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

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1. - E1A07

Which amateur band requires transmission on specific channels rather than on a range of frequencies?

Select	Answer
A	60 meter band
B	30 meter band
C	12 meter band
D	17 meter band

2. - E1B05

What is the National Radio Quiet Zone?

Select	Answer
A	An area surrounding the National Radio Astronomy Observatory
B	An area in New Mexico surrounding the White Sands Test Area
C	An area in Florida surrounding Cape Canaveral
D	An area in Puerto Rico surrounding the Arecibo Radio Telescope

3. - E1C11

Which of the following operating arrangements allows an FCC-licensed U.S. citizen to operate in many European countries, and alien amateurs from many European countries to operate in the U.S.?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	IARP agreement
C	ITU reciprocal license
D	CEPT agreement

4. - E1D09

Which UHF amateur service bands have frequencies available for a space station?

Select	Answer
A	70 cm and 13 cm
B	33 cm and 13 cm
C	70 cm and 33 cm
D	70 cm only

5. - E1E03

What is a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator?

Select	Answer
A	The person who has entered into an agreement with the FCC to be the VE session manager
B	A person who has volunteered to prepare amateur operator license examinations
C	A person who has volunteered to administer amateur operator license examinations
D	An organization that has entered into an agreement with the FCC to coordinate amateur operator license examinations

6. - E1F10

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

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

7. - E2A14

What technology is used to track, in real time, balloons carrying amateur radio transmitters?

Select	Answer
A	APRS
B	Doppler shift of beacon signals
C	Bandwidth compressed LORAN
D	Radar

8. - E2B09

What hardware, other than a receiver with SSB capability and a suitable computer, is needed to decode SSTV using Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM)?

Select	Answer
A	A special IF converter
B	A special front end limiter
C	A special notch filter to remove synchronization pulses
D	No other hardware is needed

9. - E2C08

Which of the following contacts may be confirmed through the U.S. QSL bureau system?

Select	Answer
A	Contacts using tactical call signs
B	Repeater contacts between U.S. club members
C	Contacts between a U.S. station and a non-U.S. station
D	Special event contacts between stations in the U.S.

10. - E2D07

What digital protocol is used by APRS?

Select	Answer
A	AX.25
B	AMTOR
C	802.11
D	PACTOR

11. - E2E09

Which of the following HF digital modes uses variable-length coding for bandwidth efficiency?

Select	Answer
A	RTTY
B	PACTOR
C	PSK31
D	MT63

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	West
B	North
C	South
D	East

13. - E3B02

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

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

14. - E3C14

Why does the radio-path horizon distance exceed the geometric horizon?

Select	Answer
A	Downward bending due to aurora refraction
B	E-region skip
C	Downward bending due to density variations in the atmosphere
D	D-region skip

15. - E4A02

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

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

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	0.1 MHz
B	1.4652 kHz
C	1.4652 Hz
D	14.652 Hz

17. - E4C07

What does the MDS of a receiver represent?

Select	Answer
A	The maximum detectable spectrum
B	The multiplex distortion stability
C	The meter display sensitivity
D	The minimum discernible signal

18. - E4D14

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

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

19. - E4E06

What is a major cause of atmospheric static?

Select	Answer
A	Meteor showers
B	Thunderstorms
C	Solar radio frequency emissions
D	Geomagnetic storms

20. - E5A02

What is resonance in an electrical circuit?

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

21. - E5B08

What is the phase angle between the voltage across and the current through a series RLC circuit if XC is 100 ohms, R is 100 ohms, and XL is 75 ohms?

Select	Answer
A	14 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
B	76 degrees with the voltage leading the current
C	76 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
D	14 degrees with the voltage leading the current

22. - E5C02

How are impedances described in polar coordinates?

Select	Answer
A	By X and R values
B	By Y and G values
C	By phase angle and amplitude
D	By real and imaginary parts

23. - E5D01

What is the result of skin effect?

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

24. - E6A06

What is the beta of a bipolar junction transistor?

Select	Answer
A	The switching speed of the transistor
B	The breakdown voltage of the base to collector junction
C	The change in collector current with respect to base current
D	The frequency at which the current gain is reduced to 1

25. - E6B08

Which of the following describes a type of semiconductor diode?

Select	Answer
A	Metal-semiconductor junction
B	CMOS-field effect
C	Thermionic emission diode
D	Electrolytic rectifier

26. - E6C08

In Figure E6-5, what is the schematic symbol for a NAND gate?

Select	Answer
A	3
B	4
C	2
D	1

27. - E6D14

Which type of slug material decreases inductance when inserted into a coil?

Select	Answer
A	Ferrite
B	Powdered-iron
C	Brass
D	Ceramic

28. - E6E02

Which of the following device packages is a through-hole type?

Select	Answer
A	PLCC
B	SOT
C	DIP
D	Ball grid array

29. - E6F09

What is the efficiency of a photovoltaic cell?

Select	Answer
A	The relative fraction of light that is converted to current
B	The open-circuit voltage divided by the short-circuit current under full illumination
C	The output RF power divided by the input DC power
D	The effective payback period

30. - E7A05

Which of the following is a circuit that continuously alternates between two states without an external clock?

Select	Answer
A	J-K flip-flop
B	Astable multivibrator
C	T flip-flop
D	Monostable multivibrator

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	Use a phase inverter in the output filter
C	Tune the stage for maximum SWR
D	Tune both the input and output for maximum power

32. - E7C15

What is a crystal lattice filter?

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

33. - E7D08

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

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

34. - E7E01

Which of the following can be used to generate FM phone emissions?

Select	Answer
A	A reactance modulator on the final amplifier
B	A reactance modulator on the oscillator
C	A balanced modulator on the oscillator
D	A balanced modulator on the audio amplifier

35. - E7F01

What is meant by direct digital conversion as applied to software defined radios?

Select	Answer
A	Incoming RF is digitized by an analog-to-digital converter without being mixed with a local oscillator signal
B	A switching mixer is used to generate I and Q signals directly from the RF input
C	Incoming RF is converted to a control voltage for a voltage controlled oscillator
D	Software is converted from source code to object code during operation of the receiver

36. - E7G10

What absolute voltage gain can be expected from the circuit in Figure E7-4 when R1 is 1800 ohms and RF is 68 kilohms?

Select	Answer
A	76
B	1
C	38
D	0.03

37. - E7H15

Which of these functions can be performed by a phase-locked loop?

Select	Answer
A	Frequency synthesis, FM demodulation
B	Comparison of two digital input signals, digital pulse counter
C	Photovoltaic conversion, optical coupling
D	Wide-band AF and RF power amplification

38. - E8A07

What determines the PEP-to-average power ratio of a single-sideband phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	The degree of carrier suppression
B	The characteristics of the modulating signal
C	The frequency of the modulating signal
D	The amplifier gain

39. - E8B10

What describes frequency division multiplexing?

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

40. - E8C05

What is the necessary bandwidth of a 13-WPM international Morse code transmission?

Select	Answer
A	Approximately 26 Hz
B	Approximately 13 Hz
C	Approximately 104 Hz
D	Approximately 52 Hz

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

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

43. - E9B16

How many elevation lobes appear in the forward direction of the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-2?

Select	Answer
A	3
B	7
C	4
D	1

44. - E9C13

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

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

45. - E9D03

Where should a high Q loading coil be placed to minimize losses in a shortened vertical antenna?

Select	Answer
A	As close to the transmitter as possible
B	As low as possible on the vertical radiator
C	At a voltage node
D	Near the center of the vertical radiator

46. - E9E04

What is the purpose of the series capacitor in a gamma-type antenna matching network?

Select	Answer
A	To cancel the inductive reactance of the matching network
B	To provide a rejection notch that prevents the radiation of harmonics
C	To provide DC isolation between the feed line and the antenna
D	To transform the antenna impedance to a higher value

47. - E9F09

What is the approximate physical length of a solid polyethylene dielectric coaxial transmission line that is electrically one-quarter wavelength long at 7.2 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	6.9 meters
B	10 meters
C	50 meters
D	24 meters

48. - E9G03

Which of the following is often determined using a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Beam headings and radiation patterns
B	Trigonometric functions
C	Satellite azimuth and elevation bearings
D	Impedance and SWR values in transmission lines

49. - E9H11

What characteristic of a cardioid pattern antenna is useful for direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	Broad band response
B	High-radiation angle
C	A very sharp peak
D	A very sharp single null

50. - E0A08

What does SAR measure?

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

Figure E6-5

Figure E7-3

Figure E7-4

Figure E9-2