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

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1. - E1A05

What is the maximum power output permitted on the 60 meter band?

Select	Answer
A	100 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to an isotropic radiator
B	50 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to a dipole
C	100 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to the gain of a half-wave dipole
D	50 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to an isotropic radiator

2. - E1B07

What is the highest modulation index permitted at the highest modulation frequency for angle modulation below 29.0 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	1.0
B	3.0
C	0.5
D	2.0

3. - E1C12

What types of communications may be transmitted to amateur stations in foreign countries?

Select	Answer
A	Messages intended for connection to users of the maritime satellite service
B	Communications incidental to the purpose of the amateur service and remarks of a personal nature
C	Business-related messages for non-profit organizations
D	All of these choices are correct

4. - E1D07

Which amateur service HF bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

Select	Answer
A	Only the 40 m, 20 m, 17 m, 15 m, 12 m and 10 m bands
B	Only the 40 m, 20 m, 17 m, 15 m and 10 m bands
C	Only the 40 m, 30 m, 20 m, 15 m, 12 m and 10 m bands
D	All HF bands

5. - E1E04

Which of the following best describes the Volunteer Examiner accreditation process?

Select	Answer
A	Each General, Advanced and Amateur Extra Class operator is automatically accredited as a VE when the license is granted
B	The prospective VE obtains accreditation from the FCC
C	The amateur operator applying must pass a VE examination administered by the FCC Enforcement Bureau
D	The procedure by which a VEC confirms that the VE applicant meets FCC requirements to serve as an examiner

6. - E1F08

Which of the following types of amateur station communications are prohibited?

Select	Answer
A	Communications that have a religious content
B	Communications that have a political content, except as allowed by the Fairness Doctrine
C	Communications transmitted for hire or material compensation, except as otherwise provided in the rules
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	Geostationary
B	HEO
C	Geomagnetic
D	LEO

8. - E2B15

What signals SSTV receiving equipment to begin a new picture line?

Select	Answer
A	Specific tone amplitudes
B	Specific tone frequencies
C	A two-tone signal
D	Elapsed time

9. - E2C04

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

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

10. - E2D08

What type of packet frame is used to transmit APRS beacon data?

Select	Answer
A	Connect
B	Unnumbered Information
C	Acknowledgement
D	Disconnect

11. - E2E03

How is the timing of JT65 contacts organized?

Select	Answer
A	It depends on the lunar phase
B	By exchanging ACK/NAK packets
C	Stations take turns on alternate days
D	Alternating transmissions at 1 minute intervals

12. - E3A02

What characterizes libration fading of an EME signal?

Select	Answer
A	A slow change in the pitch of the CW signal
B	The returning echo is several Hertz lower in frequency than the transmitted signal
C	A gradual loss of signal as the Sun rises
D	A fluttery irregular fading

13. - E3B14

What happens to linearly polarized radio waves that split into ordinary and extraordinary waves in the ionosphere?

Select	Answer
A	Their polarization is randomly modified
B	They are bent toward the magnetic poles
C	They become elliptically polarized
D	They become phase-locked

14. - E3C14

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

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

15. - E4A07

Which of the following is an advantage of using an antenna analyzer compared to an SWR bridge to measure antenna SWR?

Select	Answer
A	Antenna analyzers automatically tune your antenna for resonance
B	Antenna analyzers display a time-varying representation of the modulation envelope
C	All of these choices are correct
D	Antenna analyzers do not need an external RF source

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

17. - E4C04

How is the noise figure of a receiver defined?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of atmospheric noise to phase noise
B	The ratio in dB of the noise generated by the receiver to the theoretical minimum noise
C	The ratio of the noise bandwidth in Hertz to the theoretical bandwidth of a resistive network
D	The ratio of thermal noise to atmospheric noise

18. - E4D09

What is the purpose of the preselector in a communications receiver?

Select	Answer
A	To increase rejection of unwanted signals
B	To provide a range of AGC time constants
C	To store often-used frequencies
D	To allow selection of the optimum RF amplifier device

19. - E4E14

What is one type of electrical interference that might be caused by the operation of a nearby personal computer?

Select	Answer
A	A loud AC hum in the audio output of your station receiver
B	A clicking noise at intervals of a few seconds
C	The appearance of unstable modulated or unmodulated signals at specific frequencies
D	A whining type noise that continually pulses off and on

20. - E5A04

What is the magnitude of the impedance of a circuit with a resistor, an inductor and a capacitor all in parallel, at resonance?

Select	Answer
A	Approximately equal to inductive reactance
B	Approximately equal to circuit resistance
C	Low, as compared to the circuit resistance
D	Approximately equal to capacitive reactance

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

22. - E5C07

What is a vector?

Select	Answer
A	The value of a quantity that changes over time
B	A quantity with both magnitude and an angular component
C	The inverse of the tangent function
D	The inverse of the sine function

23. - E5D06

In what direction is the magnetic field oriented about a conductor in relation to the direction of electron flow?

Select	Answer
A	In all directions; omni-directional
B	In a direction determined by the left-hand rule
C	In the same direction as the current
D	In a direction opposite to the current

24. - E6A03

Why does a PN-junction diode not conduct current when reverse biased?

Select	Answer
A	Excess holes in P-type material combine with the electrons in N-type material, converting the entire diode into an insulator
B	Only P-type semiconductor material can conduct current
C	Holes in P-type material and electrons in the N-type material are separated by the applied voltage, widening the depletion region
D	Only N-type semiconductor material can conduct current

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	Less forward voltage drop
C	Controlled reverse avalanche voltage
D	Much higher reverse voltage breakdown

26. - E6C06

Why do CMOS digital integrated circuits have high immunity to noise on the input signal or power supply?

Select	Answer
A	The input switching threshold is about two times the power supply voltage
B	The input switching threshold is about one-half the power supply voltage
C	Larger bypass capacitors are used in CMOS circuit design
D	Input signals are stronger

27. - E6D02

What is the equivalent circuit of a quartz crystal?

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

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

29. - E6F04

What is the photovoltaic effect?

Select	Answer
A	The conversion of voltage to current when exposed to light
B	The tendency of a battery to discharge when used outside
C	The conversion of electrical energy to mechanical energy
D	The conversion of light to electrical energy

30. - E7A03

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

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

31. - E7B11

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

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

32. - E7C06

What are the distinguishing features of an elliptical filter?

Select	Answer
A	Gradual passband rolloff with extreme stop band ripple
B	Gradual passband rolloff with minimal stop band ripple
C	Extremely sharp cutoff with one or more notches in the stop band
D	Extremely flat response over its pass band with gradually rounded stop band corners

33. - E7D09

What is the main reason to use a charge controller with a solar power system?

Select	Answer
A	Matching of day and night charge rates
B	Prevention of battery damage due to overcharge
C	Prevention of battery undercharge
D	Control of electrolyte levels during battery discharge

34. - E7E03

How does an analog phase modulator function?

Select	Answer
A	By varying the tuning of a microphone preamplifier to produce PM signals
B	By varying the tuning of an amplifier tank circuit to produce PM signals
C	By varying the tuning of an amplifier tank circuit to produce AM signals
D	By varying the tuning of a microphone preamplifier to produce AM signals

35. - E7F15

Which of the following is an advantage of a Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter vs an Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) digital filter?

Select	Answer
A	FIR filters are easier to implement for a given set of passband rolloff requirements
B	FIR filters can respond faster to impulses
C	All of these choices are correct
D	FIR filters delay all frequency components of the signal by the same amount

36. - E7G03

What is the typical input impedance of an integrated circuit op-amp?

Select	Answer
A	1000 ohms
B	100 ohms
C	Very low
D	Very high

37. - E7H01

What are three oscillator circuits used in Amateur Radio equipment?

Select	Answer
A	Taft, Pierce and negative feedback
B	Pierce, Fenner and Beane
C	Colpitts, Hartley and Pierce
D	Taft, Hartley and Pierce

38. - E8A11

What type of information can be conveyed using digital waveforms?

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

39. - E8B11

What is digital time division multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	Two or more data streams share the same channel by transmitting time of transmission as the sub-carrier
B	Two or more data streams are assigned to discrete sub-carriers on an FM transmitter
C	Two or more signals are quadrature modulated to increase bandwidth efficiency
D	Two or more signals are arranged to share discrete time slots of a data transmission

40. - E8C06

What is the necessary bandwidth of a 170-hertz shift, 300-baud ASCII transmission?

Select	Answer
A	0.3 kHz
B	0.5 kHz
C	1.0 kHz
D	0.1 Hz

41. - E8D11

What is one advantage of using ASCII code for data communications?

Select	Answer
A	It contains fewer information bits per character than any other code
B	It includes built in error correction features
C	It uses one character as a shift code to send numeric and special characters
D	It is possible to transmit both upper and lower case text

42. - E9A08

What is meant by antenna bandwidth?

Select	Answer
A	The angle formed between two imaginary lines drawn through the element ends
B	The angle between the half-power radiation points
C	Antenna length divided by the number of elements
D	The frequency range over which an antenna satisfies a performance requirement

43. - E9B11

What is a disadvantage of decreasing the number of wire segments in an antenna model below the guideline of 10 segments per half-wavelength?

Select	Answer
A	Ground conductivity will not be accurately modeled
B	The antenna will become mechanically unstable
C	The resulting design will favor radiation of harmonic energy
D	The computed feed point impedance may be incorrect

44. - E9C02

What is the radiation pattern of two 1/4 wavelength vertical antennas spaced 1/4 wavelength apart and fed 90 degrees out of phase?

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

45. - E9D13

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

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

46. - E9E07

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

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

47. - E9F06

What is the approximate physical length of an air-insulated, parallel conductor transmission line that is electrically one-half wavelength long at 14.10 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	15 meters
B	20 meters
C	10 meters
D	71 meters

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	Polar axis
C	Reactance axis
D	Prime axis

49. - E9H09

Which of the following describes the construction of a receiving loop antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A vertical antenna coupled to a feed line through an inductive loop of wire
B	One or more turns of wire wound in the shape of a large open coil
C	A small coil of wire tightly wound around a toroidal ferrite core
D	A large circularly polarized antenna

50. - E0A05

What is one of the potential hazards of using microwaves in the amateur radio bands?

Select	Answer
A	The extremely high frequency energy can damage the joints of antenna structures
B	Microwaves often travel long distances by ionospheric reflection
C	The high gain antennas commonly used can result in high exposure levels
D	Microwaves are ionizing radiation

Figure E7-1

Figure E9-3