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 operator of the packet bulletin board station
B	The control operators of all the stations in the system not authenticating the source from which they accept communications
C	The control operators of all the stations in the system
D	The control operator of the originating station

2. - E1B07

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

Select	Answer
A	3.0
B	0.5
C	2.0
D	1.0

3. - E1C09

Which of these ranges of frequencies is available for an automatically controlled repeater operating below 30 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	29.500 MHz - 29.700 MHz
B	24.940 MHz - 24.990 MHz
C	10.100 MHz - 10.150 MHz
D	18.110 MHz - 18.168 MHz

4. - E1D11

Which amateur stations are eligible to operate as Earth stations?

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

5. - E1E13

Which of these choices is an acceptable method for monitoring the applicants if a VEC opts to conduct an exam session remotely?

Select	Answer
A	Record the exam session on video tape for later review by the VE team
B	Have each applicant sign an affidavit stating that all session rules were followed
C	The exam proctor observes the applicants and reports any violations
D	Use a real-time video link and the Internet to connect the exam session to the observing VEs

6. - E1F08

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

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

7. - E2A11

What type of antenna can be used to minimize the effects of spin modulation and Faraday rotation?

Select	Answer
A	A linearly polarized antenna
B	An isotropic antenna
C	A log-periodic dipole array
D	A circularly polarized antenna

8. - E2B05

Which of the following is an advantage of using vestigial sideband for standard fast- scan TV transmissions?

Select	Answer
A	The vestigial sideband carries the audio information
B	The vestigial sideband contains chroma information
C	Vestigial sideband reduces bandwidth while allowing for simple video detector circuitry
D	Vestigial sideband provides high frequency emphasis to sharpen the picture

9. - E2C07

What is the Cabrillo format?

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

10. - E2D02

Which of the following is a good technique for making meteor scatter contacts?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	Short transmission with rapidly repeated call signs and signal reports
C	15 second timed transmission sequences with stations alternating based on location
D	Use of high speed CW or digital modes

11. - E2E12

Which type of control is used by stations using the Automatic Link Enable (ALE) protocol?

Select	Answer
A	Remote
B	ALE can use any type of control
C	Automatic
D	Local

12. - E3A02

What characterizes libration fading of an EME signal?

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

13. - E3B04

What is meant by the terms extraordinary and ordinary waves?

Select	Answer
A	Refracted rays and reflected waves
B	Long path and short path waves
C	Extraordinary waves describe rare long skip propagation compared to ordinary waves which travel shorter distances
D	Independent waves created in the ionosphere that are elliptically polarized

14. - E3C13

What type of polarization is best for ground-wave propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Vertical
B	Circular
C	Horizontal
D	Elliptical

15. - E4A14

What is the purpose of the prescaler function on a frequency counter?

Select	Answer
A	It prevents oscillation in a low-frequency counter circuit
B	It amplifies low level signals for more accurate counting
C	It divides a higher frequency signal so a low-frequency counter can display the input frequency
D	It multiplies a higher frequency signal so a low-frequency counter can display the operating frequency

16. - E4B12

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 an ammeter, the full scale reading in amps divided by ohms per volt rating will determine the size of shunt needed
C	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
D	When used as an ohmmeter, the reading in ohms divided by the ohms per volt rating will determine the voltage applied to the circuit

17. - E4C15

What is usually the primary source of noise that is heard from an HF receiver with an antenna connected?

Select	Answer
A	Induction motor noise
B	Atmospheric noise
C	Detector noise
D	Receiver front-end noise

18. - E4D03

How can intermodulation interference between two repeaters occur?

Select	Answer
A	When the repeaters are in close proximity and the signals mix in the final amplifier of one or both transmitters
B	When the signals from the transmitters are reflected out of phase from airplanes passing overhead
C	When the repeaters are in close proximity and the signals cause feedback in the final amplifier of one or both transmitters
D	When the signals from the transmitters are reflected in phase from airplanes passing overhead

19. - E4E12

What is one disadvantage of using some types of automatic DSP notch-filters when attempting to copy CW signals?

Select	Answer
A	A DSP filter can remove the desired signal at the same time as it removes interfering signals
B	Any nearby signal passing through the DSP system will overwhelm the desired signal
C	Ringing in the DSP filter will completely remove the spaces between the CW characters
D	Received CW signals will appear to be modulated at the DSP clock frequency

20. - E5A02

What is resonance in an electrical circuit?

Select	Answer
A	The lowest frequency that will pass current
B	The frequency at which the reactive impedance equals the resistive impedance
C	The frequency at which the capacitive reactance equals the inductive reactance
D	The highest frequency that will pass current

21. - E5B03

What happens to the phase angle of a reactance when it is converted to a susceptance?

Select	Answer
A	It is shifted by 90 degrees
B	It is unchanged
C	The sign is reversed
D	The susceptance phase angle is the inverse of the reactance phase angle

22. - E5C04

Which of the following represents a capacitive reactance in polar coordinates?

Select	Answer
A	A positive phase angle
B	A negative phase angle
C	A positive real part
D	A negative real part

23. - 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 of these choices are correct
C	To increase the thermal time constant
D	To avoid unwanted inductive reactance

24. - E6A02

Which of the following semiconductor materials contains excess free electrons?

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

25. - E6B01

What is the most useful characteristic of a Zener diode?

Select	Answer
A	A negative resistance region
B	A constant current drop under conditions of varying voltage
C	An internal capacitance that varies with the applied voltage
D	A constant voltage drop under conditions of varying current

26. - E6C04

What is the primary advantage of tri-state logic?

Select	Answer
A	High speed operation
B	More efficient arithmetic operations
C	Low power consumption
D	Ability to connect many device outputs to a common bus

27. - E6D13

What is the primary cause of inductor self-resonance?

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

28. - E6E10

What is the packaging technique in which leadless components are soldered directly to circuit boards?

Select	Answer
A	Virtual lead mounting
B	Direct soldering
C	Surface mount
D	Stripped lead

29. - E6F06

Which of these materials is affected the most by photoconductivity?

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

30. - E7A01

Which is a bi-stable circuit?

Select	Answer
A	An "OR" gate
B	A clock
C	An "AND" gate
D	A flip-flop

31. - E7B05

What can be done to prevent unwanted oscillations in an RF power amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	Install parasitic suppressors and/or neutralize the stage
B	Tune both the input and output for maximum power
C	Tune the stage for maximum SWR
D	Use a phase inverter in the output filter

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
C	Cascode
D	Pi-L

33. - E7D13

What is the equation for calculating power dissipation by a series connected linear voltage regulator?

Select	Answer
A	Output voltage multiplied by output current
B	Input voltage divided by output current
C	Voltage difference from input to output multiplied by output current
D	Input voltage multiplied by input current

34. - E7E06

Why is de-emphasis commonly used in FM communications receivers?

Select	Answer
A	For compatibility with transmitters using phase modulation
B	For higher efficiency
C	To reduce impulse noise reception
D	To remove third-order distortion products

35. - E7F13

What is the function of taps in a digital signal processing filter?

Select	Answer
A	To reduce excess signal pressure levels
B	Provide access for debugging software
C	Provide incremental signal delays for filter algorithms
D	Select the point at which baseband signals are generated

36. - E7G01

What is the typical output impedance of an integrated circuit op-amp?

Select	Answer
A	1000 ohms
B	Very low
C	Very high
D	100 ohms

37. - E7H02

Which describes a microphonic?

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

38. - E8A03

What type of wave does a Fourier analysis show to be made up of sine waves of a given fundamental frequency plus all of its harmonics?

Select	Answer
A	A sawtooth wave
B	A square wave
C	A cosine wave
D	A sine wave

39. - E8B05

What is the deviation ratio of an FM-phone signal having a maximum frequency swing of plus-or-minus 5 kHz when the maximum modulation frequency is 3 kHz?

Select	Answer
A	1.67
B	60
C	0.167
D	0.6

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. - E8D05

What is the most common method of reducing key clicks?

Select	Answer
A	Low-pass filters at the transmitter output
B	Reduce keying waveform rise and fall times
C	Increase keying waveform rise and fall times
D	High-pass filters at the transmitter output

42. - E9A05

What is included in the total resistance of an antenna system?

Select	Answer
A	Radiation resistance plus ohmic resistance
B	Radiation resistance plus space impedance
C	Radiation resistance plus transmission resistance
D	Transmission-line resistance plus radiation resistance

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	Antenna gain
C	All of these choices are correct
D	Polar plots of the far field elevation and azimuth patterns

44. - E9C11

How is the far-field elevation pattern of a vertically polarized antenna affected by being mounted over seawater versus rocky ground?

Select	Answer
A	Both the high-angle and low-angle radiation decrease
B	The high-angle radiation increases
C	The low-angle radiation increases
D	The low-angle radiation decreases

45. - E9D04

Why should an HF mobile antenna loading coil have a high ratio of reactance to resistance?

Select	Answer
A	To swamp out harmonics
B	To maximize losses
C	To minimize losses
D	To minimize the Q

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

47. - E9F03

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

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

48. - E9G06

On the Smith chart shown in Figure E9-3, what is the name for the large outer circle on which the reactance arcs terminate?

Select	Answer
A	Reactance axis
B	Prime axis
C	Impedance axis
D	Polar axis

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

50. - E0A04

When evaluating a site with multiple transmitters operating at the same time, the operators and licensees of which transmitters are responsible for mitigating over-exposure situations?

Select	Answer
A	Only commercial transmitters
B	Each transmitter that produces 5 percent or more of its MPE limit at accessible locations
C	Only the most powerful transmitter
D	Each transmitter operating with a duty-cycle greater than 50 percent

Figure E9-3