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

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1. - E1A04

With your transceiver displaying the carrier frequency of phone signals, you hear a DX station calling CQ on 3.601 MHz LSB. Is it legal to return the call using lower sideband on the same frequency?

Select	Answer
A	No, the sideband will extend beyond the edge of the phone band segment
B	Yes, because the displayed frequency is within the 75 meter phone band segment
C	No, U.S. stations are not permitted to use phone emissions below 3.610 MHz
D	Yes, because the DX station initiated the contact

2. - E1B06

Which of the following additional rules apply if you are installing an amateur station antenna at a site at or near a public use airport?

Select	Answer
A	You must obtain a construction permit from the airport zoning authority
B	You may have to notify the Federal Aviation Administration and register it with the FCC as required by Part 17 of FCC rules
C	No special rules apply if your antenna structure will be less than 300 feet in height
D	You must file an Environmental Impact Statement with the EPA before construction begins

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	An indication of increased antenna reflected power
D	The internal amateur radio practices policy of the FCC

4. - E1D02

What is the amateur satellite service?

Select	Answer
A	A radio communications service using stations on Earth satellites for public service broadcast
B	A radio communications service using amateur radio stations on satellites
C	A spacecraft launching service for amateur-built satellites
D	A radio navigation service using satellites for the purpose of self training, intercommunication and technical studies carried out by amateurs

5. - E1E03

What is a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator?

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

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

7. - E2A02

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

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

8. - E2B12

How are analog SSTV images typically transmitted on the HF bands?

Select	Answer
A	Video is converted to equivalent ASCII representation
B	Varying tone frequencies representing the video are transmitted using PSK
C	Varying tone frequencies representing the video are transmitted using single sideband
D	Video is converted to equivalent Baudot representation

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

10. - E2D06

Which of the following describes a method of establishing EME contacts?

Select	Answer
A	Storing and forwarding digital messages
B	High speed CW identification to avoid fading
C	Judging optimum transmission times by monitoring beacons reflected from the Moon
D	Time synchronous transmissions alternately from each station

11. - E2E10

Which of these digital modes has the narrowest bandwidth?

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

12. - E3A10

Which type of atmospheric structure can create a path for microwave propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Dust devil
B	The jet stream
C	Temperature inversion
D	Wind shear

13. - E3B01

What is transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Propagation between any two points located on the magnetic equator
B	Propagation between two mid-latitude points at approximately the same distance north and south of the magnetic equator
C	Propagation between two stations at the same latitude
D	Propagation between two continents by way of ducts along the magnetic equator

14. - E3C05

What orientation of Bz (B sub z) increases the likelihood that incoming particles from the Sun will cause disturbed conditions?

Select	Answer
A	Northward
B	Eastward
C	Southward
D	Westward

15. - E4A02

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

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

16. - E4B05

If a frequency counter with a specified accuracy of +/- 10 ppm reads 146,520,000 Hz, what is the most the actual frequency being measured could differ from the reading?

Select	Answer
A	146.52 kHz
B	146.52 Hz
C	10 Hz
D	1465.20 Hz

17. - E4C02

Which of the following portions of a receiver can be effective in eliminating image signal interference?

Select	Answer
A	A front-end filter or pre-selector
B	A properly adjusted product detector
C	A narrow IF filter
D	A notch filter

18. - E4D08

What causes intermodulation in an electronic circuit?

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

19. - E4E16

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

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

20. - E5A01

What can cause the voltage across reactances in series to be larger than the voltage applied to them?

Select	Answer
A	Conductance
B	Capacitance
C	Resistance
D	Resonance

21. - E5B03

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

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

22. - E5C13

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

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

23. - E5D12

How many watts are consumed in a circuit having a power factor of 0.2 if the input is 100-VAC at 4 amperes?

Select	Answer
A	50 watts
B	2000 watts
C	400 watts
D	80 watts

24. - E6A02

Which of the following semiconductor materials contains excess free electrons?

Select	Answer
A	P-type
B	Insulated gate
C	N-type
D	Bipolar

25. - E6B11

What is used to control the attenuation of RF signals by a PIN diode?

Select	Answer
A	Reverse voltage larger than the RF signal
B	A sub-harmonic pump signal
C	Capacitance of an RF coupling capacitor
D	Forward DC bias current

26. - E6C11

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

Select	Answer
A	4
B	2
C	6
D	5

27. - E6D16

What is the common name for a capacitor connected across a transformer secondary that is used to absorb transient voltage spikes?

Select	Answer
A	Feedback capacitor
B	Snubber capacitor
C	Trimmer capacitor
D	Clipper capacitor

28. - E6E09

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

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

29. - E6F11

What is the approximate open-circuit voltage produced by a fully-illuminated silicon photovoltaic cell?

Select	Answer
A	0.1 V
B	0.5 V
C	1.5 V
D	12 V

30. - E7A09

What logical operation is performed by an exclusive NOR gate?

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

31. - E7B11

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

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

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

33. - E7D05

Which of the following types of linear voltage regulator places a constant load on the unregulated voltage source?

Select	Answer
A	A constant current source
B	A shunt current source
C	A series regulator
D	A shunt regulator

34. - E7E05

What circuit is added to an FM transmitter to boost the higher audio frequencies?

Select	Answer
A	A de-emphasis network
B	A heterodyne suppressor
C	A pre-emphasis network
D	An audio prescaler

35. - E7F08

What is the function of decimation with regard to digital filters?

Select	Answer
A	Removing unnecessary significant digits
B	Converting data to binary code decimal form
C	Attenuating the signal
D	Reducing the effective sample rate by removing samples

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	38
B	1
C	0.03
D	76

37. - E7H13

Which of the following is a technique for providing highly accurate and stable oscillators needed for microwave transmission and reception?

Select	Answer
A	Use a GPS signal reference
B	All of these choices are correct
C	Use a temperature-controlled high Q dielectric resonator
D	Use a rubidium stabilized reference oscillator

38. - E8A10

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

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

39. - E8B11

What is digital time division multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	Two or more signals are arranged to share discrete time slots of a data transmission
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 data streams share the same channel by transmitting time of transmission as the sub-carrier

40. - E8C06

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

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

41. - E8D07

What is a common cause of overmodulation of AFSK signals?

Select	Answer
A	Bit errors in the modem
B	Ground loops
C	Excessive numbers of retries
D	Excessive transmit audio levels

42. - E9A14

What is meant by the radiation resistance of an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	The combined losses of the antenna elements and feed line
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 resistance in the atmosphere that an antenna must overcome to be able to radiate a signal

43. - E9B02

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

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

44. - E9C15

How does the radiation pattern of a horizontally polarized 3-element beam antenna vary with its height above ground?

Select	Answer
A	The horizontal beam width increases with height
B	The horizontal beam width decreases with height
C	The main lobe takeoff angle decreases with increasing height
D	The main lobe takeoff angle increases with increasing height

45. - E9D08

What happens as the Q of an antenna increases?

Select	Answer
A	More common-mode current is present on the feed line
B	SWR bandwidth decreases
C	SWR bandwidth increases
D	Gain is reduced

46. - E9E08

Which of the following measurements is characteristic of a mismatched transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	An SWR less than 1:1
B	A reflection coefficient greater than 1
C	A dielectric constant greater than 1
D	An SWR greater than 1:1

47. - E9F08

What is the term for the ratio of the actual speed at which a signal travels through a transmission line to the speed of light in a vacuum?

Select	Answer
A	Characteristic impedance
B	Standing wave ratio
C	Velocity factor
D	Surge impedance

48. - E9G11

How are the wavelength scales on a Smith chart calibrated?

Select	Answer
A	In fractions of antenna electrical frequency
B	In fractions of transmission line electrical wavelength
C	In fractions of transmission line electrical frequency
D	In fractions of antenna electrical wavelength

49. - E9H04

What is an advantage of using a shielded loop antenna for direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	It eliminates tracking errors caused by strong out-of-band signals
B	It allows stations to communicate without giving away their position
C	It automatically cancels ignition noise in mobile installations
D	It is electro statically balanced against ground, giving better nulls

50. - E0A10

What toxic material may be present in some electronic components such as high voltage capacitors and transformers?

Select	Answer
A	Polyethylene
B	Polytetrafluroethylene
C	Polychlorinated Biphenyls
D	Polymorphic silicon

Figure E6-5

Figure E7-1

Figure E7-4

Figure E9-1