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

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1. - E1A12

With your transceiver displaying the carrier frequency of CW signals, you hear a DX station's CQ on 3.500 MHz. Is it legal to return the call using CW on the same frequency?

Select	Answer
A	No, U.S. stations are not permitted to use CW emissions below 3.525 MHz
B	Yes, the displayed frequency is within the 80 meter CW band segment
C	Yes, the DX station initiated the contact
D	No, one of the sidebands of the CW signal will be out of the band

2. - E1B02

Which of the following factors might cause the physical location of an amateur station apparatus or antenna structure to be restricted?

Select	Answer
A	The location is of geographical or horticultural importance
B	The location is near an area of political conflict
C	The location is of environmental importance or significant in American history, architecture, or culture
D	The location is in an ITU Zone designated for coordination with one or more foreign governments

3. - E1C09

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

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

4. - E1D08

Which VHF amateur service bands have frequencies available for space stations?

Select	Answer
A	2 meters and 1.25 meters
B	6 meters, 2 meters, and 1.25 meters
C	2 meters
D	6 meters and 2 meters

5. - E1E02

Where are the questions for all written U.S. amateur license examinations listed?

Select	Answer
A	In a question pool maintained by the FCC
B	In FCC Part 97
C	In the appropriate FCC Report and Order
D	In a question pool maintained by all the VECs

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. - E2A13

What type of satellite appears to stay in one position in the sky?

Select	Answer
A	LEO
B	HEO
C	Geomagnetic
D	Geostationary

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. - E2C09

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

Select	Answer
A	A standard wireless router running custom software
B	A 440 MHz transceiver with a 9600 baud modem
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. - E2D04

What is the purpose of digital store-and-forward functions on an Amateur Radio satellite?

Select	Answer
A	To upload operational software for the transponder
B	To relay messages between satellites
C	To store digital messages in the satellite for later download by other stations
D	To delay download of telemetry between satellites

11. - E2E10

Which of these digital modes has the narrowest bandwidth?

Select	Answer
A	MFSK16
B	PSK31
C	300-baud packet
D	170 Hz shift, 45 baud RTTY

12. - E3A12

What is the cause of auroral activity?

Select	Answer
A	The interaction in the E layer of charged particles from the Sun with the Earth's magnetic field
B	The interaction in the F2 layer between the solar wind and the Van Allen belt
C	A low sunspot level combined with tropospheric ducting
D	Meteor showers concentrated in the extreme northern and southern latitudes

13. - E3B03

What is the best time of day for transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Noon
B	Afternoon or early evening
C	Late at night
D	Morning

14. - E3C10

What does the 304A solar parameter measure?

Select	Answer
A	The solar emission at 304 GHz, correlated to X-Ray flare levels
B	UV emissions at 304 angstroms, correlated to solar flux index
C	The ratio of X-Ray flux to radio flux, correlated to sunspot number
D	The solar wind velocity at 304 degrees from the solar equator, correlated to solar activity

15. - E4A08

Which of the following instrument would be best for measuring the SWR of a beam antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A spectrum analyzer
B	An antenna analyzer
C	A Q meter
D	An ohmmeter

16. - E4B04

If a frequency counter with a specified accuracy of +/- 0.1 ppm reads 146,520,000 Hz, what is the most the actual frequency being measured could differ from the reading?

Select	Answer
A	14.652 Hz
B	1.4652 Hz
C	1.4652 kHz
D	0.1 MHz

17. - E4C02

Which of the following portions of a receiver can be effective in eliminating image signal interference?

Select	Answer
A	A front-end filter or pre-selector
B	A properly adjusted product detector
C	A notch filter
D	A narrow IF filter

18. - E4D08

What causes intermodulation in an electronic circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Positive feedback
B	Lack of neutralization
C	Too little gain
D	Nonlinear circuits or devices

19. - E4E15

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

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

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 capacitive reactance equals the inductive reactance
C	The frequency at which the reactive impedance equals the resistive impedance
D	The highest frequency that will pass current

21. - E5B02

What is the term for the time it takes for a charged capacitor in an RC circuit to discharge to 36.8% of its initial voltage?

Select	Answer
A	One time constant
B	A discharge factor of one
C	One discharge period
D	An exponential discharge rate of one

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. - E5D17

How many watts are consumed in a circuit having a power factor of 0.6 if the input is 200VAC at 5 amperes?

Select	Answer
A	600 watts
B	200 watts
C	1600 watts
D	1000 watts

24. - E6A12

Why do many MOSFET devices have internally connected Zener diodes on the gates?

Select	Answer
A	To provide a voltage reference for the correct amount of reverse-bias gate voltage
B	To reduce the chance of the gate insulation being punctured by static discharges or excessive voltages
C	To keep the gate voltage within specifications and prevent the device from overheating
D	To protect the substrate from excessive voltages

25. - E6B11

What is used to control the attenuation of RF signals by a PIN diode?

Select	Answer
A	Reverse voltage larger than the RF signal
B	A sub-harmonic pump signal
C	Capacitance of an RF coupling capacitor
D	Forward DC bias current

26. - E6C07

What best describes a pull-up or pull-down resistor?

Select	Answer
A	A resistor in a keying circuit used to reduce key clicks
B	A resistor connected to the positive or negative supply line used to establish a voltage when an input or output is an open circuit
C	A resistor that insures that an oscillator frequency does not drive lower over time
D	A resistor connected to an op-amp output that only functions when the logic output is false

27. - E6D16

What is the common name for a capacitor connected across a transformer secondary that is used to absorb transient voltage spikes?

Select	Answer
A	Snubber capacitor
B	Clipper capacitor
C	Trimmer capacitor
D	Feedback capacitor

28. - E6E12

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

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

29. - E6F12

What absorbs the energy from light falling on a photovoltaic cell?

Select	Answer
A	Holes
B	Photons
C	Electrons
D	Protons

30. - E7A04

How many flip-flops are required to divide a signal frequency by 4?

Select	Answer
A	2
B	8
C	4
D	1

31. - E7B11

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

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

32. - E7C15

What is a crystal lattice filter?

Select	Answer
A	A power supply filter made with interlaced quartz crystals
B	A filter with wide bandwidth and shallow skirts made using quartz crystals
C	An audio filter made with four quartz crystals that resonate at 1kHz intervals
D	A filter with narrow bandwidth and steep skirts made using quartz crystals

33. - E7D16

When several electrolytic filter capacitors are connected in series to increase the operating voltage of a power supply filter circuit, why should resistors be connected across each capacitor?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	To equalize, as much as possible, the voltage drop across each capacitor
C	To provide a safety bleeder to discharge the capacitors when the supply is off
D	To provide a minimum load current to reduce voltage excursions at light loads

34. - E7E09

What occurs when an excessive amount of signal energy reaches a mixer circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Spurious mixer products are generated
B	Automatic limiting occurs
C	Mixer blanking occurs
D	A beat frequency is generated

35. - E7F07

What function can a Fast Fourier Transform perform?

Select	Answer
A	Converting analog signals to digital form
B	Converting digital signals from the time domain to the frequency domain
C	Converting digital signals to analog form
D	Converting 8-bit data to 16 bit data

36. - E7G07

What magnitude of voltage gain can be expected from the circuit in Figure E7-4 when R1 is 10 ohms and RF is 470 ohms?

Select	Answer
A	94
B	47
C	0.21
D	24

37. - E7H08

Which of the following components can be used to reduce thermal drift in crystal oscillators?

Select	Answer
A	Toroidal inductors
B	Non-inductive resistors
C	NP0 capacitors
D	Wirewound resistors

38. - E8A02

What type of wave has a rise time significantly faster than its fall time (or vice versa)?

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

39. - E8B03

What is the modulation index of an FM-phone signal having a maximum frequency deviation of 3000 Hz either side of the carrier frequency when the modulating frequency is 1000 Hz?

Select	Answer
A	0.3
B	3000
C	3
D	1000

40. - E8C08

How does ARQ accomplish error correction?

Select	Answer
A	Special binary codes provide automatic correction
B	If errors are detected, redundant data is substituted
C	Special polynomial codes provide automatic correction
D	If errors are detected, a retransmission is requested

41. - E8D02

What spread spectrum communications technique uses a high speed binary bit stream to shift the phase of an RF carrier?

Select	Answer
A	Phase compandored spread spectrum
B	Binary phase-shift keying
C	Frequency hopping
D	Direct sequence

42. - E9A14

What is meant by the radiation resistance of an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	The resistance in the atmosphere that an antenna must overcome to be able to radiate a signal
B	The specific impedance of the antenna
C	The combined losses of the antenna elements and feed line
D	The value of a resistance that would dissipate the same amount of power as that radiated from an antenna

43. - E9B09

What type of computer program technique is commonly used for modeling antennas?

Select	Answer
A	Calculus differentiation with respect to physical properties
B	Method of Moments
C	Graphical analysis
D	Mutual impedance analysis

44. - E9C06

What is the effect of a terminating resistor on a rhombic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It changes the radiation pattern from horizontal to vertical polarization
B	It changes the radiation pattern from bidirectional to unidirectional
C	It reflects the standing waves on the antenna elements back to the transmitter
D	It decreases the ground loss

45. - E9D13

What usually occurs if a Yagi antenna is designed solely for maximum forward gain?

Select	Answer
A	The SWR is reduced
B	The front-to-back ratio decreases
C	The front-to-back ratio increases
D	The frequency response is widened over the whole frequency band

46. - E9E07

What term best describes the interactions at the load end of a mismatched transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	Characteristic impedance
B	Reflection coefficient
C	Velocity factor
D	Dielectric constant

47. - E9F03

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

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

48. - E9G04

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

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

49. - E9H10

How can the output voltage of a multiple turn receiving loop antenna be increased?

Select	Answer
A	By increasing either the number of wire turns in the loop or the area of the loop structure or both
B	By increasing the number of wire turns in the loop and reducing the area of the loop structure
C	By reducing the permeability of the loop shield
D	By winding adjacent turns in opposing directions

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

Figure E5-2

Figure E7-1

Figure E7-4