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

2. - E1B09

Which amateur stations may be operated under RACES rules?

Select	Answer
A	Any FCC-licensed amateur station certified by the responsible civil defense organization for the area served
B	Any FCC-licensed amateur station except a Technician class
C	Only those club stations licensed to Amateur Extra class operators
D	Any FCC-licensed amateur station participating in the Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS)

3. - E1C10

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

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

4. - E1D10

Which amateur stations are eligible to be telecommand stations?

Select	Answer
A	Any amateur station designated by NASA
B	All of these choices are correct
C	Any amateur station so designated by the ITU
D	Any amateur station so designated by the space station licensee, subject to the privileges of the class of operator license held by the control operator

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	Warn the candidate that continued failure to comply will result in termination of the examination
C	Immediately terminate everyone's examination and close the session
D	Immediately terminate the candidate's examination

6. - E1F03

Under what circumstances may a dealer sell an external RF power amplifier capable of operation below 144 MHz if it has not been granted FCC certification?

Select	Answer
A	It was imported from a manufacturer in another country and was certificated by that country's government
B	It was imported from a manufacturer in a country that does not require certification of RF power amplifiers
C	The equipment dealer assembled it from a kit
D	It was purchased in used condition from an amateur operator and is sold to another amateur operator for use at that operator's station

7. - E2A08

Why should effective radiated power to a satellite which uses a linear transponder be limited?

Select	Answer
A	To prevent the satellite from emitting out-of-band signals
B	To avoid interfering with terrestrial QSOs
C	To prevent creating errors in the satellite telemetry
D	To avoid reducing the downlink power to all other users

8. - E2B19

What special operating frequency restrictions are imposed on slow scan TV transmissions?

Select	Answer
A	They are restricted to 7.245 MHz, 14.245 MHz, 21.345 MHz, and 28.945 MHz
B	None; they are allowed on all amateur frequencies
C	They are not permitted above 54 MHz
D	They are restricted to phone band segments and their bandwidth can be no greater than that of a voice signal of the same modulation type

9. - E2C04

What type of transmission is most often used for a ham radio mesh network?

Select	Answer
A	Multiple Frequency Shift Keying in the 10 GHz band
B	Store and forward on the 440 MHz band
C	Spread spectrum in the 2.4 GHz band
D	Frequency division multiplex in the 24 GHz band

10. - E2D06

Which of the following describes a method of establishing EME contacts?

Select	Answer
A	Storing and forwarding digital messages
B	Judging optimum transmission times by monitoring beacons reflected from the Moon
C	Time synchronous transmissions alternately from each station
D	High speed CW identification to avoid fading

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

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

13. - E3B12

What is the primary characteristic of chordal hop propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Signals reflected back toward the transmitting station
B	Propagation away from the great circle bearing between stations
C	Successive ionospheric reflections without an intermediate reflection from the ground
D	Propagation across the geomagnetic equator

14. - E3C01

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

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

15. - E4A05

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

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

16. - E4B15

Which of the following can be used as a relative measurement of the Q for a series-tuned circuit?

Select	Answer
A	The inductance to capacitance ratio
B	The bandwidth of the circuit's frequency response
C	The frequency shift
D	The resonant frequency of the circuit

17. - E4C16

Which of the following is caused by missing codes in an SDR receiver's analog-to-digital converter?

Select	Answer
A	Distortion
B	Loss of sensitivity
C	Excess output level
D	Overload

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 increase rejection of unwanted signals
D	To allow selection of the optimum RF amplifier device

19. - E4E09

What undesirable effect can occur when using an IF noise blanker?

Select	Answer
A	The audio frequency bandwidth of the received signal might be compressed
B	Received audio in the speech range might have an echo effect
C	FM signals can no longer be demodulated
D	Nearby signals may appear to be excessively wide even if they meet emission standards

20. - E5A02

What is resonance in an electrical circuit?

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

21. - E5B09

What is the relationship between the current through a capacitor and the voltage across a capacitor?

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

22. - E5C14

Which point on Figure E5-2 best represents the impedance of a series circuit consisting of a 400 ohm resistor and a 38 picofarad capacitor at 14 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	Point 6
B	Point 2
C	Point 5
D	Point 4

23. - E5D03

What is microstrip?

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

24. - E6A11

In Figure E6-2, what is the schematic symbol for a P-channel junction FET?

Select	Answer
A	6
B	2
C	1
D	3

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	A large region of intrinsic material
D	Extremely high reverse breakdown voltage

26. - E6C11

In Figure E6-5, what is the schematic symbol for the NOT operation (inverter)?

Select	Answer
A	6
B	5
C	2
D	4

27. - E6D04

Which materials are commonly used as a slug core in a variable inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Polystyrene and polyethylene
B	Ferrite and brass
C	Teflon and Delrin
D	Cobalt and aluminum

28. - E6E12

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

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

29. - E6F03

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

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

30. - E7A03

Which of the following can divide the frequency of a pulse train by 2?

Select	Answer
A	An XOR gate
B	An OR gate
C	A flip-flop
D	A multiplexer

31. - E7B09

Which of the following describes how the loading and tuning capacitors are to be adjusted when tuning a vacuum tube RF power amplifier that employs a Pi-network output circuit?

Select	Answer
A	The tuning capacitor is set to maximum capacitance and the loading capacitor is adjusted for minimum plate permissible current
B	The loading capacitor is set to maximum capacitance and the tuning capacitor is adjusted for minimum allowable plate current
C	The tuning capacitor is adjusted for minimum plate current, and the loading capacitor is adjusted for maximum permissible plate current
D	The loading capacitor is adjusted to minimum plate current while alternately adjusting the tuning capacitor for maximum allowable plate current

32. - E7C03

What advantage does a Pi-L-network have over a regular Pi-network for impedance matching between the final amplifier of a vacuum-tube transmitter and an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	Greater harmonic suppression
B	Higher efficiency
C	Lower losses
D	Greater transformation range

33. - E7D16

When several electrolytic filter capacitors are connected in series to increase the operating voltage of a power supply filter circuit, why should resistors be connected across each capacitor?

Select	Answer
A	To provide a minimum load current to reduce voltage excursions at light loads
B	All of these choices are correct
C	To provide a safety bleeder to discharge the capacitors when the supply is off
D	To equalize, as much as possible, the voltage drop across each capacitor

34. - E7E09

What occurs when an excessive amount of signal energy reaches a mixer circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Automatic limiting occurs
B	Spurious mixer products are generated
C	Mixer blanking occurs
D	A beat frequency is generated

35. - E7F05

How frequently must an analog signal be sampled by an analog-to-digital converter so that the signal can be accurately reproduced?

Select	Answer
A	At twice the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal
B	At the same rate as the highest frequency component of the signal
C	At four times the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal
D	At half the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal

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	7
C	0.07
D	14

37. - E7H05

How is positive feedback supplied in a Pierce oscillator?

Select	Answer
A	Through a neutralizing capacitor
B	Through a quartz crystal
C	Through a tapped coil
D	Through link coupling

38. - E8A01

What is the name of the process that shows that a square wave is made up of a sine wave plus all of its odd harmonics?

Select	Answer
A	Fourier analysis
B	Numerical analysis
C	Vector analysis
D	Differential analysis

39. - E8B02

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

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

40. - E8C10

What is an advantage of Gray code in digital communications where symbols are transmitted as multiple bits

Select	Answer
A	It facilitates error detection
B	It has more possible states than simple binary
C	It increases security
D	It has more resolution than simple binary

41. - E8D05

What is the most common method of reducing key clicks?

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

42. - E9A17

What is the effective radiated power of a repeater station with 200 watts transmitter power output, 2 dB feed line loss, 2.8 dB duplexer loss, 1.2 dB circulator loss, and 7 dBi antenna gain?

Select	Answer
A	632 watts
B	63.2 watts
C	159 watts
D	252 watts

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

44. - E9C05

What is an OCFD antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A multiband dipole antenna using one-way circular polarization for frequency diversity
B	A dipole feed approximately 1/3 the way from one end with a 4:1 balun to provide multiband operation
C	A remotely tunable dipole antenna using orthogonally controlled frequency diversity
D	An eight band dipole antenna using octophase filters

45. - E9D01

How does the gain of an ideal parabolic dish antenna change when the operating frequency is doubled?

Select	Answer
A	Gain increases by 6 dB
B	Gain does not change
C	Gain is multiplied by 0.707
D	Gain increases by 3 dB

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 stub match
D	The epsilon match

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

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	Reactance axis
B	Polar axis
C	Impedance axis
D	Prime axis

49. - E9H07

Why is it advisable to use an RF attenuator on a receiver being used for direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	It prevents receiver overload which could make it difficult to determine peaks or nulls
B	It reduces loss of received signals caused by antenna pattern nulls, thereby increasing sensitivity
C	It compensates for the effects of an isotropic antenna, thereby improving directivity
D	It narrows the bandwidth of the received signal to improve signal to noise ratio

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

Figure E5-2

Figure E6-2

Figure E6-5

Figure E7-4

Figure E9-3