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

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1. - E1A04

With your transceiver displaying the carrier frequency of phone signals, you hear a DX station calling CQ on 3.601 MHz LSB. Is it legal to return the call using lower sideband on the same frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Yes, because the DX station initiated the contact
B	Yes, because the displayed frequency is within the 75 meter phone band segment
C	No, the sideband will extend beyond the edge of the phone band segment
D	No, U.S. stations are not permitted to use phone emissions below 3.610 MHz

2. - E1B07

What is the highest modulation index permitted at the highest modulation frequency for angle modulation below 29.0 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	2.0
B	1.0
C	3.0
D	0.5

3. - E1C10

What types of amateur stations may automatically retransmit the radio signals of other amateur stations?

Select	Answer
A	Only beacon, repeater or space stations
B	Only earth stations, repeater stations or model craft
C	Only auxiliary, repeater or space stations
D	Only auxiliary, beacon or space stations

4. - E1D11

Which amateur stations are eligible to operate as Earth stations?

Select	Answer
A	Any amateur station, subject to the privileges of the class of operator license held by the control operator
B	Any amateur station whose licensee has filed a pre-space notification with the FCC's International Bureau
C	Only those of Amateur Extra Class operators
D	Only those of General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators

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

6. - E1F10

What is the maximum permitted transmitter peak envelope power for an amateur station transmitting spread spectrum communications?

Select	Answer
A	10 W
B	1 W
C	1.5 kW
D	1.5 W

7. - E2A06

On what band would a satellite receive signals if it were operating in mode U/V?

Select	Answer
A	144 MHz - 146 MHz
B	29.5 MHz - 29.7 MHz
C	50.0 MHz - 50.2 MHz
D	435 MHz - 438 MHz

8. - E2B08

Which of the following is a common method of transmitting accompanying audio with amateur fast-scan television?

Select	Answer
A	Frequency modulation of the video carrier
B	Frequency-modulated sub-carrier
C	A separate VHF or UHF audio link
D	All of these choices are correct

9. - E2C12

What might help to restore contact when DX signals become too weak to copy across an entire HF band a few hours after sunset?

Select	Answer
A	Wait 90 minutes or so for the signal degradation to pass
B	Wait 24 hours before attempting another communication on the band
C	Switch to a higher frequency HF band
D	Switch to a lower frequency HF band

10. - E2D06

Which of the following describes a method of establishing EME contacts?

Select	Answer
A	Time synchronous transmissions alternately from each station
B	Judging optimum transmission times by monitoring beacons reflected from the Moon
C	High speed CW identification to avoid fading
D	Storing and forwarding digital messages

11. - E2E11

What is the difference between direct FSK and audio FSK?

Select	Answer
A	Audio FSK has a superior frequency response
B	Audio FSK can be performed anywhere in the transmit chain
C	Direct FSK uses a DC-coupled data connection
D	Direct FSK applies the data signal to the transmitter VFO

12. - E3A14

From the contiguous 48 states, in which approximate direction should an antenna be pointed to take maximum advantage of aurora propagation?

Select	Answer
A	East
B	South
C	North
D	West

13. - E3B13

Why is chordal hop propagation desirable?

Select	Answer
A	The MUF for chordal hop propagation is much lower than for normal skip propagation
B	Atmospheric noise is lower in the direction of chordal hop propagation
C	Signals travel faster along ionospheric chords
D	The signal experiences less loss along the path compared to normal skip propagation

14. - 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	The solar emission at 304 GHz, correlated to X-Ray flare levels
C	UV emissions at 304 angstroms, correlated to solar flux index
D	The ratio of X-Ray flux to radio flux, correlated to sunspot number

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

16. - E4B02

What is an advantage of using a bridge circuit to measure impedance?

Select	Answer
A	It is relatively immune to drift in the signal generator source
B	It is very precise in obtaining a signal null
C	It can display results directly in Smith chart format
D	It provides an excellent match under all conditions

17. - E4C08

An SDR receiver is overloaded when input signals exceed what level?

Select	Answer
A	The maximum count value of the analog-to-digital converter
B	The reference voltage of the analog-to-digital converter
C	One-half the maximum sampling buffer size
D	One-half the maximum sample rate

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

19. - E4E04

How can conducted and radiated noise caused by an automobile alternator be suppressed?

Select	Answer
A	By connecting the radio's power leads directly to the battery and by installing coaxial capacitors in line with the alternator leads
B	By installing filter capacitors in series with the DC power lead and a blocking capacitor in the field lead
C	By installing a noise suppression resistor and a blocking capacitor in both leads
D	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

20. - E5A11

What is the half-power bandwidth of a parallel resonant circuit that has a resonant frequency of 7.1 MHz and a Q of 150?

Select	Answer
A	315.6 Hz
B	157.8 Hz
C	23.67 kHz
D	47.3 kHz

21. - E5B09

What is the relationship between the current through a capacitor and the voltage across a capacitor?

Select	Answer
A	Current leads voltage by 90 degrees
B	Voltage and current are in phase
C	Voltage leads current by 90 degrees
D	Voltage and current are 180 degrees out of phase

22. - E5C16

Which point on Figure E5-2 best represents the impedance of a series circuit consisting of a 300 ohm resistor and a 19 picofarad capacitor at 21.200 MHz?

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

23. - E5D01

What is the result of skin effect?

Select	Answer
A	As frequency decreases, RF current flows in a thinner layer of the conductor, closer to the surface
B	As frequency increases, RF current flows in a thinner layer of the conductor, closer to the surface
C	Thermal effects on the surface of the conductor decrease the impedance
D	Thermal effects on the surface of the conductor increase the impedance

24. - E6A04

What is the name given to an impurity atom that adds holes to a semiconductor crystal structure?

Select	Answer
A	Donor impurity
B	Acceptor impurity
C	Insulator impurity
D	N-type impurity

25. - E6B07

What is the failure mechanism when a junction diode fails due to excessive current?

Select	Answer
A	Excessive junction temperature
B	Charge carrier depletion
C	Excessive inverse voltage
D	Insufficient forward voltage

26. - E6C06

Why do CMOS digital integrated circuits have high immunity to noise on the input signal or power supply?

Select	Answer
A	Input signals are stronger
B	Larger bypass capacitors are used in CMOS circuit design
C	The input switching threshold is about two times the power supply voltage
D	The input switching threshold is about one-half the power supply voltage

27. - E6D09

What devices are commonly used as VHF and UHF parasitic suppressors at the input and output terminals of a transistor HF amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	Electrolytic capacitors
B	Steel-core toroids
C	Ferrite beads
D	Butterworth filters

28. - E6E03

Which of the following materials is likely to provide the highest frequency of operation when used in MMICs?

Select	Answer
A	Silicon
B	Silicon dioxide
C	Gallium nitride
D	Silicon nitride

29. - E6F05

Which describes an optical shaft encoder?

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

30. - E7A06

What is a characteristic of a monostable multivibrator?

Select	Answer
A	It stores one bit of data in either a 0 or 1 state
B	It maintains a constant output voltage, regardless of variations in the input voltage
C	It produces a continuous square wave oscillating between 1 and 0
D	It switches momentarily to the opposite binary state and then returns to its original state after a set time

31. - E7B11

In Figure E7-1, what is the purpose of R3?

Select	Answer
A	Output load resistor
B	Self bias
C	Fixed bias
D	Emitter bypass

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	Pi
B	Omega
C	Cascode
D	Pi-L

33. - E7D06

What is the purpose of Q1 in the circuit shown in Figure E7-3?

Select	Answer
A	It provides a constant load for the voltage source
B	It provides negative feedback to improve regulation
C	It provides D1 with current
D	It increases the current-handling capability of the regulator

34. - 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	To remove third-order distortion products
D	For higher efficiency

35. - E7F05

How frequently must an analog signal be sampled by an analog-to-digital converter so that the signal can be accurately reproduced?

Select	Answer
A	At twice the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal
B	At half the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal
C	At the same rate as the highest frequency component of the signal
D	At four times the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal

36. - E7G05

How can unwanted ringing and audio instability be prevented in a multi-section op-amp RC audio filter circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Increase both gain and Q
B	Restrict Q but increase gain
C	Restrict both gain and Q
D	Restrict gain but increase Q

37. - E7H02

Which describes a microphonic?

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

38. - E8A09

How many levels can an analog-to-digital converter with 8 bit resolution encode?

Select	Answer
A	8 multiplied by the gain of the input amplifier
B	256
C	8
D	256 divided by the gain of the input amplifier

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 frequency modulation technique which uses non-harmonically related frequencies
C	A bandwidth compression technique using Fourier transforms
D	A digital mode for narrow band, slow speed transmissions

40. - E8C02

What is the definition of symbol rate in a digital transmission?

Select	Answer
A	The rate at which the waveform of a transmitted signal changes to convey information
B	The number of characters carried per second by the station-to-station link
C	The number of control characters in a message packet
D	The duration of each bit in a message sent over the air

41. - E8D11

What is one advantage of using ASCII code for data communications?

Select	Answer
A	It includes built in error correction features
B	It contains fewer information bits per character than any other code
C	It uses one character as a shift code to send numeric and special characters
D	It is possible to transmit both upper and lower case text

42. - E9A08

What is meant by antenna bandwidth?

Select	Answer
A	Antenna length divided by the number of elements
B	The frequency range over which an antenna satisfies a performance requirement
C	The angle formed between two imaginary lines drawn through the element ends
D	The angle between the half-power radiation points

43. - E9B11

What is a disadvantage of decreasing the number of wire segments in an antenna model below the guideline of 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

44. - E9C13

What is the main effect of placing a vertical antenna over an imperfect ground?

Select	Answer
A	It reduces low-angle radiation
B	It changes the impedance angle of the matching network
C	It causes increased SWR
D	It reduces losses in the radiating portion of the antenna

45. - E9D09

What is the function of a loading coil used as part of an HF mobile antenna?

Select	Answer
A	To lower the Q
B	To lower the losses
C	To increase the SWR bandwidth
D	To cancel capacitive reactance

46. - E9E08

Which of the following measurements is characteristic of a mismatched transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	An SWR less than 1:1
B	An SWR greater than 1:1
C	A reflection coefficient greater than 1
D	A dielectric constant greater than 1

47. - E9F10

What impedance does a 1/8 wavelength transmission line present to a generator when the line is shorted at the far end?

Select	Answer
A	An inductive reactance
B	The same as the characteristic impedance of the line
C	The same as the input impedance to the final generator stage
D	A capacitive reactance

48. - E9G05

What type of chart is shown in Figure E9-3?

Select	Answer
A	Elevation angle radiation pattern chart
B	Free space radiation directivity chart
C	Azimuth angle radiation pattern chart
D	Smith chart

49. - 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 should be one or more wavelengths long
C	It should be configured as a four-sided loop
D	It must be mounted more than 1 wavelength above ground

50. - E0A02

When evaluating RF exposure levels from your station at a neighbor's home, what must you do?

Select	Answer
A	Make sure signals from your station are less than the uncontrolled MPE limits
B	You need only evaluate exposure levels on your own property
C	Advise your neighbors of the results of your tests
D	Make sure signals from your station are less than the controlled MPE limits

Figure E5-2

Figure E7-1

Figure E7-3

Figure E9-3