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

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1. - E1A10

If an amateur station is installed aboard a ship or aircraft, what condition must be met before the station is operated?

Select	Answer
A	The amateur operator must have an FCC Marine or Aircraft endorsement on his or her amateur license
B	The amateur station operator must agree not to transmit when the main radio of the ship or aircraft is in use
C	The amateur station must have a power supply that is completely independent of the main ship or aircraft power supply
D	Its operation must be approved by the master of the ship or the pilot in command of the aircraft

2. - E1B05

What is the National Radio Quiet Zone?

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

3. - E1C06

Which of the following statements concerning remotely controlled amateur stations is true?

Select	Answer
A	Only Extra Class operators may be the control operator of a remote station
B	A control operator must be present at the control point
C	Repeater and auxiliary stations may not be remotely controlled
D	A control operator need not be present at the control point

4. - E1D09

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

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

5. - E1E01

What is the minimum number of qualified VEs required to administer an Element 4 amateur operator license examination?

Select	Answer
A	3
B	2
C	4
D	5

6. - E1F01

On what frequencies are spread spectrum transmissions permitted?

Select	Answer
A	Only on amateur frequencies above 222 MHz
B	Only on amateur frequencies above 50 MHz
C	Only on amateur frequencies above 420 MHz
D	Only on amateur frequencies above 144 MHz

7. - E2A08

Why should effective radiated power to a satellite which uses a linear transponder be limited?

Select	Answer
A	To prevent creating errors in the satellite telemetry
B	To avoid reducing the downlink power to all other users
C	To avoid interfering with terrestrial QSOs
D	To prevent the satellite from emitting out-of-band signals

8. - E2B06

What is vestigial sideband modulation?

Select	Answer
A	Narrow-band FM modulation achieved by filtering one sideband from the audio before frequency modulating the carrier
B	Spread spectrum modulation achieved by applying FM modulation following single sideband amplitude modulation
C	Amplitude modulation in which one complete sideband and a portion of the other are transmitted
D	A type of modulation in which one sideband is inverted

9. - E2C04

What type of transmission is most often used for a ham radio mesh network?

Select	Answer
A	Frequency division multiplex in the 24 GHz band
B	Spread spectrum in the 2.4 GHz band
C	Store and forward on the 440 MHz band
D	Multiple Frequency Shift Keying in the 10 GHz band

10. - E2D01

Which of the following digital modes is especially designed for use for meteor scatter signals?

Select	Answer
A	FSK441
B	APRS
C	Hellschreiber
D	WSPR

11. - E2E10

Which of these digital modes has the narrowest bandwidth?

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

12. - E3A03

When scheduling EME contacts, which of these conditions will generally result in the least path loss?

Select	Answer
A	When the Moon is at perigee
B	When the MUF is above 30 MHz
C	When the Moon is at apogee
D	When the Moon is full

13. - E3B07

Which of the following could account for hearing an echo on the received signal of a distant station?

Select	Answer
A	High D layer absorption
B	Receipt of a signal by more than one path
C	Transmit frequency is higher than the MUF
D	Meteor scatter

14. - E3C01

What does the term ray tracing describe in regard to radio communications?

Select	Answer
A	Determining the radiation pattern from an array of antennas
B	Modeling a radio wave's path through the ionosphere
C	Evaluating high voltage sources for X-Rays
D	The process in which an electronic display presents a pattern

15. - E4A05

What might be an advantage of a digital vs an analog oscilloscope?

Select	Answer
A	Storage of traces for future reference
B	Manipulation of time base after trace capture
C	Automatic amplitude and frequency numerical readout
D	All of these choices are correct

16. - E4B17

What three test loads are used to calibrate a standard RF vector network analyzer?

Select	Answer
A	Short circuit, open circuit, and resonant circuit
B	Short circuit, open circuit, and 50 ohms
C	50 ohms, 75 ohms, and 90 ohms
D	50 ohms through 1/8 wavelength, 1/4 wavelength, and 1/2 wavelength of coaxial cable

17. - E4C08

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

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

18. - E4D12

What is the term for the reduction in receiver sensitivity caused by a strong signal near the received frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Squelch gain rollback
B	Cross-modulation interference
C	Desensitization
D	Quieting

19. - E4E16

What current flows equally on all conductors of an unshielded multi-conductor cable?

Select	Answer
A	Reactive current only
B	Return current
C	Differential-mode current
D	Common-mode current

20. - E5A10

How is the Q of an RLC series resonant circuit calculated?

Select	Answer
A	Reactance of either the inductance or capacitance divided by the resistance
B	Reactance of the inductance times the reactance of the capacitance
C	Reactance of either the inductance or capacitance times the resistance
D	Resistance divided by the reactance of either the inductance or capacitance

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

22. - E5C11

What do the two numbers that are used to define a point on a graph using rectangular coordinates represent?

Select	Answer
A	The tangent and cotangent values
B	The magnitude and phase of the point
C	The sine and cosine values
D	The coordinate values along the horizontal and vertical axes

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	0.866
B	0.5
C	1.73
D	1.414

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

25. - E6B01

What is the most useful characteristic of a Zener diode?

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

26. - E6C05

What is an advantage of CMOS logic devices over TTL devices?

Select	Answer
A	Lower distortion
B	Lower power consumption
C	Differential output capability
D	Immune to damage from static discharge

27. - E6D11

How many turns will be required to produce a 1-mH inductor using a core that has an inductance index (A L) value of 523 millihenrys/1000 turns?

Select	Answer
A	229 turns
B	4 turns
C	2 turns
D	43 turns

28. - E6E08

How is voltage from a power supply normally furnished to the most common type of monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC)?

Select	Answer
A	Through a capacitor and RF choke connected to the amplifier input lead
B	Through a resistor and/or RF choke connected to the amplifier output lead
C	MMICs require no operating bias
D	Directly to the bias voltage (VCC IN) lead

29. - E6F07

What is a solid state relay?

Select	Answer
A	A device that uses semiconductors to implement the functions of an electromechanical relay
B	A mechanical relay that latches in the on or off state each time it is pulsed
C	A passive delay line
D	A relay using transistors to drive the relay coil

30. - E7A03

Which of the following can divide the frequency of a pulse train by 2?

Select	Answer
A	An XOR gate
B	A flip-flop
C	An OR gate
D	A multiplexer

31. - E7B03

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

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

32. - E7C02

Which of the following is a property of a T-network with series capacitors and a parallel shunt inductor?

Select	Answer
A	It is a notch filter
B	It is a low-pass filter
C	It is a high-pass filter
D	It is a band-pass filter

33. - E7D13

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

Select	Answer
A	Voltage difference from input to output multiplied by output current
B	Output voltage multiplied by output current
C	Input voltage divided 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	To reduce impulse noise reception
C	For higher efficiency
D	To remove third-order distortion products

35. - E7F07

What function can a Fast Fourier Transform perform?

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

36. - E7G02

What is the effect of ringing in a filter?

Select	Answer
A	An echo caused by a long time delay
B	A reduction in high frequency response
C	Partial cancellation of the signal over a range of frequencies
D	Undesired oscillations added to the desired signal

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. - E8A10

What is the purpose of a low pass filter used in conjunction with a digital-to-analog converter?

Select	Answer
A	Improve accuracy by removing out of sequence codes from the input
B	All of these choices are correct
C	Lower the input bandwidth to increase the effective resolution
D	Remove harmonics from the output caused by the discrete analog levels generated

39. - E8B09

What is meant by deviation ratio?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of the carrier center frequency to the audio modulating frequency
B	The ratio of the audio modulating frequency to the center carrier frequency
C	The ratio of the highest audio modulating frequency to the average audio modulating frequency
D	The ratio of the maximum carrier frequency deviation to the highest audio modulating frequency

40. - E8C01

How is Forward Error Correction implemented?

Select	Answer
A	By transmitting extra data that may be used to detect and correct transmission errors
B	By transmitting a special algorithm to the receiving station along with the data characters
C	By the receiving station repeating each block of three data characters
D	By varying the frequency shift of the transmitted signal according to a predefined algorithm

41. - E8D04

What is the primary effect of extremely short rise or fall time on a CW signal?

Select	Answer
A	The generation of RF harmonics
B	Limits data speed
C	More difficult to copy
D	The generation of key clicks

42. - E9A13

How much gain does an antenna have compared to a 1/2-wavelength dipole when it has 12 dB gain over an isotropic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	9.85 dB
B	12.5 dB
C	6.17 dB
D	14.15 dB

43. - E9B09

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

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

44. - E9C01

What is the radiation pattern of two 1/4-wavelength vertical antennas spaced 1/2-wavelength apart and fed 180 degrees out of phase?

Select	Answer
A	Omni-directional
B	Cardioid
C	A figure-8 oriented along the axis of the array
D	A figure-8 broadside to the axis of the array

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	Near the center of the vertical radiator
C	As low as possible on the vertical radiator
D	At a voltage node

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

47. - E9F16

Which of the following is a significant difference between foam dielectric coaxial cable and solid dielectric cable, assuming all other parameters are the same?

Select	Answer
A	Foam dielectric has lower loss per unit of length
B	Foam dielectric has higher velocity factor
C	All of these choices are correct
D	Foam dielectric has lower safe operating voltage limits

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

50. - E0A03

Which of the following would be a practical way to estimate whether the RF fields produced by an amateur radio station are within permissible MPE limits?

Select	Answer
A	All of the choices are correct
B	Use an antenna modeling program to calculate field strength at accessible locations
C	Use a hand calculator plus Smith-chart equations to calculate the fields
D	Use a calibrated antenna analyzer

Figure E9-3