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

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1. - E0A08

What does SAR measure?

Select	Answer
A	The rate at which RF energy is absorbed by the body
B	Synthetic Aperture Ratio of the human body
C	The rate of RF energy reflected from stationary terrain
D	Signal Amplification Rating

2. - E1A05

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

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

3. - E1B12

What must the control operator of a repeater operating in the 70 cm band do if a radiolocation system experiences interference from that repeater?

Select	Answer
A	Reduce the repeater antenna HAAT (Height Above Average Terrain)
B	File an FAA NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) with the repeater system's ERP, call sign, and six-character grid locator
C	Cease operation or make changes to the repeater to mitigate the interference
D	All these choices are correct

4. - E1C10

What is the permitted mean power of any spurious emission relative to the mean power of the fundamental emission from a station transmitter or external RF amplifier installed after January 1, 2003 and transmitting on a frequency below 30 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	At least 63 dB below
B	At least 73 dB below
C	At least 53 dB below
D	At least 43 dB below

5. - E1D06

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

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

6. - E1E07

What should a VE do if a candidate fails to comply with the examiner's instructions during an amateur operator license examination?

Select	Answer
A	Immediately terminate the candidate's examination
B	Warn the candidate that continued failure to comply will result in termination of the examination
C	Immediately terminate everyone's examination and close the session
D	Allow the candidate to complete the examination, but invalidate the results

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. - E2A06

What are Keplerian elements?

Select	Answer
A	Parameters that define the orbit of a satellite
B	Phase reversing elements in a Yagi antenna
C	High-emission heater filaments used in magnetron tubes
D	Encrypting codes used for spread spectrum modulation

9. - E2B12

What signals SSTV receiving software to begin a new picture line?

Select	Answer
A	Specific tone frequencies
B	Specific tone amplitudes
C	A two-tone signal
D	Elapsed time

10. - E2C07

What is the Cabrillo format?

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

11. - E2D11

Which of the following data are used by the APRS network to communicate station location?

Select	Answer
A	Time and frequency
B	Radio direction finding spectrum analysis
C	Polar coordinates
D	Latitude and longitude

12. - E2E12

How do ALE stations establish contact?

Select	Answer
A	ALE radios send a constant tone code to establish a frequency for future use
B	ALE constantly scans a list of frequencies, activating the radio when the designated call sign is received
C	ALE radios monitor an internet site for the frequency they are being paged on
D	ALE radios activate when they hear their signal echoed by back scatter

13. - E3A05

Tropospheric propagation of microwave signals often occurs in association with what phenomenon?

Select	Answer
A	Sprites and jets
B	Lightning discharges
C	Warm and cold fronts
D	Grayline

14. - E3B01

What is transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Propagation between a point on the equator and its antipodal point
B	Propagation between two mid-latitude points at approximately the same distance north and south of the magnetic equator
C	Propagation between points located on the magnetic equator
D	Propagation between points at the same latitude

15. - E3C08

What does the space weather term G5 mean?

Select	Answer
A	Very low solar activity
B	Waning sunspot numbers
C	An extreme geomagnetic storm
D	Moderate solar wind

16. - E4A11

How should an antenna analyzer be connected when measuring antenna resonance and feed point impedance?

Select	Answer
A	Connect the antenna feed line directly to the analyzer's connector
B	Loosely couple the analyzer near the antenna base
C	Connect the analyzer via a high-impedance transformer to the antenna
D	Loosely couple the antenna and a dummy load to the analyzer

17. - E4B02

What is the significance of voltmeter sensitivity expressed in ohms per volt?

Select	Answer
A	The full scale reading of the voltmeter multiplied by its ohms per volt rating will indicate the input impedance of the voltmeter
B	When used as a galvanometer, the reading in volts multiplied by the ohms per volt rating will determine the power drawn by the device under test
C	When used as an ohmmeter, the reading in ohms divided by the ohms per volt rating will determine the voltage applied to the circuit
D	When used as an ammeter, the full scale reading in amps divided by ohms per volt rating will determine the size of shunt needed

18. - E4C15

What is reciprocal mixing?

Select	Answer
A	Two digital signals combining from alternate time slots
B	Local oscillator phase noise mixing with adjacent strong signals to create interference to desired signals
C	Two out-of-band signals mixing to generate an in-band spurious signal
D	In-phase signals cancelling in a mixer resulting in loss of receiver sensitivity

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 increase rejection of signals outside the desired band
C	To store often-used frequencies
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 high-pass filter in series with the radio's power lead and a low-pass filter in parallel with the field lead
B	By installing filter capacitors in series with the DC power lead and a blocking capacitor in the field lead
C	By connecting the radio's power leads directly to the battery and by installing coaxial capacitors in line with the alternator leads
D	By installing a noise suppression resistor and a blocking capacitor in both leads

21. - E5A09

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

Select	Answer
A	Reactance of either the inductance or capacitance divided by the resistance
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 the inductance multiplied by the reactance of the capacitance

22. - E5B12

What is admittance?

Select	Answer
A	The turns ratio of a transformer
B	The inverse of impedance
C	The term for the gain of a field effect transistor
D	The inverse of Q factor

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 7
C	Point 1
D	Point 3

24. - E5D03

What is microstrip?

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

25. - E6A09

What is a depletion-mode FET?

Select	Answer
A	An FET that has no current flow between source and drain when no gate voltage is applied
B	Any FET without a channel
C	An FET that exhibits a current flow between source and drain when no gate voltage is applied
D	Any FET for which holes are the majority carriers

26. - E6B09

What is a common use for point-contact diodes?

Select	Answer
A	As a constant voltage source
B	As a high-voltage rectifier
C	As an RF detector
D	As a constant current source

27. - E6C03

What is tri-state logic?

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

28. - E6D13

What is the primary cause of inductor self-resonance?

Select	Answer
A	Inter-turn capacitance
B	Non-linear core hysteresis
C	Inductive kickback
D	The skin effect

29. - E6E07

What type of transmission line is used for connections to MMICs?

Select	Answer
A	Circular waveguide
B	Parallel wire
C	Miniature coax
D	Microstrip

30. - E6F05

Which describes an optical shaft encoder?

Select	Answer
A	A digital encryption device often used to encrypt spacecraft control signals
B	A device that measures the strength of a beam of light using analog to digital conversion
C	A device that detects rotation of a control by interrupting a light source with a patterned wheel
D	A device for generating RTTY signals by means of a rotating light source

31. - E7A02

What is the function of a decade counter?

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

32. - E7B01

For what portion of the signal cycle does each active element in a push-pull Class AB amplifier conduct?

Select	Answer
A	Exactly 180 degrees
B	Less than 180 degrees
C	More than 180 degrees but less than 360 degrees
D	The entire cycle

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

34. - E7D05

Which of the following types of linear voltage regulator places a constant load on the unregulated voltage source?

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

35. - E7E10

How does a diode envelope detector function?

Select	Answer
A	By mixing signals with noise in the transition region of the diode
B	By sensing the change of reactance in the diode with respect to frequency
C	By breakdown of the Zener voltage
D	By rectification and filtering of RF signals

36. - E7F07

What function is performed by a Fast Fourier Transform?

Select	Answer
A	Converting 8-bit data to 16-bit data
B	Converting analog signals to digital form
C	Converting digital signals to analog form
D	Converting digital signals from the time domain to the frequency domain

37. - E7G07

What magnitude of voltage gain can be expected from the circuit in Figure E73 when R1 is 10 ohms and RF is 470 ohms?

Select	Answer
A	94
B	24
C	0.21
D	47

38. - E7H11

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

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

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. - E8B06

What is the deviation ratio of an FM-phone signal having a maximum frequency swing of plus or minus 7.5 kHz when the maximum modulation frequency is 3.5 kHz?

Select	Answer
A	0.214
B	2.14
C	0.47
D	47

41. - E8C12

What factors affect the bandwidth of a transmitted CW signal?

Select	Answer
A	Modulation index and output power
B	Keying speed and shape factor (rise and fall time)
C	IF bandwidth and Q
D	All these choices are correct

42. - E8D07

What is a common cause of overmodulation of AFSK signals?

Select	Answer
A	Bit errors in the modem
B	Ground loops
C	Excessive numbers of retries
D	Excessive transmit audio levels

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	8.15 dB
B	6.0 dB
C	2.79 dB
D	3.85 dB

44. - E9B01

In the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-1, what is the beamwidth?

Select	Answer
A	50 degrees
B	30 degrees
C	75 degrees
D	25 degrees

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. - E9D07

What is an advantage of using top loading in a shortened HF vertical antenna?

Select	Answer
A	Improved radiation efficiency
B	Greater structural strength
C	Higher losses
D	Lower Q

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

48. - E9F02

Which of the following has the biggest effect on the velocity factor of a transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	The line length
B	Dielectric materials used in the line
C	The termination impedance
D	The center conductor resistivity

49. - E9G10

What do the arcs on a Smith chart represent?

Select	Answer
A	Points with constant resistance
B	Points with constant reactance
C	SWR
D	Frequency

50. - E9H10

How can the output voltage of a multiple-turn receiving loop antenna be increased?

Select	Answer
A	By utilizing high impedance wire for the coupling loop
B	By reducing the permeability of the loop shield
C	By increasing the number of turns and/or the area
D	By winding adjacent turns in opposing directions

Figure E5-1

Figure E9-1