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

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1. - E0A03

Over what range of frequencies are the FCC human body RF exposure limits most restrictive?

Select	Answer
A	3 to 30 MHz
B	30 to 300 MHz
C	300 to 3000 MHz
D	300 kHz to 3 MHz

2. - E1A11

Which of the following describes authorization or licensing required when operating an amateur station aboard a U.S.-registered vessel in international waters?

Select	Answer
A	Any FCC-issued amateur license
B	Only General Class or higher amateur licenses
C	An unrestricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit
D	Any amateur license with an FCC Marine or Aircraft endorsement

3. - E1B01

Which of the following constitutes a spurious emission?

Select	Answer
A	An amateur station transmission made without the proper call sign identification
B	An emission outside the signal's necessary bandwidth that can be reduced or eliminated without affecting the information transmitted
C	Any transmitted signal that unintentionally interferes with another licensed radio station
D	A signal transmitted to prevent its detection by any station other than the intended recipient

4. - E1C08

What is the maximum permissible duration of a remotely controlled station's transmissions if its control link malfunctions?

Select	Answer
A	10 minutes
B	30 seconds
C	3 minutes
D	5 minutes

5. - E1D07

Which HF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

Select	Answer
A	Only the 40, 20, 17, 15, and 10 meter bands
B	All HF bands
C	Only the 40, 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10 meter bands
D	Only the 40, 30, 20, 15, 12, and 10 meter bands

6. - E1E10

What must the administering VEs do after the administration of a successful examination for an amateur operator license?

Select	Answer
A	They must submit the application document to the coordinating VEC according to the coordinating VEC instructions
B	They must collect and send the documents to the FCC according to instructions
C	They must collect and send the documents to the NCVEC for grading
D	They must collect and submit the documents to the coordinating VEC for grading

7. - E1F09

Which of the following conditions apply when transmitting spread spectrum emissions?

Select	Answer
A	A station transmitting SS emission must not cause harmful interference to other stations employing other authorized emissions
B	All these choices are correct
C	The transmission must not be used to obscure the meaning of any communication
D	The transmitting station must be in an area regulated by the FCC or in a country that permits SS emissions

8. - E2A05

What do the letters in a satellite's mode designator specify?

Select	Answer
A	The polarization of uplink and downlink signals
B	The uplink and downlink frequency ranges
C	The location of the ground control station
D	Power limits for uplink and downlink transmissions

9. - E2B07

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

Select	Answer
A	Spectral intensity
B	Hue
C	Chroma
D	Luminance

10. - E2C10

Why might a DX station state that they are listening on another frequency?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	To separate the calling stations from the DX station
C	To improve operating efficiency by reducing interference
D	Because the DX station may be transmitting on a frequency that is prohibited to some responding stations

11. - E2D09

What type of modulation is used for JT65 contacts?

Select	Answer
A	RTTY
B	IEEE 802.11
C	PSK
D	Multi-tone AFSK

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 mark and space signal have been inverted
C	The receiver has drifted 5 kHz from the desired receive frequency
D	Selective fading has occurred

13. - E3A08

When a meteor strikes the Earth's atmosphere, a cylindrical region of free electrons is formed at what layer of the ionosphere?

Select	Answer
A	The E layer
B	The F1 layer
C	The D layer
D	The F2 layer

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 solstices, especially the winter solstice
C	Around the solstices, especially the summer solstice
D	Around the equinoxes, especially the spring equinox

15. - E3C10

What does the 304A solar parameter measure?

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

16. - E4A07

Which of the following is an advantage of using an antenna analyzer compared to an SWR bridge to measure antenna SWR?

Select	Answer
A	Antenna analyzers do not need an external RF source
B	Antenna analyzers automatically tune your antenna for resonance
C	All these choices are correct
D	Antenna analyzers display a time-varying representation of the modulation envelope

17. - E4B05

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

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

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. - E4D12

What is the term for the reduction in receiver sensitivity caused by a strong signal near the received frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Cross-modulation interference
B	Squelch gain rollback
C	Quieting
D	Desensitization

20. - E4E03

Which of the following signals might a receiver noise blanker be able to remove from desired signals?

Select	Answer
A	Signals that appear across a wide bandwidth
B	Signals that have a sharply peaked frequency distribution
C	Signals that appear at one IF but not another
D	Signals that are constant at all IF levels

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. - E5B11

What is the phase angle between the voltage across and the current through a series RLC circuit if XC is 25 ohms, R is 100 ohms, and XL is 50 ohms?

Select	Answer
A	14 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
B	14 degrees with the voltage leading the current
C	76 degrees with the voltage leading the current
D	76 degrees with the voltage lagging the current

23. - E5C08

What coordinate system is often used to display the phase angle of a circuit containing resistance, inductive and/or capacitive reactance?

Select	Answer
A	Maidenhead grid
B	Elliptical coordinates
C	Polar coordinates
D	Faraday grid

24. - E5D02

Why is it important to keep lead lengths short for components used in circuits for VHF and above?

Select	Answer
A	To maintain component lifetime
B	All these choices are correct
C	To avoid unwanted inductive reactance
D	To increase the thermal time constant

25. - E6A02

Which of the following semiconductor materials contains excess free electrons?

Select	Answer
A	Bipolar
B	P-type
C	Insulated gate
D	N-type

26. - E6B08

Which of the following is a Schottky barrier diode?

Select	Answer
A	PIN junction
B	Thermionic emission diode
C	Metal-semiconductor junction
D	Electrolytic rectifier

27. - E6C09

What is a Programmable Logic Device (PLD)?

Select	Answer
A	A logic circuit that can be modified during use
B	A programmable collection of logic gates and circuits in a single integrated circuit
C	A type of transistor whose gain can be changed by digital logic circuits
D	Programmable equipment used for testing digital logic integrated circuits

28. - E6D07

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

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

29. - E6E05

Which of the following noise figure values is typical of a low-noise UHF preamplifier?

Select	Answer
A	-20 dBm
B	2 dB
C	44 dBm
D	-10 dB

30. - E6F11

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

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

31. - E7A03

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

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

32. - E7B09

Which of the following describes how the loading and tuning capacitors are to be adjusted when tuning a vacuum tube RF power amplifier that employs a Pi-network output circuit?

Select	Answer
A	The tuning capacitor is adjusted for minimum plate current, and the loading capacitor is adjusted for maximum permissible plate current
B	The tuning capacitor is set to maximum capacitance and the loading capacitor is adjusted for minimum plate permissible current
C	The loading capacitor is set to maximum capacitance and the tuning capacitor is adjusted for minimum allowable plate current
D	The loading capacitor is adjusted to minimum plate current while alternately adjusting the tuning capacitor for maximum allowable plate current

33. - E7C10

Which of the following filters would be the best choice for use in a 2 meter band repeater duplexer?

Select	Answer
A	An L-C filter
B	A crystal filter
C	A DSP filter
D	A cavity filter

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

35. - E7E02

What is the function of a reactance modulator?

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

36. - E7F04

What is a common method of generating an SSB signal using digital signal processing?

Select	Answer
A	A frequency synthesizer removes the unwanted sidebands
B	Signals are combined in quadrature phase relationship
C	Varying quartz crystal characteristics emulated in digital form
D	Mixing products are converted to voltages and subtracted by adder circuits

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	Restrict Q but increase gain
D	Increase both gain and Q

38. - E7H06

Which of the following oscillator circuits are commonly used in VFOs?

Select	Answer
A	Pierce and Zener
B	Negative feedback and balanced feedback
C	Armstrong and deForest
D	Colpitts and Hartley

39. - E8A07

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

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

40. - E8B09

What is deviation ratio?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of the carrier center frequency to the audio modulating frequency
B	The ratio of the highest audio modulating frequency to the average audio modulating frequency
C	The ratio of the maximum carrier frequency deviation to the highest audio modulating frequency
D	The ratio of the audio modulating frequency to the center carrier frequency

41. - E8C08

How does ARQ accomplish error correction?

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

42. - E8D06

What is the advantage of including parity bits in ASCII characters?

Select	Answer
A	Faster transmission rate
B	Some types of errors can be detected
C	Foreign language characters can be sent
D	The signal can overpower interfering signals

43. - E9A12

How much gain does an antenna have compared to a 1/2-wavelength dipole when it has 6 dB gain over an isotropic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	6.0 dB
B	2.79 dB
C	3.85 dB
D	8.15 dB

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 computed feed point impedance may be incorrect
B	The antenna will become mechanically unstable
C	The resulting design will favor radiation of harmonic energy
D	Ground conductivity will not be accurately modeled

45. - E9C12

Which of the following describes an Extended Double Zepp antenna?

Select	Answer
A	An end-fed folded dipole antenna
B	A center-fed 1.25-wavelength antenna (two 5/8-wave elements in phase)
C	A wideband vertical antenna constructed from precisely tapered aluminum tubing
D	A portable antenna erected using two push support poles

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 increased
D	It is decreased

47. - E9E10

Which of these choices is an effective way to match an antenna with a 100-ohm feed point impedance to a 50-ohm coaxial cable feed line?

Select	Answer
A	Connect a 1/4-wavelength open stub of 300-ohm twinlead in parallel with the coaxial feed line where it connects to the antenna
B	Insert a 1/4-wavelength piece of 75-ohm coaxial cable transmission line in series between the antenna terminals and the 50-ohm feed cable
C	Insert a 1/2 wavelength piece of 300-ohm twinlead in series between the antenna terminals and the 50-ohm feed cable
D	Connect a 1/2 wavelength shorted stub of 75-ohm cable in parallel with the 50-ohm cable where it attaches to the antenna

48. - E9F03

Why is the physical length of a coaxial cable transmission line shorter than its electrical length?

Select	Answer
A	The characteristic impedance is higher in a parallel feed line
B	The surge impedance is higher in a parallel feed line
C	Electrical signals move more slowly in a coaxial cable than in air
D	Skin effect is less pronounced in the coaxial cable

49. - E9G02

What type of coordinate system is used in a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Resistance circles and reactance arcs
B	Resistance lines and reactance chords
C	Voltage circles and current arcs
D	Voltage lines and current chords

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