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

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1. - E1A06

Where must the carrier frequency of a CW signal be set to comply with FCC rules for 60 meter operation?

Select	Answer
A	On any frequency where the signal's sidebands are within the channel
B	At the lowest frequency of the channel
C	At the highest frequency of the channel
D	At the center frequency of the channel

2. - E1B04

What must be done before placing an amateur station within an officially designated wilderness area or wildlife preserve, or an area listed in the National Register of Historical Places?

Select	Answer
A	A letter of intent must be filed with the National Audubon Society
B	A form FSD-15 must be submitted to the Department of the Interior
C	An Environmental Assessment must be submitted to the FCC
D	A proposal must be submitted to the National Park Service

3. - E1C04

What is meant by IARP?

Select	Answer
A	The internal amateur radio practices policy of the FCC
B	An international amateur radio permit that allows U.S. amateurs to operate in certain countries of the Americas
C	An indication of increased antenna reflected power
D	A forecast of intermittent aurora radio propagation

4. - E1D03

What is a telecommand station in the amateur satellite service?

Select	Answer
A	An amateur station that transmits communications to initiate, modify or terminate functions of a space station
B	An amateur station that transmits telemetry consisting of measurements of upper atmosphere
C	An amateur station located more than 50 km above the Earth's surface
D	An amateur station located on the Earth's surface for communication with other Earth stations by means of Earth satellites

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	Destroy the application form
C	Maintain the application form with the VEC's records
D	Send the application form to the FCC and inform the FCC of the grade

6. - E1F12

Who may be the control operator of an auxiliary station?

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

7. - E2A13

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

Select	Answer
A	HEO
B	Geomagnetic
C	Geostationary
D	LEO

8. - E2B19

What special operating frequency restrictions are imposed on slow scan TV transmissions?

Select	Answer
A	They are restricted to phone band segments and their bandwidth can be no greater than that of a voice signal of the same modulation type
B	They are restricted to 7.245 MHz, 14.245 MHz, 21.345 MHz, and 28.945 MHz
C	None; they are allowed on all amateur frequencies
D	They are not permitted above 54 MHz

9. - E2C10

Why might a DX station state that they are listening on another frequency?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	To separate the calling stations from the DX station
C	Because the DX station may be transmitting on a frequency that is prohibited to some responding stations
D	To improve operating efficiency by reducing interference

10. - E2D09

Which of these digital modes has the fastest data throughput under clear communication conditions?

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

11. - E2E08

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

Select	Answer
A	Hellschreiber
B	PACTOR
C	AMTOR
D	RTTY

12. - E3A01

What is the approximate maximum separation measured along the surface of the Earth between two stations communicating by Moon bounce?

Select	Answer
A	5000 miles, if the Moon is at perigee
B	12,000 miles, if the Moon is visible by both stations
C	2000 miles, if the Moon is at apogee
D	500 miles, if the Moon is at perigee

13. - E3B08

What type of HF propagation is probably occurring if radio signals travel along the terminator between daylight and darkness?

Select	Answer
A	Sporadic-E
B	Gray-line
C	Transequatorial
D	Long-path

14. - E3C08

What does the space weather term G5 mean?

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

15. - E4A04

What determines the upper frequency limit for a computer soundcard-based oscilloscope program?

Select	Answer
A	Q of the interface of the interface circuit
B	Analog-to-digital conversion speed of the soundcard
C	All of these choices are correct
D	Amount of memory on the soundcard

16. - E4B12

What is the significance of voltmeter sensitivity expressed in ohms per volt?

Select	Answer
A	When used as an ammeter, the full scale reading in amps divided by ohms per volt rating will determine the size of shunt needed
B	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
C	When used as an ohmmeter, the reading in ohms divided by the ohms per volt rating will determine the voltage applied to the circuit
D	The full scale reading of the voltmeter multiplied by its ohms per volt rating will indicate the input impedance of the voltmeter

17. - E4C10

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

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

18. - E4D14

Which of the following is a way to reduce the likelihood of receiver desensitization?

Select	Answer
A	Increase the receiver front end gain
B	Decrease the RF bandwidth of the receiver
C	Switch from fast AGC to slow AGC
D	Raise the receiver IF frequency

19. - E4E11

Which is the most likely cause if you are hearing combinations of local AM broadcast signals within one or more of the MF or HF ham bands?

Select	Answer
A	Your station receiver IF amplifier stage is defective
B	You are receiving sky wave signals from a distant station
C	Nearby corroded metal joints are mixing and re-radiating the broadcast signals
D	The broadcast station is transmitting an over-modulated signal

20. - E5A17

What is the result of increasing the Q of an impedance-matching circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Matching range is increased
B	It has no effect on impedance matching
C	Matching bandwidth is decreased
D	Matching bandwidth is increased

21. - E5B01

What is the term for the time required for the capacitor in an RC circuit to be charged to 63.2% of the applied voltage?

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

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 1
B	Point 7
C	Point 3
D	Point 8

23. - E5D11

What is the power factor of an R-L circuit having a 60 degree phase angle between the voltage and the current?

Select	Answer
A	1.73
B	0.5
C	1.414
D	0.866

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

25. - E6B02

What is an important characteristic of a Schottky diode as compared to an ordinary silicon diode when used as a power supply rectifier?

Select	Answer
A	Enhanced carrier retention time
B	Much higher reverse voltage breakdown
C	Controlled reverse avalanche voltage
D	Less forward voltage drop

26. - E6C10

In Figure E6-5, what is the schematic symbol for a NOR gate?

Select	Answer
A	1
B	3
C	2
D	4

27. - E6D02

What is the equivalent circuit of a quartz crystal?

Select	Answer
A	Motional capacitance, motional inductance, and loss resistance in series, all in parallel with a shunt capacitor representing electrode and stray capacitance
B	Motional capacitance, motional inductance, loss resistance, and a capacitor representing electrode and stray capacitance all in series
C	Motional inductance and loss resistance in series, paralleled with motional capacitance and a capacitor representing electrode and stray capacitance
D	Motional capacitance, motional inductance, loss resistance, and a capacitor representing electrode and stray capacitance all in parallel

28. - E6E04

Which is the most common input and output impedance of circuits that use MMICs?

Select	Answer
A	50 ohms
B	300 ohms
C	10 ohms
D	450 ohms

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 device which measures the strength of a beam of light using analog to digital conversion
C	A digital encryption device often used to encrypt spacecraft control signals
D	A device for generating RTTY signals by means of a rotating light source

30. - E7A12

What type of logic defines "0" as a high voltage?

Select	Answer
A	Reverse Logic
B	Assertive Logic
C	Positive Logic
D	Negative logic

31. - E7B03

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

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

32. - E7C14

Which mode is most affected by non-linear phase response in a receiver IF filter?

Select	Answer
A	Video
B	Single-Sideband voice
C	Digital
D	Meteor scatter

33. - E7D08

What type of circuit is shown in Figure E7-3?

Select	Answer
A	Grounded emitter amplifier
B	Switching voltage regulator
C	Linear voltage regulator
D	Emitter follower

34. - E7E07

What is meant by the term baseband in radio communications?

Select	Answer
A	The lowest frequency band that the transmitter or receiver covers
B	The basic oscillator frequency in an FM transmitter that is multiplied to increase the deviation and carrier frequency
C	The unmodulated bandwidth of the transmitted signal
D	The frequency components present in the modulating signal

35. - E7F12

What digital process is applied to I and Q signals in order to recover the baseband modulation information?

Select	Answer
A	Signal conditioning
B	Fast Fourier Transform
C	Decimation
D	Quadrature mixing

36. - E7G05

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

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

37. - E7H06

Which of the following oscillator circuits are commonly used in VFOs?

Select	Answer
A	Negative feedback and balanced feedback
B	Colpitts and Hartley
C	Armstrong and deForest
D	Pierce and Zener

38. - E8A11

What type of information can be conveyed using digital waveforms?

Select	Answer
A	Human speech
B	Data
C	All of these choices are correct
D	Video signals

39. - E8B07

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing is a technique used for which type of amateur communication?

Select	Answer
A	OFDM signals are not allowed on amateur bands
B	EME
C	Extremely low-power contacts
D	High speed digital modes

40. - E8C08

How does ARQ accomplish error correction?

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

41. - E8D09

What is considered a good minimum IMD level for an idling PSK signal?

Select	Answer
A	-20 dB
B	-30 dB
C	+15 dB
D	+10 dB

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 combined losses of the antenna elements and feed line
C	The specific impedance of the antenna
D	The value of a resistance that would dissipate the same amount of power as that radiated from an antenna

43. - E9B12

What is the far field of an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	The region where radiated power dissipates over a specified time period
B	The region of the ionosphere where radiated power is not refracted
C	The region where the shape of the antenna pattern is independent of distance
D	The region where radiated field strengths are obstructed by objects of reflection

44. - E9C10

Which of the following describes a Zepp antenna?

Select	Answer
A	An end fed dipole antenna
B	An omni-directional antenna commonly used for satellite communications
C	A dipole constructed from zip cord
D	A vertical array capable of quickly changing the direction of maximum radiation by changing phasing lines

45. - E9D11

Which of the following types of conductors would be best for minimizing losses in a station's RF ground system?

Select	Answer
A	A cable with six or seven 18 gauge conductors in parallel
B	A wide flat copper strap
C	A resistive wire, such as spark plug wire
D	A single 12 gauge or 10 gauge stainless steel wire

46. - E9E05

How must the driven element in a 3-element Yagi be tuned to use a hairpin matching system?

Select	Answer
A	The driven element reactance must be inductive
B	The driven element reactance must be capacitive
C	The driven element resonance must be lower than the operating frequency
D	The driven element radiation resistance must be higher than the characteristic impedance of the transmission line

47. - E9F12

What impedance does a 1/4 wavelength transmission line present to a generator when the line is open at the far end?

Select	Answer
A	The same as the characteristic impedance of the line
B	Very low impedance
C	The same as the input impedance to the generator
D	Very high impedance

48. - E9G11

How are the wavelength scales on a Smith chart calibrated?

Select	Answer
A	In fractions of transmission line electrical frequency
B	In fractions of antenna electrical frequency
C	In fractions of antenna electrical wavelength
D	In fractions of transmission line electrical wavelength

49. - E9H02

Which is generally true for low band (160 meter and 80 meter) receiving antennas?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	Atmospheric noise is so high that gain over a dipole is not important
C	Low loss coax transmission line is essential for good performance
D	They must be erected at least 1/2 wavelength above the ground to attain good directivity

50. - E0A08

What does SAR measure?

Select	Answer
A	Synthetic Aperture Ratio of the human body
B	Signal Amplification Rating
C	The rate at which RF energy is absorbed by the body
D	The rate of RF energy reflected from stationary terrain

Figure E5-2

Figure E6-5

Figure E7-3