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

Logging in (or registering) will help the system to select questions that you need to focus on.

1. - E1A01

When using a transceiver that displays the carrier frequency of phone signals, which of the following displayed frequencies represents the highest frequency at which a properly adjusted USB emission will be totally within the band?

Select	Answer
A	The exact upper band edge
B	1 kHz below the upper band edge
C	3 kHz below the upper band edge
D	300 Hz below the upper band edge

2. - E1B08

What limitations may the FCC place on an amateur station if its signal causes interference to domestic broadcast reception, assuming that the receivers involved are of good engineering design?

Select	Answer
A	The amateur station must cease operation on all frequencies below 30 MHz
B	The amateur station must avoid transmitting during certain hours on frequencies that cause the interference
C	The amateur station must cease operation on all frequencies above 30 MHz
D	The amateur station must cease operation

3. - E1C02

What is meant by automatic control of a station?

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

4. - E1D06

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

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

5. - E1E12

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

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

6. - E1F12

Who may be the control operator of an auxiliary station?

Select	Answer
A	Only General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators
B	Only Technician, General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators
C	Any licensed amateur operator
D	Only Amateur Extra Class operators

7. - E2A02

What is the direction of a descending pass for an amateur satellite?

Select	Answer
A	From west to east
B	From north to south
C	From south to north
D	From east to west

8. - E2B05

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

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

9. - E2C09

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

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

10. - E2D10

How can an APRS station be used to help support a public service communications activity?

Select	Answer
A	APRS stations with General Personnel Scanners can automatically relay the participant numbers and time as they pass the check points
B	All of these choices are correct
C	An APRS station with a GPS unit can automatically transmit information to show a mobile station's position during the event
D	An APRS station with an emergency medical technician can automatically transmit medical data to the nearest hospital

11. - E2E08

Which of the following HF digital modes can be used to transfer binary files?

Select	Answer
A	PACTOR
B	RTTY
C	Hellschreiber
D	AMTOR

12. - E3A04

What do Hepburn maps predict?

Select	Answer
A	Locations of auroral reflecting zones
B	Likelihood of rain-scatter along cold or warm fronts
C	Sporadic E propagation
D	Probability of tropospheric propagation

13. - E3B02

What is the approximate maximum range for signals using transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	5000 miles
B	1000 miles
C	2500 miles
D	7500 miles

14. - E3C08

What does the space weather term G5 mean?

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

15. - E4A02

Which of the following parameters would a spectrum analyzer display on the vertical and horizontal axes?

Select	Answer
A	SWR and frequency
B	RF amplitude and time
C	SWR and time
D	RF amplitude and frequency

16. - E4B16

Which S parameter represents return loss or SWR?

Select	Answer
A	S21
B	S11
C	S12
D	S22

17. - E4C08

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

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

18. - E4D03

How can intermodulation interference between two repeaters occur?

Select	Answer
A	When the repeaters are in close proximity and the signals cause feedback 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 mix 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. - E4E15

Which of the following can cause shielded cables to radiate or receive interference?

Select	Answer
A	Low inductance ground connections at both ends of the shield
B	Tying all ground connections to a common point resulting in differential mode currents in the shield
C	Use of braided shielding material
D	Common mode currents on the shield and conductors

20. - E5A01

What can cause the voltage across reactances in series to be larger than the voltage applied to them?

Select	Answer
A	Capacitance
B	Conductance
C	Resistance
D	Resonance

21. - E5B06

What is susceptance?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of magnetic field to electric field
B	A measure of the efficiency of a transformer
C	The inverse of reactance
D	The magnetic impedance of a circuit

22. - E5C14

Which point on Figure E5-2 best represents the impedance of a series circuit consisting of a 400 ohm resistor and a 38 picofarad capacitor at 14 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	Point 6
B	Point 4
C	Point 5
D	Point 2

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

24. - E6A14

How does DC input impedance at the gate of a field-effect transistor compare with the DC input impedance of a bipolar transistor?

Select	Answer
A	An FET has low input impedance; a bipolar transistor has high input impedance
B	They are both low impedance
C	They are both high impedance
D	An FET has high input impedance; a bipolar transistor has low input impedance

25. - E6B13

What type of bias is required for an LED to emit light?

Select	Answer
A	Zero bias
B	Reverse bias
C	Forward bias
D	Inductive bias

26. - E6C02

What happens when the level of a comparator's input signal crosses the threshold?

Select	Answer
A	The IC input can be damaged
B	The comparator enters latch-up
C	The feedback loop becomes unstable
D	The comparator changes its output state

27. - E6D01

How many turns will be required to produce a 5-microhenry inductor using a powdered-iron toroidal core that has an inductance index (A L) value of 40 microhenrys/100 turns?

Select	Answer
A	13 turns
B	35 turns
C	79 turns
D	141 turns

28. - E6E11

What is a characteristic of DIP packaging used for integrated circuits?

Select	Answer
A	A total of two rows of connecting pins placed on opposite sides of the package (Dual In-line Package)
B	Low leakage doubly insulated package
C	Two chips in each package (Dual In Package)
D	Package mounts in a direct inverted position

29. - E6F05

Which describes an optical shaft encoder?

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

30. - E7A01

Which is a bi-stable circuit?

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

31. - E7B03

Which of the following components form the output of a class D amplifier circuit?

Select	Answer
A	A low-pass filter to remove switching signal components
B	A temperature compensating load resistor to improve linearity
C	A high-pass filter to compensate for low gain at low frequencies
D	A matched load resistor to prevent damage by switching transients

32. - E7C05

Which filter type is described as having ripple in the passband and a sharp cutoff?

Select	Answer
A	A Butterworth filter
B	An active LC filter
C	A passive op-amp filter
D	A Chebyshev filter

33. - E7D07

What is the purpose of C2 in the circuit shown in Figure E7-3?

Select	Answer
A	It bypasses hum around D1
B	To provide fixed DC bias for Q1
C	It is a brute force filter for the output
D	To self-resonate at the hum frequency

34. - E7E12

What is a frequency discriminator stage in a FM receiver?

Select	Answer
A	A circuit for detecting FM signals
B	An automatic band-switching circuit
C	A circuit for filtering two closely adjacent signals
D	An FM generator circuit

35. - E7F10

What aspect of receiver analog-to-digital conversion determines the maximum receive bandwidth of a Direct Digital Conversion SDR?

Select	Answer
A	Sample rate
B	Sample width in bits
C	Sample clock phase noise
D	Processor latency

36. - E7G09

What will be the output voltage of the circuit shown in Figure E7-4 if R1 is 1000 ohms, RF is 10,000 ohms, and 0.23 volts DC is applied to the input?

Select	Answer
A	0.23 volts
B	2.3 volts
C	-0.23 volts
D	-2.3 volts

37. - E7H03

How is positive feedback supplied in a Hartley oscillator?

Select	Answer
A	Through a capacitive divider
B	Through a neutralizing capacitor
C	Through link coupling
D	Through a tapped coil

38. - E8A01

What is the name of the process that shows that a square wave is made up of a sine wave plus all of its odd harmonics?

Select	Answer
A	Fourier analysis
B	Numerical analysis
C	Differential analysis
D	Vector analysis

39. - E8B10

What describes frequency division multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	The transmitted signal is divided into packets of information
B	The transmitted signal jumps from band to band at a predetermined rate
C	Two or more information streams are merged into a digital combiner, which then pulse position modulates the transmitter
D	Two or more information streams are merged into a baseband, which then modulates the transmitter

40. - E8C09

Which is the name of a digital code where each preceding or following character changes by only one bit?

Select	Answer
A	Binary Coded Decimal Code
B	Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code
C	Gray code
D	Excess 3 code

41. - E8D10

What are some of the differences between the Baudot digital code and ASCII?

Select	Answer
A	Baudot uses 5 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot uses 2 characters as letters/figures shift codes, ASCII has no letters/figures shift code
B	Baudot uses 4 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot uses 1 character as a letters/figures shift code, ASCII has no letters/figures code
C	Baudot uses 6 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot has no letters/figures shift code, ASCII uses 2 letters/figures shift codes
D	Baudot uses 7 data bits per character, ASCII uses 8; Baudot has no letters/figures shift code, ASCII uses 2 letters/figures shift codes

42. - E9A06

How does the beamwidth of an antenna vary as the gain is increased?

Select	Answer
A	It increases geometrically
B	It decreases
C	It increases arithmetically
D	It is essentially unaffected

43. - E9B02

In the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-1, what is the front-to-back ratio?

Select	Answer
A	18 dB
B	24 dB
C	14 dB
D	36 dB

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

45. - E9D07

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

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

46. - 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 stub match
B	The delta match
C	The gamma match
D	The omega match

47. - E9F02

Which of the following determines the velocity factor of a transmission line?

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

48. - E9G04

What are the two families of circles and arcs that make up a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Voltage and impedance
B	Resistance and reactance
C	Resistance and voltage
D	Reactance and voltage

49. - E9H05

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

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

50. - E0A07

How may dangerous levels of carbon monoxide from an emergency generator be detected?

Select	Answer
A	By the odor
B	By the yellowish appearance of the gas
C	Any ordinary smoke detector can be used
D	Only with a carbon monoxide detector

Figure E5-2

Figure E7-3

Figure E7-4

Figure E9-1