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

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1. - E1A06

Where must the carrier frequency of a CW signal be set to comply with FCC rules for 60 meter operation?

Select	Answer
A	At the highest frequency of the channel
B	On any frequency where the signal's sidebands are within the channel
C	At the lowest frequency of the channel
D	At the center frequency of the channel

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 73 dB below
B	At least 43 dB below
C	At least 63 dB below
D	At least 53 dB below

3. - E1C06

Which of the following statements concerning remotely controlled amateur stations is true?

Select	Answer
A	A control operator need not be present at the control point
B	Repeater and auxiliary stations may not be remotely controlled
C	Only Extra Class operators may be the control operator of a remote station
D	A control operator must be present at the control point

4. - E1D11

Which amateur stations are eligible to operate as Earth stations?

Select	Answer
A	Only those of General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators
B	Any amateur station, subject to the privileges of the class of operator license held by the control operator
C	Only those of Amateur Extra Class operators
D	Any amateur station whose licensee has filed a pre-space notification with the FCC's International Bureau

5. - E1E13

Which of these choices is an acceptable method for monitoring the applicants if a VEC opts to conduct an exam session remotely?

Select	Answer
A	Record the exam session on video tape for later review by the VE team
B	Use a real-time video link and the Internet to connect the exam session to the observing VEs
C	The exam proctor observes the applicants and reports any violations
D	Have each applicant sign an affidavit stating that all session rules were followed

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. - E2A04

What is meant by the term mode as applied to an amateur radio satellite?

Select	Answer
A	Whether the satellite is in a polar or equatorial orbit
B	The type of signals that can be relayed through the satellite
C	The satellite's uplink and downlink frequency bands
D	The satellite's orientation with respect to the Earth

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

9. - E2C11

How should you generally identify your station when attempting to contact a DX station during a contest or in a pileup?

Select	Answer
A	Send only the last two letters of your call sign until you make contact
B	Send the call sign of the DX station three times, the words "this is", then your call sign three times
C	Send your full call sign and grid square
D	Send your full call sign once or twice

10. - E2D09

Which of these digital modes has the fastest data throughput under clear communication conditions?

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

11. - E2E06

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

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

12. - E3A10

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

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

13. - E3B09

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

Select	Answer
A	Around the solstices, especially the summer solstice
B	Around the solstices, especially the winter solstice
C	Around the equinoxes, especially the spring equinox
D	Around the equinoxes, especially the fall equinox

14. - E3C12

How does the maximum distance of ground-wave propagation change when the signal frequency is increased?

Select	Answer
A	It decreases
B	It increases
C	It peaks at roughly 14 MHz
D	It stays the same

15. - E4A06

What is the effect of aliasing in a digital or computer-based oscilloscope?

Select	Answer
A	False signals are displayed
B	False triggering occurs
C	All signals will have a DC offset
D	Calibration of the vertical scale is no longer valid

16. - E4B13

Which S parameter is equivalent to forward gain?

Select	Answer
A	S21
B	S11
C	S22
D	S12

17. - E4C03

What is the term for the blocking of one FM phone signal by another, stronger FM phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	Cross-modulation interference
B	Desensitization
C	Frequency discrimination
D	Capture effect

18. - E4D09

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

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

19. - E4E15

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

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

20. - E5A02

What is resonance in an electrical circuit?

Select	Answer
A	The frequency at which the reactive impedance equals the resistive impedance
B	The lowest frequency that will pass current
C	The highest frequency that will pass current
D	The frequency at which the capacitive reactance equals the inductive reactance

21. - E5B07

What is the phase angle between the voltage across and the current through a series RLC circuit if XC is 500 ohms, R is 1 kilohm, and XL is 250 ohms?

Select	Answer
A	14.0 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
B	14.0 degrees with the voltage leading the current
C	68.2 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
D	68.2 degrees with the voltage leading the current

22. - E5C04

Which of the following represents a capacitive reactance in polar coordinates?

Select	Answer
A	A negative real part
B	A positive real part
C	A positive phase angle
D	A negative phase angle

23. - E5D03

What is microstrip?

Select	Answer
A	Short lengths of coax mounted on printed circuit boards to minimize time delay between microwave circuits
B	Miniature coax used for low power applications
C	Precision printed circuit conductors above a ground plane that provide constant impedance interconnects at microwave frequencies
D	Lightweight transmission line made of common zip cord

24. - E6A06

What is the beta of a bipolar junction transistor?

Select	Answer
A	The switching speed of the transistor
B	The change in collector current with respect to base current
C	The breakdown voltage of the base to collector junction
D	The frequency at which the current gain is reduced to 1

25. - E6B03

What special type of diode is capable of both amplification and oscillation?

Select	Answer
A	Zener
B	Junction
C	Tunnel
D	Point contact

26. - E6C09

What is a Programmable Logic Device (PLD)?

Select	Answer
A	A device to control industrial equipment
B	An algorithm for simulating logic functions during circuit design
C	Programmable equipment used for testing digital logic integrated circuits
D	A programmable collection of logic gates and circuits in a single integrated circuit

27. - E6D15

What is current in the primary winding of a transformer called if no load is attached to the secondary?

Select	Answer
A	Direct current
B	Stabilizing current
C	Excitation current
D	Magnetizing current

28. - E6E12

Why are high-power RF amplifier ICs and transistors sometimes mounted in ceramic packages?

Select	Answer
A	High-voltage insulating ability
B	Enhanced sensitivity to light
C	Better dissipation of heat
D	To provide a low-pass frequency response

29. - E6F10

What is the most common type of photovoltaic cell used for electrical power generation?

Select	Answer
A	Selenium
B	Silicon
C	Cadmium Sulfide
D	Copper oxide

30. - E7A01

Which is a bi-stable circuit?

Select	Answer
A	An "AND" gate
B	A clock
C	An "OR" gate
D	A flip-flop

31. - E7B15

What is one way to prevent thermal runaway in a bipolar transistor amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	Neutralization
C	Use a resistor in series with the emitter
D	Select transistors with high beta

32. - E7C14

Which mode is most affected by non-linear phase response in a receiver IF filter?

Select	Answer
A	Digital
B	Meteor scatter
C	Video
D	Single-Sideband voice

33. - E7D01

What is one characteristic of a linear electronic voltage regulator?

Select	Answer
A	The control element duty cycle is proportional to the line or load conditions
B	It has a ramp voltage as its output
C	It eliminates the need for a pass transistor
D	The conduction of a control element is varied to maintain a constant output voltage

34. - E7E04

What is one way a single-sideband phone signal can be generated?

Select	Answer
A	By using a loop modulator followed by a mixer
B	By driving a product detector with a DSB signal
C	By using a balanced modulator followed by a filter
D	By using a reactance modulator followed by a mixer

35. - E7F06

What is the minimum number of bits required for an analog-to-digital converter to sample a signal with a range of 1 volt at a resolution of 1 millivolt?

Select	Answer
A	6 bits
B	4 bits
C	8 bits
D	10 bits

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. - E7H07

How can an oscillator's microphonic responses be reduced?

Select	Answer
A	Use of NP0 capacitors
B	Mechanically isolating the oscillator circuitry from its enclosure
C	Eliminating noise on the oscillator's power supply
D	Using the oscillator only for CW and digital signals

38. - E8A02

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

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

39. - E8B02

How does the modulation index of a phase-modulated emission vary with RF carrier frequency (the modulated frequency)?

Select	Answer
A	It varies with the square root of the RF carrier frequency
B	It increases as the RF carrier frequency increases
C	It decreases as the RF carrier frequency increases
D	It does not depend on the RF carrier frequency

40. - E8C07

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

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

41. - E8D09

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

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

42. - E9A14

What is meant by the radiation resistance of an antenna?

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

43. - E9B08

How can the approximate beam-width in a given plane of a directional antenna be determined?

Select	Answer
A	Note the two points where the signal strength of the antenna is 3 dB less than maximum and compute the angular difference
B	Measure the ratio of the signal strengths of the radiated power lobes from the front and side of the antenna
C	Measure the ratio of the signal strengths of the radiated power lobes from the front and rear of the antenna
D	Draw two imaginary lines through the ends of the elements and measure the angle between the lines

44. - E9C03

What is the radiation pattern of two 1/4 wavelength vertical antennas spaced a 1/2 wavelength apart and fed in phase?

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

45. - E9D06

What happens to the bandwidth of an antenna as it is shortened through the use of loading coils?

Select	Answer
A	It is increased
B	It is decreased
C	It becomes flat
D	No change occurs

46. - E9E06

What is the equivalent lumped-constant network for a hairpin matching system of a 3-element Yagi?

Select	Answer
A	A shunt inductor
B	Pi-L-network
C	A series capacitor
D	Pi-network

47. - E9F10

What impedance does a 1/8 wavelength transmission line present to a generator when the line is shorted at the far end?

Select	Answer
A	The same as the characteristic impedance of the line
B	A capacitive reactance
C	An inductive reactance
D	The same as the input impedance to the final generator stage

48. - E9G07

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

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

49. - E9H04

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

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

50. - E0A04

When evaluating a site with multiple transmitters operating at the same time, the operators and licensees of which transmitters are responsible for mitigating over-exposure situations?

Select	Answer
A	Each transmitter that produces 5 percent or more of its MPE limit at accessible locations
B	Only the most powerful transmitter
C	Only commercial transmitters
D	Each transmitter operating with a duty-cycle greater than 50 percent

Figure E9-3