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

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1. - E1A11

Which of the following describes authorization or licensing required when operating an amateur station aboard a U.S.-registered vessel in international waters?

Select	Answer
A	Any FCC-issued amateur license
B	Any amateur license with an FCC Marine or Aircraft endorsement
C	An unrestricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit
D	Only General class or higher amateur licenses

2. - E1B05

What is the National Radio Quiet Zone?

Select	Answer
A	An area surrounding the National Radio Astronomy Observatory
B	An area in Puerto Rico surrounding the Arecibo Radio Telescope
C	An area in Florida surrounding Cape Canaveral
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	A control operator must be present at the control point
B	A control operator need not be present at the control point
C	Only Extra Class operators may be the control operator of a remote station
D	Repeater and auxiliary stations may not be remotely controlled

4. - E1D06

Which of the following is a requirement of a space station?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	The space station must be capable of changing its orbit whenever such a change is ordered by NASA
C	The space station must be capable of terminating transmissions by telecommand when directed by the FCC
D	The space station must cease all transmissions after 5 years

5. - E1E11

What must the VE team do if an examinee scores a passing grade on all examination elements needed for an upgrade or new license?

Select	Answer
A	Issue the examinee the new or upgrade license
B	Photocopy all examination documents and forward them to the FCC for processing
C	Three VEs must certify that the examinee is qualified for the license grant and that they have complied with the administering VE requirements
D	All these choices are correct

6. - E1F11

Which of the following best describes one of the standards that must be met by an external RF power amplifier if it is to qualify for a grant of FCC certification?

Select	Answer
A	It must produce full legal output when driven by not more than 5 watts of mean RF input power
B	It must satisfy the FCC's spurious emission standards when operated at the lesser of 1500 watts or its full output power
C	It must exhibit a gain of 0 dB or less over its full output range
D	It must be capable of external RF switching between its input and output networks

7. - E2A07

Which of the following types of signals can be relayed through a linear transponder?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	FM and CW
C	SSB and SSTV
D	PSK and Packet

8. - E2B11

What is the function of the Vertical Interval Signaling (VIS) code sent as part of an SSTV transmission?

Select	Answer
A	To identify the SSTV mode being used
B	To provide vertical synchronization
C	To identify the call sign of the station transmitting
D	To lock the color burst oscillator in color SSTV images

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	Frequency division multiplex in the 24 GHz band
C	Store and forward on the 440 MHz band
D	Multiple Frequency Shift Keying in the 10 GHz band

10. - E2D08

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

Select	Answer
A	Disconnect
B	Unnumbered Information
C	Acknowledgement
D	Connect

11. - E2E01

Which type of modulation is common for data emissions below 30 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	Pulse modulation
B	FSK
C	DTMF tones modulating an FM signal
D	Spread spectrum

12. - E3A04

What do Hepburn maps predict?

Select	Answer
A	Sporadic E propagation
B	Locations of auroral reflecting zones
C	Likelihood of rain-scatter along cold or warm fronts
D	Probability of tropospheric propagation

13. - E3B11

At what time of day is Sporadic-E propagation most likely to occur?

Select	Answer
A	Around sunset
B	Any time
C	Around sunrise
D	Early evening

14. - E3C04

What does the value of Bz (B sub Z) represent?

Select	Answer
A	Direction and strength of the interplanetary magnetic field
B	Geomagnetic field stability
C	Critical frequency for vertical transmissions
D	Duration of long-delayed echoes

15. - E4A04

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

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

16. - E4B17

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

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

17. - E4C09

Which of the following choices is a good reason for selecting a high frequency for the design of the IF in a conventional HF or VHF communications receiver?

Select	Answer
A	Easier for front-end circuitry to eliminate image responses
B	Improved receiver noise figure
C	Reduced drift
D	Fewer components in the receiver

18. - E4D08

What causes intermodulation in an electronic circuit?

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

19. - E4E02

Which of the following types of receiver noise can often be reduced with a DSP noise filter?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	Ignition noise
C	Power line noise
D	Broadband white noise

20. - E5A15

Which of the following can increase Q for inductors and capacitors?

Select	Answer
A	Lower reactance
B	Lower losses
C	Higher self-resonant frequency
D	Lower self-resonant frequency

21. - E5B03

What happens to the phase angle of a reactance when it is converted to a susceptance?

Select	Answer
A	It is shifted by 90 degrees
B	It is unchanged
C	The sign is reversed
D	The susceptance phase angle is the inverse of the reactance phase angle

22. - E5C05

What is the name of the diagram used to show the phase relationship between impedances at a given frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Phasor diagram
B	Venn diagram
C	Far field diagram
D	Near field diagram

23. - E5D15

What is the power factor of an R-L circuit having a 45 degree phase angle between the voltage and the current?

Select	Answer
A	1.0
B	0.707
C	0.5
D	0.866

24. - E6A08

What term indicates the frequency at which the grounded-base current gain of a transistor has decreased to 0.7 of the gain obtainable at 1 kHz?

Select	Answer
A	Alpha rejection frequency
B	Beta cutoff frequency
C	Alpha cutoff frequency
D	Corner frequency

25. - E6B13

What type of bias is required for an LED to emit light?

Select	Answer
A	Reverse bias
B	Inductive bias
C	Zero bias
D	Forward bias

26. - E6C11

In Figure E6-5, what is the schematic symbol for the NOT operation (inverter)?

Select	Answer
A	2
B	4
C	6
D	5

27. - E6D14

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

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

28. - E6E02

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

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

29. - E6F06

Which of these materials is affected the most by photoconductivity?

Select	Answer
A	An ordinary metal
B	A crystalline semiconductor
C	A heavy metal
D	A liquid semiconductor

30. - E7A10

What is a truth table?

Select	Answer
A	A list of inputs and corresponding outputs for a digital device
B	A diagram showing logic states when the digital device output is true
C	A table of logic symbols that indicate the logic states of an op-amp
D	A table of logic symbols that indicate the high logic states of an op-amp

31. - E7B04

Where on the load line of a Class A common emitter amplifier would bias normally be set?

Select	Answer
A	At a point where the bias resistor equals the load resistor
B	At a point where the load line intersects the zero bias current curve
C	Where the load line intersects the voltage axis
D	Approximately half-way between saturation and cutoff

32. - E7C13

What is one advantage of a Pi-matching network over an L-matching network consisting of a single inductor and a single capacitor?

Select	Answer
A	Pi-networks have fewer components
B	Pi-networks are designed for balanced input and output
C	L-networks cannot perform impedance transformation
D	The Q of Pi-networks can be varied depending on the component values chosen

33. - E7D02

What is one characteristic of a switching electronic voltage regulator?

Select	Answer
A	It is generally less efficient than a linear regulator
B	The controlled device's duty cycle is changed to produce a constant average output voltage
C	The resistance of a control element is varied in direct proportion to the line voltage or load current
D	It gives a ramp voltage at its output

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 audio amplifier
D	A balanced modulator on the oscillator

35. - E7F16

How might the sampling rate of an existing digital signal be adjusted by a factor of 3/4?

Select	Answer
A	Multiply each sample value by a factor of 3/4
B	Add 3 to each input value and subtract 4 from each output value
C	Interpolate by a factor of three, then decimate by a factor of four
D	Change the gain by a factor of 3/4

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	0.03
B	76
C	1
D	38

37. - E7H03

How is positive feedback supplied in a Hartley oscillator?

Select	Answer
A	Through link coupling
B	Through a capacitive divider
C	Through a tapped coil
D	Through a neutralizing capacitor

38. - E8A07

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

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

39. - E8B10

What describes frequency division multiplexing?

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

40. - E8C02

What is the definition of symbol rate in a digital transmission?

Select	Answer
A	The rate at which the waveform of a transmitted signal changes to convey information
B	The duration of each bit in a message sent over the air
C	The number of control characters in a message packet
D	The number of characters carried per second by the station-to-station link

41. - E8D09

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

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

42. - E9A12

How much gain does an antenna have compared to a 1/2-wavelength dipole when it has 6 dB gain over an isotropic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	3.85 dB
B	2.79 dB
C	8.15 dB
D	6.0 dB

43. - E9B10

What is the principle of a Method of Moments analysis?

Select	Answer
A	A wire is modeled as a series of points, each having a distinct location in space
B	A wire is modeled as a series of segments, each having a uniform value of current
C	A wire is modeled as a single sine-wave current generator
D	A wire is modeled as a series of segments, each having a distinct value of voltage across it

44. - E9C04

What happens to the radiation pattern of an unterminated long wire antenna as the wire length is increased?

Select	Answer
A	The vertical angle increases
B	The lobes become more perpendicular to the wire
C	The lobes align more in the direction of the wire
D	The front-to-back ratio decreases

45. - E9D01

How does the gain of an ideal parabolic dish antenna change when the operating frequency is doubled?

Select	Answer
A	Gain increases by 6 dB
B	Gain increases by 3 dB
C	Gain is multiplied by 0.707
D	Gain does not change

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

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	10 meters
B	50 meters
C	6.9 meters
D	24 meters

48. - E9G02

What type of coordinate system is used in a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Resistance circles and reactance arcs
B	Voltage circles and current arcs
C	Resistance lines and reactance chords
D	Voltage lines and current chords

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 large circularly polarized antenna
D	A small coil of wire tightly wound around a toroidal ferrite core

50. - E0A01

What is the primary function of an external earth connection or ground rod?

Select	Answer
A	Lightning protection
B	Reduce RF current flow between pieces of equipment
C	Reduce RFI to telephones and home entertainment systems
D	Reduce received noise

Figure E6-5

Figure E7-4