US Amateur Radio - Amateur Extra (Element 4, 2016-2020) Practice Test

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1. - E1A09

What is the first action you should take if your digital message forwarding station inadvertently forwards a communication that violates FCC rules?

Select	Answer
A	Notify the originating station that the communication does not comply with FCC rules
B	Discontinue forwarding the communication as soon as you become aware of it
C	Discontinue forwarding all messages
D	Notify the nearest FCC Field Engineer's office

2. - E1B01

Which of the following constitutes a spurious emission?

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

3. - E1C02

What is meant by automatic control of a station?

Select	Answer
A	Remotely controlling a station's antenna pattern through a directional control link
B	The use of a control link between a control point and a locally controlled station
C	The use of devices and procedures for control so that the control operator does not have to be present at a control point
D	A station operating with its output power controlled automatically

4. - E1D06

Which of the following is a requirement of a space station?

Select	Answer
A	The space station must be capable of terminating transmissions by telecommand when directed by the FCC
B	All of these choices are correct
C	The space station must be capable of changing its orbit whenever such a change is ordered by NASA
D	The space station must cease all transmissions after 5 years

5. - E1E03

What is a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator?

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

6. - E1F08

Which of the following types of amateur station communications are prohibited?

Select	Answer
A	Communications that have a political content, except as allowed by the Fairness Doctrine
B	Communications transmitted for hire or material compensation, except as otherwise provided in the rules
C	Communications that have a religious content
D	Communications in a language other than English

7. - E2A12

What is one way to predict the location of a satellite at a given time?

Select	Answer
A	By subtracting the mean anomaly from the orbital inclination
B	By adding the mean anomaly to the orbital inclination
C	By means of the Doppler data for the specified satellite
D	By calculations using the Keplerian elements for the specified satellite

8. - E2B18

On which of the following frequencies is one likely to find FM ATV transmissions?

Select	Answer
A	29.6 MHz
B	52.525 MHz
C	1255 MHz
D	14.230 MHz

9. - E2C11

How should you generally identify your station when attempting to contact a DX station during a contest or in a pileup?

Select	Answer
A	Send the call sign of the DX station three times, the words "this is", then your call sign three times
B	Send your full call sign and grid square
C	Send your full call sign once or twice
D	Send only the last two letters of your call sign until you make contact

10. - E2D07

What digital protocol is used by APRS?

Select	Answer
A	AMTOR
B	AX.25
C	802.11
D	PACTOR

11. - E2E03

How is the timing of JT65 contacts organized?

Select	Answer
A	Stations take turns on alternate days
B	By exchanging ACK/NAK packets
C	It depends on the lunar phase
D	Alternating transmissions at 1 minute intervals

12. - E3A10

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

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

13. - E3B09

At what time of year is Sporadic E propagation most likely to occur?

Select	Answer
A	Around the solstices, especially the winter solstice
B	Around the equinoxes, especially the fall equinox
C	Around the solstices, especially the summer solstice
D	Around the equinoxes, especially the spring equinox

14. - E3C02

What is indicated by a rising A or K index?

Select	Answer
A	Decreasing disruption of the geomagnetic field
B	Increasing disruption of the geomagnetic field
C	An increase in the critical frequency
D	Higher levels of solar UV radiation

15. - E4A10

Which of the following displays multiple digital signal states simultaneously?

Select	Answer
A	Modulation monitor
B	Logic analyzer
C	Bit error rate tester
D	Network analyzer

16. - E4B11

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

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

17. - E4C16

Which of the following is caused by missing codes in an SDR receiver's analog-to-digital converter?

Select	Answer
A	Excess output level
B	Distortion
C	Loss of sensitivity
D	Overload

18. - E4D05

What transmitter frequencies would cause an intermodulation-product signal in a receiver tuned to 146.70 MHz when a nearby station transmits on 146.52 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	146.10 MHz and 147.30 MHz
B	146.88 MHz and 146.34 MHz
C	146.34 MHz and 146.61 MHz
D	173.35 MHz and 139.40 MHz

19. - E4E03

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

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

20. - E5A13

What is an effect of increasing Q in a resonant circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Fewer components are needed for the same performance
B	Parasitic effects are minimized
C	Internal voltages and circulating currents increase
D	Phase shift can become uncontrolled

21. - 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	76 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
B	14 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
C	14 degrees with the voltage leading the current
D	76 degrees with the voltage leading the current

22. - E5C11

What do the two numbers that are used to define a point on a graph using rectangular coordinates represent?

Select	Answer
A	The magnitude and phase of the point
B	The coordinate values along the horizontal and vertical axes
C	The tangent and cotangent values
D	The sine and cosine values

23. - E5D09

What happens to reactive power in an AC circuit that has both ideal inductors and ideal capacitors?

Select	Answer
A	It is dissipated as heat in the circuit
B	It is dissipated as kinetic energy in the circuit
C	It is dissipated in the formation of inductive and capacitive fields
D	It is repeatedly exchanged between the associated magnetic and electric fields, but is not dissipated

24. - E6A01

In what application is gallium arsenide used as a semiconductor material in preference to germanium or silicon?

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

25. - E6B12

What is one common use for PIN diodes?

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

26. - E6C09

What is a Programmable Logic Device (PLD)?

Select	Answer
A	A programmable collection of logic gates and circuits in a single integrated circuit
B	An algorithm for simulating logic functions during circuit design
C	A device to control industrial equipment
D	Programmable equipment used for testing digital logic integrated circuits

27. - E6D13

What is the primary cause of inductor self-resonance?

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

28. - E6E12

Why are high-power RF amplifier ICs and transistors sometimes mounted in ceramic packages?

Select	Answer
A	Enhanced sensitivity to light
B	High-voltage insulating ability
C	Better dissipation of heat
D	To provide a low-pass frequency response

29. - E6F06

Which of these materials is affected the most by photoconductivity?

Select	Answer
A	An ordinary metal
B	A liquid semiconductor
C	A heavy metal
D	A crystalline semiconductor

30. - E7A11

What type of logic defines "1" as a high voltage?

Select	Answer
A	Negative logic
B	Reverse Logic
C	Positive Logic
D	Assertive Logic

31. - E7B16

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

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

32. - E7C11

Which of the following is the common name for a filter network which is equivalent to two L-networks connected back-to-back with the two inductors in series and the capacitors in shunt at the input and output?

Select	Answer
A	Omega
B	Pi-L
C	Pi
D	Cascode

33. - E7D15

What is the purpose of a "step-start" circuit in a high voltage power supply?

Select	Answer
A	To allow the filter capacitors to charge gradually
B	To compensate for variations of the incoming line voltage
C	To provide a dual-voltage output for reduced power applications
D	To allow for remote control of the power supply

34. - E7E08

What are the principal frequencies that appear at the output of a mixer circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Two and four times the original frequency
B	The two input frequencies along with their sum and difference frequencies
C	1.414 and 0.707 times the input frequency
D	The sum, difference and square root of the input frequencies

35. - E7F08

What is the function of decimation with regard to digital filters?

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

36. - E7G10

What absolute voltage gain can be expected from the circuit in Figure E7-4 when R1 is 1800 ohms and RF is 68 kilohms?

Select	Answer
A	0.03
B	76
C	1
D	38

37. - E7H10

What information is contained in the lookup table of a direct digital frequency synthesizer?

Select	Answer
A	The amplitude values that represent a sine-wave output
B	The phase relationship between a reference oscillator and the output waveform
C	The synthesizer frequency limits and frequency values stored in the radio memories
D	The phase relationship between a voltage-controlled oscillator and the output waveform

38. - E8A07

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

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

39. - E8B11

What is digital time division multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	Two or more signals are arranged to share discrete time slots of a data transmission
B	Two or more signals are quadrature modulated to increase bandwidth efficiency
C	Two or more data streams are assigned to discrete sub-carriers on an FM transmitter
D	Two or more data streams share the same channel by transmitting time of transmission as the sub-carrier

40. - E8C01

How is Forward Error Correction implemented?

Select	Answer
A	By varying the frequency shift of the transmitted signal according to a predefined algorithm
B	By transmitting extra data that may be used to detect and correct transmission errors
C	By the receiving station repeating each block of three data characters
D	By transmitting a special algorithm to the receiving station along with the data characters

41. - E8D08

What parameter might indicate that excessively high input levels are causing distortion in an AFSK signal?

Select	Answer
A	Intermodulation Distortion (IMD)
B	Repeat Request Rate (RRR)
C	Baud rate
D	Signal to noise ratio

42. - E9A09

How is antenna efficiency calculated?

Select	Answer
A	(effective radiated power / transmitter output) x 100 percent
B	(total resistance / radiation resistance) x 100 per cent
C	(radiation resistance / transmission resistance) x 100 per cent
D	(radiation resistance / total resistance) x 100 per cent

43. - E9B05

What type of antenna pattern over real ground is shown in Figure E9-2?

Select	Answer
A	Elevation
B	Polarization
C	Radiation resistance
D	Azimuth

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

45. - E9D05

What is a disadvantage of using a multiband trapped antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It is too sharply directional at lower frequencies
B	It might radiate harmonics
C	It must be neutralized
D	It radiates the harmonics and fundamental equally well

46. - E9E04

What is the purpose of the series capacitor in a gamma-type antenna matching network?

Select	Answer
A	To provide a rejection notch that prevents the radiation of harmonics
B	To transform the antenna impedance to a higher value
C	To cancel the inductive reactance of the matching network
D	To provide DC isolation between the feed line and the antenna

47. - E9F08

What is the term for the ratio of the actual speed at which a signal travels through a transmission line to the speed of light in a vacuum?

Select	Answer
A	Characteristic impedance
B	Standing wave ratio
C	Surge impedance
D	Velocity factor

48. - E9G10

What do the arcs on a Smith chart represent?

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

49. - E9H09

Which of the following describes the construction of a receiving loop antenna?

Select	Answer
A	One or more turns of wire wound in the shape of a large open coil
B	A vertical antenna coupled to a feed line through an inductive loop of wire
C	A large circularly polarized antenna
D	A small coil of wire tightly wound around a toroidal ferrite core

50. - E0A03

Which of the following would be a practical way to estimate whether the RF fields produced by an amateur radio station are within permissible MPE limits?

Select	Answer
A	Use an antenna modeling program to calculate field strength at accessible locations
B	Use a hand calculator plus Smith-chart equations to calculate the fields
C	Use a calibrated antenna analyzer
D	All of the choices are correct

Figure E7-4

Figure E9-2