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

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1. - E1A01

When using a transceiver that displays the carrier frequency of phone signals, which of the following displayed frequencies represents the highest frequency at which a properly adjusted USB emission will be totally within the band?

Select	Answer
A	The exact upper band edge
B	3 kHz below the upper band edge
C	1 kHz below the upper band edge
D	300 Hz below the upper band edge

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

3. - E1C02

What is meant by automatic control of a station?

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

4. - E1D07

Which amateur service HF bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

Select	Answer
A	All HF bands
B	Only the 40 m, 30 m, 20 m, 15 m, 12 m and 10 m bands
C	Only the 40 m, 20 m, 17 m, 15 m and 10 m bands
D	Only the 40 m, 20 m, 17 m, 15 m, 12 m and 10 m bands

5. - E1E09

What may be the penalty for a VE who fraudulently administers or certifies an examination?

Select	Answer
A	Revocation of the VE's amateur station license grant and the suspension of the VE's amateur operator license grant
B	A fine of up to $1000 per occurrence
C	All of these choices are correct
D	A sentence of up to one year in prison

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 be capable of external RF switching between its input and output networks
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 exhibit a gain of 0 dB or less over its full output range

7. - E2A11

What type of antenna can be used to minimize the effects of spin modulation and Faraday rotation?

Select	Answer
A	A linearly polarized antenna
B	A log-periodic dipole array
C	A circularly polarized antenna
D	An isotropic antenna

8. - E2B05

Which of the following is an advantage of using vestigial sideband for standard fast- scan TV transmissions?

Select	Answer
A	The vestigial sideband contains chroma information
B	Vestigial sideband provides high frequency emphasis to sharpen the picture
C	Vestigial sideband reduces bandwidth while allowing for simple video detector circuitry
D	The vestigial sideband carries the audio information

9. - E2C05

What is the function of a DX QSL Manager?

Select	Answer
A	To allocate frequencies for DXpeditions
B	To relay calls to and from a DX station
C	To handle the receiving and sending of confirmation cards for a DX station
D	To run a net to allow many stations to contact a rare DX station

10. - E2D08

What type of packet frame is used to transmit APRS beacon data?

Select	Answer
A	Connect
B	Unnumbered Information
C	Acknowledgement
D	Disconnect

11. - E2E08

Which of the following HF digital modes can be used to transfer binary files?

Select	Answer
A	PACTOR
B	Hellschreiber
C	RTTY
D	AMTOR

12. - E3A01

What is the approximate maximum separation measured along the surface of the Earth between two stations communicating by Moon bounce?

Select	Answer
A	12,000 miles, if the Moon is visible by both stations
B	500 miles, if the Moon is at perigee
C	2000 miles, if the Moon is at apogee
D	5000 miles, if the Moon is at perigee

13. - E3B11

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

Select	Answer
A	Around sunrise
B	Any time
C	Early evening
D	Around sunset

14. - E3C04

What does the value of Bz (B sub Z) represent?

Select	Answer
A	Duration of long-delayed echoes
B	Critical frequency for vertical transmissions
C	Direction and strength of the interplanetary magnetic field
D	Geomagnetic field stability

15. - E4A05

What might be an advantage of a digital vs an analog oscilloscope?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	Automatic amplitude and frequency numerical readout
C	Manipulation of time base after trace capture
D	Storage of traces for future reference

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	1465.20 Hz
C	146.52 Hz
D	10 Hz

17. - E4C08

An SDR receiver is overloaded when input signals exceed what level?

Select	Answer
A	One-half the maximum sampling buffer size
B	The maximum count value of the analog-to-digital converter
C	One-half the maximum sample rate
D	The reference voltage of the analog-to-digital converter

18. - E4D11

Why are third-order intermodulation products created within a receiver of particular interest compared to other products?

Select	Answer
A	Third-order products are an indication of poor image rejection
B	Third-order intermodulation produces three products for every input signal within the band of interest
C	The third-order intercept is much higher than other orders
D	The third-order product of two signals which are in the band of interest is also likely to be within the band

19. - E4E06

What is a major cause of atmospheric static?

Select	Answer
A	Meteor showers
B	Geomagnetic storms
C	Thunderstorms
D	Solar radio frequency emissions

20. - E5A07

What is the magnitude of the current at the input of a parallel RLC circuit at resonance?

Select	Answer
A	L/R
B	Maximum
C	R/L
D	Minimum

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 unchanged
D	It is shifted by 90 degrees

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 3
C	Point 8
D	Point 1

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. - E6A16

What are the majority charge carriers in N-type semiconductor material?

Select	Answer
A	Free protons
B	Holes
C	Free neutrons
D	Free electrons

25. - E6B05

What characteristic of a PIN diode makes it useful as an RF switch or attenuator?

Select	Answer
A	Reverse bias controls its forward voltage drop
B	Ability to dissipate large amounts of power
C	Extremely high reverse breakdown voltage
D	A large region of intrinsic material

26. - E6C06

Why do CMOS digital integrated circuits have high immunity to noise on the input signal or power supply?

Select	Answer
A	Larger bypass capacitors are used in CMOS circuit design
B	The input switching threshold is about one-half the power supply voltage
C	Input signals are stronger
D	The input switching threshold is about two times the power supply voltage

27. - E6D10

What is a primary advantage of using a toroidal core instead of a solenoidal core in an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Toroidal cores exhibit greater hysteresis
B	Toroidal cores have lower Q characteristics
C	Toroidal cores make it easier to couple the magnetic energy into other components
D	Toroidal cores confine most of the magnetic field within the core material

28. - E6E04

Which is the most common input and output impedance of circuits that use MMICs?

Select	Answer
A	10 ohms
B	50 ohms
C	300 ohms
D	450 ohms

29. - E6F09

What is the efficiency of a photovoltaic cell?

Select	Answer
A	The relative fraction of light that is converted to current
B	The output RF power divided by the input DC power
C	The open-circuit voltage divided by the short-circuit current under full illumination
D	The effective payback period

30. - E7A07

What logical operation does a NAND gate perform?

Select	Answer
A	It produces logic "0" at its output if some but not all inputs are logic "1"
B	It produces logic "1" at its output only when all inputs are logic "1"
C	It produces logic "0" at its output only when all inputs are logic "0"
D	It produces logic "0" at its output only when all inputs are logic "1"

31. - E7B17

Why are odd-order rather than even-order intermodulation distortion products of concern in linear power amplifiers?

Select	Answer
A	Because they are relatively far in frequency from the desired signal
B	Because they invert the sidebands causing distortion
C	Because they maintain the sidebands, thus causing multiple duplicate signals
D	Because they are relatively close in frequency to the desired signal

32. - E7C14

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

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

33. - E7D06

What is the purpose of Q1 in the circuit shown in Figure E7-3?

Select	Answer
A	It increases the current-handling capability of the regulator
B	It provides negative feedback to improve regulation
C	It provides D1 with current
D	It provides a constant load for the voltage source

34. - E7E02

What is the function of a reactance modulator?

Select	Answer
A	To produce AM signals by using an electrically variable inductance or capacitance
B	To produce AM signals by using an electrically variable resistance
C	To produce PM signals by using an electrically variable inductance or capacitance
D	To produce PM signals by using an electrically variable resistance

35. - E7F07

What function can a Fast Fourier Transform perform?

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

36. - E7G01

What is the typical output impedance of an integrated circuit op-amp?

Select	Answer
A	1000 ohms
B	100 ohms
C	Very low
D	Very high

37. - E7H01

What are three oscillator circuits used in Amateur Radio equipment?

Select	Answer
A	Colpitts, Hartley and Pierce
B	Taft, Hartley and Pierce
C	Pierce, Fenner and Beane
D	Taft, Pierce and negative feedback

38. - E8A11

What type of information can be conveyed using digital waveforms?

Select	Answer
A	Data
B	All of these choices are correct
C	Video signals
D	Human speech

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. - E8C09

Which is the name of a digital code where each preceding or following character changes by only one bit?

Select	Answer
A	Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code
B	Excess 3 code
C	Gray code
D	Binary Coded Decimal Code

41. - E8D11

What is one advantage of using ASCII code for data communications?

Select	Answer
A	It uses one character as a shift code to send numeric and special characters
B	It is possible to transmit both upper and lower case text
C	It includes built in error correction features
D	It contains fewer information bits per character than any other code

42. - E9A08

What is meant by antenna bandwidth?

Select	Answer
A	Antenna length divided by the number of elements
B	The angle between the half-power radiation points
C	The frequency range over which an antenna satisfies a performance requirement
D	The angle formed between two imaginary lines drawn through the element ends

43. - E9B01

In the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-1, what is the 3 dB beam-width?

Select	Answer
A	30 degrees
B	50 degrees
C	75 degrees
D	25 degrees

44. - E9C06

What is the effect of a terminating resistor on a rhombic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It changes the radiation pattern from horizontal to vertical polarization
B	It changes the radiation pattern from bidirectional to unidirectional
C	It reflects the standing waves on the antenna elements back to the transmitter
D	It decreases the ground loss

45. - E9D04

Why should an HF mobile antenna loading coil have a high ratio of reactance to resistance?

Select	Answer
A	To minimize the Q
B	To swamp out harmonics
C	To minimize losses
D	To maximize losses

46. - E9E09

Which of these matching systems is an effective method of connecting a 50 ohm coaxial cable feed line to a grounded tower so it can be used as a vertical antenna?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	Hairpin match
C	Double-bazooka match
D	Gamma match

47. - E9F13

What impedance does a 1/4 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 transmission line
B	Very high impedance
C	Very low impedance
D	The same as the generator output impedance

48. - E9G03

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

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

49. - E9H05

What is the main drawback of a wire-loop antenna for direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	It is non-rotatable
B	It is practical for use only on VHF bands
C	It receives equally well in all directions
D	It has a bidirectional pattern

50. - E0A10

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

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

Figure E5-2

Figure E7-3

Figure E9-1