electron flow?

Select	Answer
A	In a circle around the conductor
B	In all directions; omni-directional
C	In the same direction as the current
D	In a direction opposite to the current

25. - E6A01

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

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

26. - E6B10

In Figure E6-2, what is the schematic symbol for a light-emitting diode?

Select	Answer
A	7
B	1
C	6
D	5

27. - E6C02

What happens when the level of a comparator's input signal crosses the threshold?

Select	Answer
A	The comparator enters latch-up
B	The IC input can be damaged
C	The comparator changes its output state
D	The feedback loop becomes unstable

28. - E6D11

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

Select	Answer
A	Ferrite
B	Ceramic
C	Powdered iron
D	Brass

29. - E6E11

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

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

30. - E6F02

What happens to the conductivity of a photoconductive material when light shines on it?

Select	Answer
A	It decreases
B	It stays the same
C	It increases
D	It becomes unstable

31. - E7A05

Which of the following is a circuit that continuously alternates between two states without an external clock?

Select	Answer
A	T flip-flop
B	Astable multivibrator
C	Monostable multivibrator
D	J-K flip-flop

32. - E7B16

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

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

33. - E7C05

Which filter type is described as having ripple in the passband and a sharp cutoff?

Select	Answer
A	A Chebyshev filter
B	A passive op-amp filter
C	An active LC filter
D	A Butterworth filter

34. - E7D12

What is the dropout voltage of an analog voltage regulator?

Select	Answer
A	Maximum output voltage drops when the input voltage is varied over its specified range
B	Minimum input-to-output voltage required to maintain regulation
C	Maximum that the output voltage may decrease at rated load
D	Minimum input voltage for rated power dissipation

35. - E7E06

Why is de-emphasis commonly used in FM communications receivers?

Select	Answer
A	For compatibility with transmitters using phase modulation
B	To reduce impulse noise reception
C	For higher efficiency
D	To remove third-order distortion products

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

37. - E7G08

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

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

38. - E7H14

What is a phase-locked loop circuit?

Select	Answer
A	An electronic circuit consisting of a precision push-pull amplifier with a differential input
B	An electronic servo loop consisting of a phase detector, a low-pass filter, a voltage-controlled oscillator, and a stable reference oscillator
C	An electronic circuit also known as a monostable multivibrator
D	An electronic servo loop consisting of a ratio detector, reactance modulator, and voltage-controlled oscillator

39. - E8A08

Why would a direct or flash conversion analog-to-digital converter be useful for a software defined radio?

Select	Answer
A	Very low power consumption decreases frequency drift
B	Immunity to out-of-sequence coding reduces spurious responses
C	All these choices are correct
D	Very high speed allows digitizing high frequencies

40. - E8B01

What is the modulation index of an FM signal?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of modulating signal amplitude to frequency deviation
B	The ratio of frequency deviation to modulating signal frequency
C	The type of modulation used by the transmitter
D	The bandwidth of the transmitted signal divided by the modulating signal frequency

41. - E8C07

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

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

42. - E8D10

What are some of the differences between the Baudot digital code and ASCII?

Select	Answer
A	Baudot uses 5 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot uses 2 characters as letters/figures shift codes, ASCII has no letters/figures shift code
B	Baudot uses 6 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot has no letters/figures shift code, ASCII uses 2 letters/figures shift codes
C	Baudot uses 4 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot uses 1 character as a letters/figures shift code, ASCII has no letters/figures code
D	Baudot uses 7 data bits per character, ASCII uses 8; Baudot has no letters/figures shift code, ASCII uses 2 letters/figures shift codes

43. - E9A09

What is antenna efficiency?

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

44. - E9B04

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

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

45. - E9C06

What is the effect of adding a terminating resistor to a rhombic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It reflects the standing waves on the antenna elements back to the transmitter
B	It changes the radiation pattern from bidirectional to unidirectional
C	It changes the radiation pattern from horizontal to vertical polarization
D	It decreases the ground loss

46. - E9D05

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

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

47. - E9E11

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

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

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	8.5 meters
B	10.6 meters
C	13.3 meters
D	7.0 meters

49. - E9G08

What is the process of normalization with regard to a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Reassigning resistance values with regard to the reactance axis
B	Reassigning prime center with regard to the reactance axis
C	Reassigning reactance values with regard to the resistance axis
D	Reassigning impedance values with regard to the prime center

50. - E9H04

What is an advantage of placing a grounded electrostatic shield around a small loop direction-finding antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It eliminates tracking errors caused by strong out-of-band signals
B	It increases signal strength by providing a better match to the feed line
C	It adds capacitive loading, increasing the bandwidth of the antenna
D	It eliminates unbalanced capacitive coupling to the surroundings, improving the nulls

Figure E5-1

Figure E6-2