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

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1. - 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 operators of all the stations in the system
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 operator of the packet bulletin board station

2. - E1B05

What is the National Radio Quiet Zone?

Select	Answer
A	An area in New Mexico surrounding the White Sands Test Area
B	An area in Florida surrounding Cape Canaveral
C	An area surrounding the National Radio Astronomy Observatory
D	An area in Puerto Rico surrounding the Arecibo Radio Telescope

3. - 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 of these choices are correct
B	CEPT agreement
C	IARP agreement
D	ITU reciprocal license

4. - E1D07

Which amateur service HF bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

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

5. - E1E12

What must the VE team do with the application form if the examinee does not pass the exam?

Select	Answer
A	Send the application form to the FCC and inform the FCC of the grade
B	Return the application document to the examinee
C	Maintain the application form with the VEC's records
D	Destroy the application form

6. - 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	53 MHz - 54 MHz
B	440 MHz - 450 MHz
C	420 MHz - 430 MHz
D	222 MHz - 223 MHz

7. - E2A07

Which of the following types of signals can be relayed through a linear transponder?

Select	Answer
A	FM and CW
B	All of these choices are correct
C	PSK and Packet
D	SSB and SSTV

8. - E2B09

What hardware, other than a receiver with SSB capability and a suitable computer, is needed to decode SSTV using Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM)?

Select	Answer
A	No other hardware is needed
B	A special notch filter to remove synchronization pulses
C	A special front end limiter
D	A special IF converter

9. - E2C09

What type of equipment is commonly used to implement a ham radio mesh network?

Select	Answer
A	An optical cable connection between the USB ports of 2 separate computers
B	A standard wireless router running custom software
C	A 2 meter VHF transceiver with a 1200 baud modem
D	A 440 MHz transceiver with a 9600 baud modem

10. - E2D03

Which of the following digital modes is especially useful for EME communications?

Select	Answer
A	JT65
B	PACTOR III
C	Olivia
D	FSK441

11. - E2E13

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

12. - E3A02

What characterizes libration fading of an EME signal?

Select	Answer
A	The returning echo is several Hertz lower in frequency than the transmitted signal
B	A gradual loss of signal as the Sun rises
C	A fluttery irregular fading
D	A slow change in the pitch of the CW signal

13. - E3B11

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

Select	Answer
A	Around sunset
B	Around sunrise
C	Any time
D	Early evening

14. - E3C07

Which of the following descriptors indicates the greatest solar flare intensity?

Select	Answer
A	Class A
B	Class X
C	Class M
D	Class B

15. - E4A09

When using a computer's soundcard input to digitize signals, what is the highest frequency signal that can be digitized without aliasing?

Select	Answer
A	One-tenth the sample rate
B	The same as the sample rate
C	It depends on how the data is stored internally
D	One-half the sample rate

16. - E4B05

If a frequency counter with a specified accuracy of +/- 10 ppm reads 146,520,000 Hz, what is the most the actual frequency being measured could differ from the reading?

Select	Answer
A	10 Hz
B	1465.20 Hz
C	146.52 kHz
D	146.52 Hz

17. - E4C10

Which of the following is a desirable amount of selectivity for an amateur RTTY HF receiver?

Select	Answer
A	300 Hz
B	2400 Hz
C	100 Hz
D	6000 Hz

18. - E4D02

Which of the following describes two problems caused by poor dynamic range in a communications receiver?

Select	Answer
A	Oscillator instability and severe audio distortion of all but the strongest received signals
B	Cross-modulation of the desired signal and desensitization from strong adjacent signals
C	Oscillator instability requiring frequent retuning and loss of ability to recover the opposite sideband
D	Cross-modulation of the desired signal and insufficient audio power to operate the speaker

19. - E4E01

Which of the following types of receiver noise can often be reduced by use of a receiver noise blanker?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	Ignition noise
C	Heterodyne interference
D	Broadband white noise

20. - E5A14

What is the resonant frequency of a series RLC circuit if R is 22 ohms, L is 50 microhenrys and C is 40 picofarads?

Select	Answer
A	1.78 MHz
B	3.56 MHz
C	22.36 MHz
D	44.72 MHz

21. - E5B04

What is the time constant of a circuit having two 220 microfarad capacitors and two 1 megohm resistors, all in parallel?

Select	Answer
A	440 seconds
B	55 seconds
C	110 seconds
D	220 seconds

22. - E5C06

What does the impedance 50-j25 represent?

Select	Answer
A	25 ohms resistance in series with 50 ohms inductive reactance
B	50 ohms resistance in series with 25 ohms inductive reactance
C	25 ohms resistance in series with 50 ohms capacitive reactance
D	50 ohms resistance in series with 25 ohms capacitive reactance

23. - E5D15

What is the power factor of an R-L circuit having a 45 degree phase angle between the voltage and the current?

Select	Answer
A	1.0
B	0.5
C	0.707
D	0.866

24. - E6A05

What is the alpha of a bipolar junction transistor?

Select	Answer
A	The change of base current with respect to collector current
B	The change of collector current with respect to emitter current
C	The change of collector current with respect to base current
D	The change of collector current with respect to gate current

25. - E6B08

Which of the following describes a type of semiconductor diode?

Select	Answer
A	Metal-semiconductor junction
B	Electrolytic rectifier
C	Thermionic emission diode
D	CMOS-field effect

26. - E6C09

What is a Programmable Logic Device (PLD)?

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

27. - E6D08

What is one reason for using powdered-iron cores rather than ferrite cores in an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Powdered-iron cores use smaller diameter wire for the same inductance
B	Powdered-iron cores generally require fewer turns to produce a given inductance
C	Powdered-iron cores generally have greater initial permeability
D	Powdered-iron cores generally maintain their characteristics at higher currents

28. - E6E02

Which of the following device packages is a through-hole type?

Select	Answer
A	PLCC
B	Ball grid array
C	SOT
D	DIP

29. - E6F06

Which of these materials is affected the most by photoconductivity?

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

30. - E7A02

What is the function of a decade counter digital IC?

Select	Answer
A	It decodes a decimal number for display on a seven segment LED display
B	It adds two decimal numbers together
C	It produces ten output pulses for every input pulse
D	It produces one output pulse for every ten input pulses

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

32. - E7C12

Which describes a Pi-L-network used for matching a vacuum tube final amplifier to a 50 ohm unbalanced output?

Select	Answer
A	A network with only three discrete parts
B	A Phase Inverter Load network
C	A Pi-network with an additional series inductor on the output
D	A matching network in which all components are isolated from ground

33. - E7D11

What circuit element is controlled by a series analog voltage regulator to maintain a constant output voltage?

Select	Answer
A	Switching inductance
B	Pass transistor
C	Error amplifier
D	Reference voltage

34. - E7E08

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

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

35. - E7F01

What is meant by direct digital conversion as applied to software defined radios?

Select	Answer
A	Incoming RF is converted to a control voltage for a voltage controlled oscillator
B	Software is converted from source code to object code during operation of the receiver
C	A switching mixer is used to generate I and Q signals directly from the RF input
D	Incoming RF is digitized by an analog-to-digital converter without being mixed with a local oscillator signal

36. - E7G02

What is the effect of ringing in a filter?

Select	Answer
A	A reduction in high frequency response
B	An echo caused by a long time delay
C	Partial cancellation of the signal over a range of frequencies
D	Undesired oscillations added to the desired signal

37. - E7H02

Which describes a microphonic?

Select	Answer
A	Changes in oscillator frequency due to mechanical vibration
B	An IC used for amplifying microphone signals
C	Excess loading of the microphone by an oscillator
D	Distortion caused by RF pickup on the microphone cable

38. - E8A13

Which of these methods is commonly used to convert analog signals to digital signals?

Select	Answer
A	Level shifting
B	Harmonic regeneration
C	Phase reversal
D	Sequential sampling

39. - E8B08

What describes Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	A digital modulation technique using subcarriers at frequencies chosen to avoid intersymbol interference
B	A bandwidth compression technique using Fourier transforms
C	A digital mode for narrow band, slow speed transmissions
D	A frequency modulation technique which uses non-harmonically related frequencies

40. - E8C01

How is Forward Error Correction implemented?

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

41. - E8D03

How does the spread spectrum technique of frequency hopping work?

Select	Answer
A	The frequency of the transmitted signal is changed very rapidly according to a particular sequence also used by the receiving station
B	A pseudo-random binary bit stream is used to shift the phase of an RF carrier very rapidly in a particular sequence
C	If interference is detected by the receiver it will signal the transmitter to wait until the frequency is clear
D	If interference is detected by the receiver it will signal the transmitter to change frequencies

42. - E9A17

What is the effective radiated power of a repeater station with 200 watts transmitter power output, 2 dB feed line loss, 2.8 dB duplexer loss, 1.2 dB circulator loss, and 7 dBi antenna gain?

Select	Answer
A	632 watts
B	159 watts
C	63.2 watts
D	252 watts

43. - E9B14

What type of information can be obtained by submitting the details of a proposed new antenna to a modeling program?

Select	Answer
A	SWR vs frequency charts
B	All of these choices are correct
C	Antenna gain
D	Polar plots of the far field elevation and azimuth patterns

44. - E9C15

How does the radiation pattern of a horizontally polarized 3-element beam antenna vary with its height above ground?

Select	Answer
A	The horizontal beam width decreases with height
B	The main lobe takeoff angle decreases with increasing height
C	The horizontal beam width increases with height
D	The main lobe takeoff angle increases with increasing height

45. - E9D12

Which of the following would provide the best RF ground for your station?

Select	Answer
A	A 50 ohm resistor connected to ground
B	An electrically short connection to 3 or 4 interconnected ground rods driven into the Earth
C	An electrically short connection to 3 or 4 interconnected ground rods via a series RF choke
D	An electrically short connection to a metal water pipe

46. - E9E04

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

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

47. - E9F16

Which of the following is a significant difference between foam dielectric coaxial cable and solid dielectric cable, assuming all other parameters are the same?

Select	Answer
A	Foam dielectric has lower safe operating voltage limits
B	All of these choices are correct
C	Foam dielectric has higher velocity factor
D	Foam dielectric has lower loss per unit of length

48. - E9G01

Which of the following can be calculated using a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Antenna radiation pattern
B	Impedance along transmission lines
C	Radiation resistance
D	Radio propagation

49. - E9H05

What is the main drawback of a wire-loop antenna for direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	It is practical for use only on VHF bands
B	It is non-rotatable
C	It has a bidirectional pattern
D	It receives equally well in all directions

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