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

2. - E1B10

What frequencies are authorized to an amateur station operating under RACES rules?

Select	Answer
A	Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) channels
B	Specific local government channels
C	Specific segments in the amateur service MF, HF, VHF and UHF bands
D	All amateur service frequencies authorized to the control operator

3. - E1C05

When may an automatically controlled station originate third party communications?

Select	Answer
A	Only when transmitting RTTY or data emissions
B	Never
C	When agreed upon by the sending or receiving station
D	When approved by the National Telecommunication and Information Administration

4. - E1D04

What is an Earth station in the amateur satellite service?

Select	Answer
A	Any amateur station on the surface of the Earth
B	An amateur station that transmits telemetry consisting of measurement of upper atmosphere
C	An amateur station that is not able to communicate using amateur satellites
D	An amateur station within 50 km of the Earth's surface intended for communications with amateur stations by means of objects in space

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

6. - E1F10

What is the maximum permitted transmitter peak envelope power for an amateur station transmitting spread spectrum communications?

Select	Answer
A	10 W
B	1.5 kW
C	1 W
D	1.5 W

7. - E2A04

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

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

8. - E2B01

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

Select	Answer
A	120
B	30
C	60
D	90

9. - E2C10

Why might a DX station state that they are listening on another frequency?

Select	Answer
A	To improve operating efficiency by reducing interference
B	Because the DX station may be transmitting on a frequency that is prohibited to some responding stations
C	All of these choices are correct
D	To separate the calling stations from the DX station

10. - E2D03

Which of the following digital modes is especially useful for EME communications?

Select	Answer
A	FSK441
B	PACTOR III
C	Olivia
D	JT65

11. - E2E05

Which type of digital mode does not support keyboard-to-keyboard operation?

Select	Answer
A	PSK31
B	RTTY
C	MFSK
D	Winlink

12. - E3A16

Which of the following best describes electromagnetic waves traveling in free space?

Select	Answer
A	The waves are reflected by the ionosphere and return to their source
B	Electric and magnetic fields become aligned as they travel
C	The energy propagates through a medium with a high refractive index
D	Changing electric and magnetic fields propagate the energy

13. - E3B13

Why is chordal hop propagation desirable?

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

14. - E3C01

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

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

15. - E4A11

Which of the following is good practice when using an oscilloscope probe?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	Never use a high impedance probe to measure a low impedance circuit
C	Keep the signal ground connection of the probe as short as possible
D	Never use a DC-coupled probe to measure an AC circuit

16. - E4B16

Which S parameter represents return loss or SWR?

Select	Answer
A	S12
B	S11
C	S22
D	S21

17. - E4C13

How does a narrow-band roofing filter affect receiver performance?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	It improves intelligibility by using low Q circuitry to reduce ringing
C	It improves sensitivity by reducing front end noise
D	It improves dynamic range by attenuating strong signals near the receive frequency

18. - E4D14

Which of the following is a way to reduce the likelihood of receiver desensitization?

Select	Answer
A	Raise the receiver IF frequency
B	Switch from fast AGC to slow AGC
C	Increase the receiver front end gain
D	Decrease the RF bandwidth of the receiver

19. - E4E14

What is one type of electrical interference that might be caused by the operation of a nearby personal computer?

Select	Answer
A	A loud AC hum in the audio output of your station receiver
B	A clicking noise at intervals of a few seconds
C	The appearance of unstable modulated or unmodulated signals at specific frequencies
D	A whining type noise that continually pulses off and on

20. - E5A16

What is the resonant frequency of a parallel RLC circuit if R is 33 ohms, L is 50 microhenrys and C is 10 picofarads?

Select	Answer
A	23.5 MHz
B	23.5 kHz
C	7.12 kHz
D	7.12 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 180 degrees out of phase
B	Voltage and current are in phase
C	Voltage leads current by 90 degrees
D	Current leads voltage by 90 degrees

22. - E5C12

If you plot the impedance of a circuit using the rectangular coordinate system and find the impedance point falls on the right side of the graph on the horizontal axis, what do you know about the circuit?

Select	Answer
A	It is equivalent to a pure resistance
B	It has to be a direct current circuit
C	It contains resistance and inductive reactance
D	It contains resistance and capacitive reactance

23. - E5D14

What is reactive power?

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

24. - E6A05

What is the alpha of a bipolar junction transistor?

Select	Answer
A	The change of collector current with respect to gate current
B	The change of collector current with respect to emitter current
C	The change of base current with respect to collector current
D	The change of collector current with respect to base current

25. - E6B01

What is the most useful characteristic of a Zener diode?

Select	Answer
A	An internal capacitance that varies with the applied voltage
B	A constant voltage drop under conditions of varying current
C	A negative resistance region
D	A constant current drop under conditions of varying voltage

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	All of these choices are correct
D	It is totally immune to electrostatic damage

27. - E6D14

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

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

28. - E6E05

Which of the following noise figure values is typical of a low-noise UHF preamplifier?

Select	Answer
A	-10 dB
B	-20 dBm
C	2 dB
D	44 dBm

29. - E6F11

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

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

30. - E7A12

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

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

31. - E7B01

For what portion of a signal cycle does a Class AB amplifier operate?

Select	Answer
A	Less than 180 degrees
B	More than 180 degrees but less than 360 degrees
C	The entire cycle
D	Exactly 180 degrees

32. - E7C04

How does an impedance-matching circuit transform a complex impedance to a resistive impedance?

Select	Answer
A	It introduces transconductance to cancel the reactive part of impedance
B	It cancels the reactive part of the impedance and changes the resistive part to a desired value
C	Network resistances are substituted for load resistances and reactances are matched to the resistances
D	It introduces negative resistance to cancel the resistive part of impedance

33. - E7D14

What is one purpose of a "bleeder" resistor in a conventional unregulated power supply?

Select	Answer
A	To improve output voltage regulation
B	To boost the amount of output current
C	To balance the low-voltage filament windings
D	To cut down on waste heat generated by the power supply

34. - E7E11

Which type of detector is used for demodulating SSB signals?

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

35. - E7F09

Why is an anti-aliasing digital filter required in a digital decimator?

Select	Answer
A	It removes high-frequency signal components which would otherwise be reproduced as lower frequency components
B	It notches out the sampling frequency to avoid sampling errors
C	It peaks the response of the decimator, improving bandwidth
D	It removes low frequency signal components to eliminate the need for DC restoration

36. - E7G11

What absolute voltage gain can be expected from the circuit in Figure E7-4 when R1 is 3300 ohms and RF is 47 kilohms?

Select	Answer
A	28
B	0.07
C	14
D	7

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

38. - E8A02

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

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

39. - E8B06

What is the deviation ratio of an FM-phone signal having a maximum frequency swing of plus or minus 7.5 kHz when the maximum modulation frequency is 3.5 kHz?

Select	Answer
A	0.214
B	0.47
C	47
D	2.14

40. - E8C04

What technique is used to minimize the bandwidth requirements of a PSK31 signal?

Select	Answer
A	Zero-sum character encoding
B	Use of sinusoidal data pulses
C	Use of trapezoidal data pulses
D	Reed-Solomon character encoding

41. - E8D05

What is the most common method of reducing key clicks?

Select	Answer
A	Low-pass filters at the transmitter output
B	Reduce keying waveform rise and fall times
C	Increase keying waveform rise and fall times
D	High-pass filters at the transmitter output

42. - E9A02

What antenna has no gain in any direction?

Select	Answer
A	Isotropic antenna
B	Quarter-wave vertical
C	Half-wave dipole
D	Yagi

43. - E9B14

What type of information can be obtained by submitting the details of a proposed new antenna to a modeling program?

Select	Answer
A	Antenna gain
B	All of these choices are correct
C	SWR vs frequency charts
D	Polar plots of the far field elevation and azimuth patterns

44. - E9C09

What is a G5RV antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A multi-band trap antenna
B	A multi-band dipole antenna fed with coax and a balun through a selected length of open wire transmission line
C	A wide band dipole using shorted coaxial cable for the radiating elements and fed with a 4:1 balun
D	A phased array antenna consisting of multiple loops

45. - E9D09

What is the function of a loading coil used as part of an HF mobile antenna?

Select	Answer
A	To increase the SWR bandwidth
B	To lower the Q
C	To cancel capacitive reactance
D	To lower the losses

46. - E9E04

What is the purpose of the series capacitor in a gamma-type antenna matching network?

Select	Answer
A	To transform the antenna impedance to a higher value
B	To cancel the inductive reactance of the matching network
C	To provide a rejection notch that prevents the radiation of harmonics
D	To provide DC isolation between the feed line and the antenna

47. - E9F11

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

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

48. - E9G03

Which of the following is often determined using a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Trigonometric functions
B	Satellite azimuth and elevation bearings
C	Beam headings and radiation patterns
D	Impedance and SWR values in transmission lines

49. - E9H08

What is the function of a sense antenna?

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

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

Figure E7-4