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	Notify the nearest FCC Field Engineer's office
C	Discontinue forwarding all messages
D	Notify the originating station that the communication does not comply with FCC rules

2. - E1B04

What must be done before placing an amateur station within an officially designated wilderness area or wildlife preserve, or an area listed in the National Register of Historical Places?

Select	Answer
A	A letter of intent must be filed with the National Audubon Society
B	A proposal must be submitted to the National Park Service
C	A form FSD-15 must be submitted to the Department of the Interior
D	An Environmental Assessment must be submitted to the FCC

3. - E1C02

What is meant by automatic control of a station?

Select	Answer
A	The use of devices and procedures for control so that the control operator does not have to be present at a control point
B	A station operating with its output power controlled automatically
C	The use of a control link between a control point and a locally controlled station
D	Remotely controlling a station's antenna pattern through a directional control link

4. - E1D09

Which UHF amateur service bands have frequencies available for a space station?

Select	Answer
A	70 cm only
B	33 cm and 13 cm
C	70 cm and 13 cm
D	70 cm and 33 cm

5. - E1E02

Where are the questions for all written U.S. amateur license examinations listed?

Select	Answer
A	In a question pool maintained by all the VECs
B	In FCC Part 97
C	In the appropriate FCC Report and Order
D	In a question pool maintained by the FCC

6. - E1F04

Which of the following geographic descriptions approximately describes "Line A"?

Select	Answer
A	A line roughly parallel to and east of the U.S. Pacific coastline
B	A line roughly parallel to and north of the U.S.-Mexican border and Gulf coastline
C	A line roughly parallel to and west of the U.S. Atlantic coastline
D	A line roughly parallel to and south of the U.S.-Canadian border

7. - E2A01

What is the direction of an ascending pass for an amateur satellite?

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

8. - E2B15

What signals SSTV receiving equipment to begin a new picture line?

Select	Answer
A	Elapsed time
B	Specific tone frequencies
C	Specific tone amplitudes
D	A two-tone signal

9. - E2C12

What might help to restore contact when DX signals become too weak to copy across an entire HF band a few hours after sunset?

Select	Answer
A	Wait 90 minutes or so for the signal degradation to pass
B	Switch to a higher frequency HF band
C	Switch to a lower frequency HF band
D	Wait 24 hours before attempting another communication on the band

10. - E2D12

How does JT65 improve EME communications?

Select	Answer
A	It controls the receiver to track Doppler shift
B	All of these choices are correct
C	It supplies signals to guide the antenna to track the Moon
D	It can decode signals many dB below the noise floor using FEC

11. - E2E13

Which of the following is a possible reason that attempts to initiate contact with a digital station on a clear frequency are unsuccessful?

Select	Answer
A	Another station you are unable to hear is using the frequency
B	All of these choices are correct
C	The protocol version you are using is not the supported by the digital station
D	Your transmit frequency is incorrect

12. - E3A06

Which of the following is required for microwave propagation via rain scatter?

Select	Answer
A	Rain droplets must be electrically charged
B	The rain must be within radio range of both stations
C	Rain droplets must be within the E layer
D	All of these choices are correct

13. - E3B01

What is transequatorial propagation?

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

14. - E3C01

What does the term ray tracing describe in regard to radio communications?

Select	Answer
A	Evaluating high voltage sources for X-Rays
B	Modeling a radio wave's path through the ionosphere
C	The process in which an electronic display presents a pattern
D	Determining the radiation pattern from an array of antennas

15. - E4A15

What is an advantage of a period-measuring frequency counter over a direct-count type?

Select	Answer
A	It can directly measure the modulation index of an FM transmitter
B	It can run on battery power for remote measurements
C	It does not require an expensive high-precision time base
D	It provides improved resolution of low-frequency signals within a comparable time period

16. - E4B03

If a frequency counter with a specified accuracy of +/- 1.0 ppm reads 146,520,000 Hz, what is the most the actual frequency being measured could differ from the reading?

Select	Answer
A	14.652 kHz
B	165.2 Hz
C	146.52 Hz
D	1.4652 MHz

17. - E4C07

What does the MDS of a receiver represent?

Select	Answer
A	The meter display sensitivity
B	The minimum discernible signal
C	The multiplex distortion stability
D	The maximum detectable spectrum

18. - E4D03

How can intermodulation interference between two repeaters occur?

Select	Answer
A	When the repeaters are in close proximity and the signals cause feedback in the final amplifier of one or both transmitters
B	When the signals from the transmitters are reflected in phase from airplanes passing overhead
C	When the signals from the transmitters are reflected out of phase from airplanes passing overhead
D	When the repeaters are in close proximity and the signals mix in the final amplifier of one or both transmitters

19. - E4E08

What type of signal is picked up by electrical wiring near a radio antenna?

Select	Answer
A	Harmonics of the AC power line frequency
B	A common-mode signal at the frequency of the radio transmitter
C	An electrical-sparking signal
D	A differential-mode signal at the AC power line frequency

20. - E5A15

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

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

21. - E5B11

What is the phase angle between the voltage across and the current through a series RLC circuit if XC is 25 ohms, R is 100 ohms, and XL is 50 ohms?

Select	Answer
A	76 degrees with the voltage leading the current
B	76 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
C	14 degrees with the voltage leading the current
D	14 degrees with the voltage lagging the current

22. - E5C15

Which point in Figure E5-2 best represents the impedance of a series circuit consisting of a 300 ohm resistor and an 18 microhenry inductor at 3.505 MHz?

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

23. - E5D08

What type of energy is stored in an electromagnetic or electrostatic field?

Select	Answer
A	Potential energy
B	Thermodynamic energy
C	Electromechanical energy
D	Kinetic energy

24. - E6A13

What do the initials CMOS stand for?

Select	Answer
A	Complementary Mica-Oxide Silicon
B	Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor
C	Common Mode Organic Silicon
D	Common Mode Oscillating System

25. - E6B04

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

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

26. - E6C13

Which of the following is an advantage of BiCMOS logic?

Select	Answer
A	Its simplicity results in much less expensive devices than standard CMOS
B	It has the high input impedance of CMOS and the low output impedance of bipolar transistors
C	It is totally immune to electrostatic damage
D	All of these choices are correct

27. - E6D14

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

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

28. - E6E07

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

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

29. - E6F13

What is a liquid crystal display (LCD)?

Select	Answer
A	A display that uses a glowing liquid to remain brightly lit in dim light
B	A modern replacement for a quartz crystal oscillator which displays its fundamental frequency
C	A display utilizing a crystalline liquid and polarizing filters which becomes opaque when voltage is applied
D	A frequency-determining unit for a transmitter or receiver

30. - E7A06

What is a characteristic of a monostable multivibrator?

Select	Answer
A	It produces a continuous square wave oscillating between 1 and 0
B	It stores one bit of data in either a 0 or 1 state
C	It switches momentarily to the opposite binary state and then returns to its original state after a set time
D	It maintains a constant output voltage, regardless of variations in the input voltage

31. - E7B16

What is the effect of intermodulation products in a linear power amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	Low efficiency
B	All of these choices are correct
C	Creation of parasitic oscillations
D	Transmission of spurious signals

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

33. - E7D07

What is the purpose of C2 in the circuit shown in Figure E7-3?

Select	Answer
A	It bypasses hum around D1
B	It is a brute force filter for the output
C	To provide fixed DC bias for Q1
D	To self-resonate at the hum frequency

34. - E7E11

Which type of detector is used for demodulating SSB signals?

Select	Answer
A	Phase comparator
B	Phase detector
C	Product detector
D	Discriminator

35. - E7F07

What function can a Fast Fourier Transform perform?

Select	Answer
A	Converting analog signals to digital form
B	Converting 8-bit data to 16 bit data
C	Converting digital signals to analog form
D	Converting digital signals from the time domain to the frequency domain

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	76
B	1
C	0.03
D	38

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 rubidium stabilized reference oscillator
D	Use a temperature-controlled high Q dielectric resonator

38. - E8A08

Why would a direct or flash conversion analog-to-digital converter be useful for a software defined radio?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	Very low power consumption decreases frequency drift
C	Immunity to out of sequence coding reduces spurious responses
D	Very high speed allows digitizing high frequencies

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	3
C	1/3
D	2000

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	9.6 kHz
C	4.8 kHz
D	15.36 kHz

41. - E8D02

What spread spectrum communications technique uses a high speed binary bit stream to shift the phase of an RF carrier?

Select	Answer
A	Phase compandored spread spectrum
B	Binary phase-shift keying
C	Direct sequence
D	Frequency hopping

42. - E9A15

What is the effective radiated power relative to a dipole of a repeater station with 150 watts transmitter power output, 2 dB feed line loss, 2.2 dB duplexer loss, and 7 dBd antenna gain?

Select	Answer
A	78.7 watts
B	1977 watts
C	286 watts
D	420 watts

43. - E9B08

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

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

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

45. - E9D13

What usually occurs if a Yagi antenna is designed solely for maximum forward gain?

Select	Answer
A	The front-to-back ratio increases
B	The frequency response is widened over the whole frequency band
C	The front-to-back ratio decreases
D	The SWR is reduced

46. - E9E02

What is the name of an antenna matching system that matches an unbalanced feed line to an antenna by feeding the driven element both at the center of the element and at a fraction of a wavelength to one side of center?

Select	Answer
A	The gamma match
B	The delta match
C	The epsilon match
D	The stub match

47. - E9F05

What is the approximate physical length of a solid polyethylene dielectric coaxial transmission line that is electrically one-quarter wavelength long at 14.1 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	3.5 meters
B	0.2 meters
C	20 meters
D	2.3 meters

48. - E9G06

On the Smith chart shown in Figure E9-3, what is the name for the large outer circle on which the reactance arcs terminate?

Select	Answer
A	Prime axis
B	Polar axis
C	Reactance axis
D	Impedance axis

49. - E9H02

Which is generally true for low band (160 meter and 80 meter) receiving antennas?

Select	Answer
A	Atmospheric noise is so high that gain over a dipole is not important
B	All of these choices are correct
C	Low loss coax transmission line is essential for good performance
D	They must be erected at least 1/2 wavelength above the ground to attain good directivity

50. - E0A01

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

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

Figure E5-2

Figure E7-3

Figure E7-4

Figure E9-3