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

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1. - E1A09

What is the first action you should take if your digital message forwarding station inadvertently forwards a communication that violates FCC rules?

Select	Answer
A	Discontinue forwarding the communication as soon as you become aware of it
B	Discontinue forwarding all messages
C	Notify the nearest FCC Field Engineer's office
D	Notify the originating station that the communication does not comply with FCC rules

2. - E1B02

Which of the following factors might cause the physical location of an amateur station apparatus or antenna structure to be restricted?

Select	Answer
A	The location is near an area of political conflict
B	The location is in an ITU Zone designated for coordination with one or more foreign governments
C	The location is of environmental importance or significant in American history, architecture, or culture
D	The location is of geographical or horticultural importance

3. - E1C10

What types of amateur stations may automatically retransmit the radio signals of other amateur stations?

Select	Answer
A	Only auxiliary, repeater or space stations
B	Only beacon, repeater or space stations
C	Only earth stations, repeater stations or model craft
D	Only auxiliary, beacon or space stations

4. - E1D06

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

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

5. - E1E07

What should a VE do if a candidate fails to comply with the examiner's instructions during an amateur operator license examination?

Select	Answer
A	Allow the candidate to complete the examination, but invalidate the results
B	Immediately terminate the candidate's examination
C	Warn the candidate that continued failure to comply will result in termination of the examination
D	Immediately terminate everyone's examination and close the session

6. - E1F08

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

Select	Answer
A	Communications that have a political content, except as allowed by the Fairness Doctrine
B	Communications that have a religious content
C	Communications in a language other than English
D	Communications transmitted for hire or material compensation, except as otherwise provided in the rules

7. - E2A14

What technology is used to track, in real time, balloons carrying amateur radio transmitters?

Select	Answer
A	APRS
B	Bandwidth compressed LORAN
C	Doppler shift of beacon signals
D	Radar

8. - E2B01

How many times per second is a new frame transmitted in a fast-scan (NTSC) television system?

Select	Answer
A	120
B	60
C	30
D	90

9. - E2C07

What is the Cabrillo format?

Select	Answer
A	A method of exchanging information during a contest QSO
B	The most common set of contest rules
C	The rules of order for meetings between contest sponsors
D	A standard for submission of electronic contest logs

10. - E2D13

What type of modulation is used for JT65 contacts?

Select	Answer
A	Multi-tone AFSK
B	IEEE 802.11
C	RTTY
D	PSK

11. - E2E07

What is the typical bandwidth of a properly modulated MFSK16 signal?

Select	Answer
A	316 Hz
B	2.16 kHz
C	550 Hz
D	31 Hz

12. - E3A05

Tropospheric propagation of microwave signals often occurs along what weather related structure?

Select	Answer
A	Lightning discharges
B	Gray-line
C	Sprites and jets
D	Warm and cold fronts

13. - E3B13

Why is chordal hop propagation desirable?

Select	Answer
A	Signals travel faster along ionospheric chords
B	The MUF for chordal hop propagation is much lower than for normal skip propagation
C	Atmospheric noise is lower in the direction of chordal hop propagation
D	The signal experiences less loss along the path compared to normal skip propagation

14. - E3C02

What is indicated by a rising A or K index?

Select	Answer
A	Decreasing disruption of the geomagnetic field
B	Increasing disruption of the geomagnetic field
C	An increase in the critical frequency
D	Higher levels of solar UV radiation

15. - E4A10

Which of the following displays multiple digital signal states simultaneously?

Select	Answer
A	Bit error rate tester
B	Modulation monitor
C	Network analyzer
D	Logic analyzer

16. - E4B04

If a frequency counter with a specified accuracy of +/- 0.1 ppm reads 146,520,000 Hz, what is the most the actual frequency being measured could differ from the reading?

Select	Answer
A	0.1 MHz
B	14.652 Hz
C	1.4652 Hz
D	1.4652 kHz

17. - E4C14

What transmit frequency might generate an image response signal in a receiver tuned to 14.300 MHz and which uses a 455 kHz IF frequency?

Select	Answer
A	14.445 MHz
B	15.210 MHz
C	14.755 MHz
D	13.845 MHz

18. - E4D12

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

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

19. - E4E15

Which of the following can cause shielded cables to radiate or receive interference?

Select	Answer
A	Use of braided shielding material
B	Low inductance ground connections at both ends of the shield
C	Common mode currents on the shield and conductors
D	Tying all ground connections to a common point resulting in differential mode currents in the shield

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	3.56 MHz
B	44.72 MHz
C	1.78 MHz
D	22.36 MHz

21. - E5B10

What is the relationship between the current through an inductor and the voltage across an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Voltage and current are in phase
B	Voltage and current are 180 degrees out of phase
C	Voltage leads current by 90 degrees
D	Current leads voltage by 90 degrees

22. - E5C16

Which point on Figure E5-2 best represents the impedance of a series circuit consisting of a 300 ohm resistor and a 19 picofarad capacitor at 21.200 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	Point 1
B	Point 8
C	Point 7
D	Point 3

23. - E5D14

What is reactive power?

Select	Answer
A	Power consumed in circuit Q
B	Power consumed in wire resistance in an inductor
C	Wattless, nonproductive power
D	Power lost because of capacitor leakage

24. - E6A07

Which of the following indicates that a silicon NPN junction transistor is biased on?

Select	Answer
A	Base-to-emitter voltage of approximately 6 to 7 volts
B	Base-to-emitter resistance of approximately 0.6 to 0.7 ohms
C	Base-to-emitter voltage of approximately 0.6 to 0.7 volts
D	Base-to-emitter resistance of approximately 6 to 7 ohms

25. - E6B07

What is the failure mechanism when a junction diode fails due to excessive current?

Select	Answer
A	Charge carrier depletion
B	Insufficient forward voltage
C	Excessive inverse voltage
D	Excessive junction temperature

26. - E6C01

What is the function of hysteresis in a comparator?

Select	Answer
A	To increase the sensitivity
B	To allow the comparator to be used with AC input signal
C	To cause the output to change states continually
D	To prevent input noise from causing unstable output signals

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	4 turns
B	229 turns
C	2 turns
D	43 turns

28. - E6E07

Which of the following is typically used to construct a MMIC-based microwave amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	Microstrip construction
B	Ground-plane construction
C	Wave-soldering construction
D	Point-to-point construction

29. - E6F03

What is the most common configuration of an optoisolator or optocoupler?

Select	Answer
A	A lens and a photomultiplier
B	A frequency modulated helium-neon laser
C	An amplitude modulated helium-neon laser
D	An LED and a phototransistor

30. - E7A12

What type of logic defines "0" as a high voltage?

Select	Answer
A	Positive Logic
B	Negative logic
C	Assertive Logic
D	Reverse Logic

31. - E7B13

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

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

32. - E7C15

What is a crystal lattice filter?

Select	Answer
A	A filter with narrow bandwidth and steep skirts made using quartz crystals
B	A filter with wide bandwidth and shallow skirts made using quartz crystals
C	A power supply filter made with interlaced quartz crystals
D	An audio filter made with four quartz crystals that resonate at 1kHz intervals

33. - E7D13

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

Select	Answer
A	Output voltage multiplied by output current
B	Input voltage multiplied by input current
C	Voltage difference from input to output multiplied by output current
D	Input voltage divided by output current

34. - E7E08

What are the principal frequencies that appear at the output of a mixer circuit?

Select	Answer
A	The sum, difference and square root of the input frequencies
B	Two and four times the original frequency
C	1.414 and 0.707 times the input frequency
D	The two input frequencies along with their sum and difference frequencies

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. - E7G12

What is an integrated circuit operational amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	A RF amplifier used in the UHF and microwave regions
B	A digital audio amplifier whose characteristics are determined by components external to the amplifier
C	An amplifier used to increase the average output of frequency modulated amateur signals to the legal limit
D	A high-gain, direct-coupled differential amplifier with very high input impedance and very low output impedance

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 link coupling
D	Through a neutralizing capacitor

38. - E8A06

What is the approximate ratio of PEP-to-average power in a typical single-sideband phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	2.5 to 1
B	1 to 1
C	100 to 1
D	25 to 1

39. - E8B04

What is the modulation index of an FM-phone signal having a maximum carrier deviation of plus or minus 6 kHz when modulated with a 2 kHz modulating frequency?

Select	Answer
A	6000
B	2000
C	3
D	1/3

40. - E8C03

When performing phase shift keying, why is it advantageous to shift phase precisely at the zero crossing of the RF carrier?

Select	Answer
A	It improves carrier suppression
B	It is easier to demodulate with a conventional, non-synchronous detector
C	All of these choices are correct
D	This results in the least possible transmitted bandwidth for the particular mode

41. - E8D09

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

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

42. - E9A14

What is meant by the radiation resistance of an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	The resistance in the atmosphere that an antenna must overcome to be able to radiate a signal
B	The combined losses of the antenna elements and feed line
C	The value of a resistance that would dissipate the same amount of power as that radiated from an antenna
D	The specific impedance of the antenna

43. - E9B04

What may occur when a directional antenna is operated at different frequencies within the band for which it was designed?

Select	Answer
A	Element spacing limits could be exceeded
B	The gain may change depending on frequency
C	Feed point impedance may become negative
D	The E-field and H-field patterns may reverse

44. - E9C04

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

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

45. - E9D11

Which of the following types of conductors would be best for minimizing losses in a station's RF ground system?

Select	Answer
A	A cable with six or seven 18 gauge conductors in parallel
B	A resistive wire, such as spark plug wire
C	A single 12 gauge or 10 gauge stainless steel wire
D	A wide flat copper strap

46. - E9E07

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

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

47. - E9F04

What is the typical velocity factor for a coaxial cable with solid polyethylene dielectric?

Select	Answer
A	2.70
B	0.66
C	0.30
D	0.10

48. - E9G01

Which of the following can be calculated using a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Antenna radiation pattern
B	Radio propagation
C	Impedance along transmission lines
D	Radiation resistance

49. - E9H08

What is the function of a sense antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It provides diversity reception that cancels multipath signals
B	It allows DF antennas to receive signals at different vertical angles
C	It increases the sensitivity of a DF antenna array
D	It modifies the pattern of a DF antenna array to provide a null in one direction

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

Figure E5-2

Figure E7-2