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

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1. - E1A12

With your transceiver displaying the carrier frequency of CW signals, you hear a DX station's CQ on 3.500 MHz. Is it legal to return the call using CW on the same frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Yes, the DX station initiated the contact
B	No, U.S. stations are not permitted to use CW emissions below 3.525 MHz
C	No, one of the sidebands of the CW signal will be out of the band
D	Yes, the displayed frequency is within the 80 meter CW band segment

2. - E1B11

What is the permitted mean power of any spurious emission relative to the mean power of the fundamental emission from a station transmitter or external RF amplifier installed after January 1, 2003 and transmitting on a frequency below 30 MHZ?

Select	Answer
A	At least 53 dB below
B	At least 43 dB below
C	At least 63 dB below
D	At least 73 dB below

3. - E1C04

What is meant by IARP?

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

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 located on the Earth's surface for communication with other Earth stations by means of Earth satellites
C	An amateur station that transmits telemetry consisting of measurements of upper atmosphere
D	An amateur station located more than 50 km above the Earth's surface

5. - E1E08

To which of the following examinees may a VE not administer an examination?

Select	Answer
A	Friends of the VE
B	Employees of the VE
C	Relatives of the VE as listed in the FCC rules
D	All of these choices are correct

6. - E1F05

Amateur stations may not transmit in which of the following frequency segments if they are located in the contiguous 48 states and north of Line A?

Select	Answer
A	420 MHz - 430 MHz
B	53 MHz - 54 MHz
C	222 MHz - 223 MHz
D	440 MHz - 450 MHz

7. - E2A02

What is the direction of a descending pass for an amateur satellite?

Select	Answer
A	From west to east
B	From north to south
C	From south to north
D	From east to west

8. - E2B03

How is an interlaced scanning pattern generated in a fast-scan (NTSC) television system?

Select	Answer
A	By scanning lines from left to right in one field and right to left in the next
B	By scanning two fields simultaneously
C	By scanning odd numbered lines in one field and even numbered lines in the next
D	By scanning each field from bottom to top

9. - E2C13

What indicator is required to be used by U.S.-licensed operators when operating a station via remote control where the transmitter is located in the U.S.?

Select	Answer
A	The ARRL section of the remote station
B	/R# where # is the district of the remote station
C	No additional indicator is required
D	/ followed by the USPS two letter abbreviation for the state in which the remote station is located

10. - E2D02

Which of the following is a good technique for making meteor scatter contacts?

Select	Answer
A	Use of high speed CW or digital modes
B	All of these choices are correct
C	15 second timed transmission sequences with stations alternating based on location
D	Short transmission with rapidly repeated call signs and signal reports

11. - E2E06

What is the most common data rate used for HF packet?

Select	Answer
A	1200 baud
B	300 baud
C	48 baud
D	110 baud

12. - E3A13

Which emission mode is best for aurora propagation?

Select	Answer
A	CW
B	RTTY
C	SSB
D	FM

13. - E3B07

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

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

14. - E3C08

What does the space weather term G5 mean?

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

15. - E4A12

Which of the following procedures is an important precaution to follow when connecting a spectrum analyzer to a transmitter output?

Select	Answer
A	Use high quality double shielded coaxial cables to reduce signal losses
B	Match the antenna to the load
C	Attenuate the transmitter output going to the spectrum analyzer
D	All of these choices are correct

16. - E4B12

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

Select	Answer
A	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
B	When used as an ammeter, the full scale reading in amps divided by ohms per volt rating will determine the size of shunt needed
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. - E4C08

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

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

18. - E4D13

Which of the following can cause receiver desensitization?

Select	Answer
A	Audio gain adjusted too low
B	Strong adjacent channel signals
C	Audio bias adjusted too high
D	Squelch gain misadjusted

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	The broadcast station is transmitting an over-modulated signal
C	Nearby corroded metal joints are mixing and re-radiating the broadcast signals
D	You are receiving sky wave signals from a distant station

20. - E5A14

What is the resonant frequency of a series RLC circuit if R is 22 ohms, L is 50 microhenrys and C is 40 picofarads?

Select	Answer
A	22.36 MHz
B	44.72 MHz
C	3.56 MHz
D	1.78 MHz

21. - E5B04

What is the time constant of a circuit having two 220 microfarad capacitors and two 1 megohm resistors, all in parallel?

Select	Answer
A	440 seconds
B	110 seconds
C	220 seconds
D	55 seconds

22. - E5C13

What coordinate system is often used to display the resistive, inductive, and/or capacitive reactance components of impedance?

Select	Answer
A	Maidenhead grid
B	Elliptical coordinates
C	Rectangular coordinates
D	Faraday grid

23. - E5D02

Why is it important to keep lead lengths short for components used in circuits for VHF and above?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	To increase the thermal time constant
C	To avoid unwanted inductive reactance
D	To maintain component lifetime

24. - E6A12

Why do many MOSFET devices have internally connected Zener diodes on the gates?

Select	Answer
A	To keep the gate voltage within specifications and prevent the device from overheating
B	To protect the substrate from excessive voltages
C	To provide a voltage reference for the correct amount of reverse-bias gate voltage
D	To reduce the chance of the gate insulation being punctured by static discharges or excessive voltages

25. - E6B04

What type of semiconductor device is designed for use as a voltage-controlled capacitor?

Select	Answer
A	Varactor diode
B	Silicon-controlled rectifier
C	Zener diode
D	Tunnel diode

26. - E6C08

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

Select	Answer
A	4
B	1
C	2
D	3

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	2 turns
C	43 turns
D	4 turns

28. - E6E09

Which of the following component package types would be most suitable for use at frequencies above the HF range?

Select	Answer
A	Surface mount
B	Radial lead
C	TO-220
D	Axial lead

29. - E6F07

What is a solid state relay?

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

30. - E7A08

What logical operation does an OR gate perform?

Select	Answer
A	It produces logic "1" at its output if all inputs are logic "0"
B	It produces logic "0" at its output if all inputs are logic "1"
C	It only produces logic "0" at its output when all inputs are logic "1"
D	It produces logic "1" at its output if any or all inputs are logic "1"

31. - E7B13

In Figure E7-2, what is the purpose of R?

Select	Answer
A	Emitter load
B	Collector load
C	Voltage regulation
D	Fixed bias

32. - E7C01

How are the capacitors and inductors of a low-pass filter Pi-network arranged between the network's input and output?

Select	Answer
A	An inductor is connected between the input and ground, another inductor is connected between the output and ground, and a capacitor is connected between the input and output
B	A capacitor is connected between the input and ground, another capacitor is connected between the output and ground, and an inductor is connected between input and output
C	Two inductors are in series between the input and output, and a capacitor is connected between the two inductors and ground
D	Two capacitors are in series between the input and output, and an inductor is connected between the two capacitors and ground

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 undercharge
C	Prevention of battery damage due to overcharge
D	Control of electrolyte levels during battery discharge

34. - E7E12

What is a frequency discriminator stage in a FM receiver?

Select	Answer
A	A circuit for filtering two closely adjacent signals
B	An automatic band-switching circuit
C	A circuit for detecting FM signals
D	An FM generator circuit

35. - E7F02

What kind of digital signal processing audio filter is used to remove unwanted noise from a received SSB signal?

Select	Answer
A	A phase-inverting filter
B	A Hilbert-transform filter
C	An adaptive filter
D	A crystal-lattice filter

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	Undesired oscillations added to the desired signal
D	Partial cancellation of the signal over a range of frequencies

37. - E7H05

How is positive feedback supplied in a Pierce oscillator?

Select	Answer
A	Through a tapped coil
B	Through a quartz crystal
C	Through a neutralizing capacitor
D	Through link coupling

38. - E8A02

What type of wave has a rise time significantly faster than its fall time (or vice versa)?

Select	Answer
A	A cosine wave
B	A sine wave
C	A square wave
D	A sawtooth wave

39. - E8B07

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

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

40. - E8C07

What is the necessary bandwidth of a 4800-Hz frequency shift, 9600-baud ASCII FM transmission?

Select	Answer
A	5.76 kHz
B	15.36 kHz
C	9.6 kHz
D	4.8 kHz

41. - E8D08

What parameter might indicate that excessively high input levels are causing distortion in an AFSK signal?

Select	Answer
A	Baud rate
B	Repeat Request Rate (RRR)
C	Intermodulation Distortion (IMD)
D	Signal to noise ratio

42. - E9A04

Which of the following factors may affect the feed point impedance of an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	The settings of an antenna tuner at the transmitter
B	Antenna height, conductor length/diameter ratio and location of nearby conductive objects
C	Sunspot activity and time of day
D	Transmission-line length

43. - E9B02

In the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-1, what is the front-to-back ratio?

Select	Answer
A	14 dB
B	24 dB
C	18 dB
D	36 dB

44. - E9C14

How does the performance of a horizontally polarized antenna mounted on the side of a hill compare with the same antenna mounted on flat ground?

Select	Answer
A	The main lobe takeoff angle increases in the downhill direction
B	The main lobe takeoff angle decreases in the downhill direction
C	The horizontal beam width increases in the uphill direction
D	The horizontal beam width decreases in the downhill direction

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

46. - E9E07

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

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

47. - E9F03

Why is the physical length of a coaxial cable transmission line shorter than its electrical length?

Select	Answer
A	The characteristic impedance is higher in a parallel feed line
B	Skin effect is less pronounced in the coaxial cable
C	Electrical signals move more slowly in a coaxial cable than in air
D	The surge impedance is higher in a parallel feed line

48. - E9G07

On the Smith chart shown in Figure E9-3, what is the only straight line shown?

Select	Answer
A	The current axis
B	The voltage axis
C	The reactance axis
D	The resistance axis

49. - E9H07

Why is it advisable to use an RF attenuator on a receiver being used for direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	It compensates for the effects of an isotropic antenna, thereby improving directivity
B	It narrows the bandwidth of the received signal to improve signal to noise ratio
C	It reduces loss of received signals caused by antenna pattern nulls, thereby increasing sensitivity
D	It prevents receiver overload which could make it difficult to determine peaks or nulls

50. - E0A01

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

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

Figure E6-5

Figure E7-2

Figure E9-1

Figure E9-3