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

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1. - E1A03

With your transceiver displaying the carrier frequency of phone signals, you hear a station calling CQ on 14.349 MHz USB. Is it legal to return the call using upper sideband on the same frequency?

Select	Answer
A	No, U.S. stations are not permitted to use phone emissions above 14.340 MHz
B	No, the sideband will extend beyond the band edge
C	Yes, because you were not the station calling CQ
D	Yes, because the displayed frequency is within the 20 meter band

2. - E1B06

Which of the following additional rules apply if you are installing an amateur station antenna at a site at or near a public use airport?

Select	Answer
A	You must file an Environmental Impact Statement with the EPA before construction begins
B	You must obtain a construction permit from the airport zoning authority
C	No special rules apply if your antenna structure will be less than 300 feet in height
D	You may have to notify the Federal Aviation Administration and register it with the FCC as required by Part 17 of FCC rules

3. - E1C08

What is the maximum permissible duration of a remotely controlled station's transmissions if its control link malfunctions?

Select	Answer
A	10 minutes
B	5 minutes
C	30 seconds
D	3 minutes

4. - E1D05

What class of licensee is authorized to be the control operator of a space station?

Select	Answer
A	All except Technician Class
B	Only General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class
C	Only Amateur Extra Class
D	Any class with appropriate operator privileges

5. - E1E12

What must the VE team do with the application form if the examinee does not pass the exam?

Select	Answer
A	Return the application document to the examinee
B	Destroy the application form
C	Send the application form to the FCC and inform the FCC of the grade
D	Maintain the application form with the VEC's records

6. - E1F01

On what frequencies are spread spectrum transmissions permitted?

Select	Answer
A	Only on amateur frequencies above 222 MHz
B	Only on amateur frequencies above 50 MHz
C	Only on amateur frequencies above 420 MHz
D	Only on amateur frequencies above 144 MHz

7. - E2A02

What is the direction of a descending pass for an amateur satellite?

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

8. - E2B15

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

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

9. - E2C13

What indicator is required to be used by U.S.-licensed operators when operating a station via remote control where the transmitter is located in the U.S.?

Select	Answer
A	No additional indicator is required
B	/R# where # is the district of the remote station
C	/ followed by the USPS two letter abbreviation for the state in which the remote station is located
D	The ARRL section of the remote station

10. - E2D06

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

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

11. - E2E03

How is the timing of JT65 contacts organized?

Select	Answer
A	Stations take turns on alternate days
B	By exchanging ACK/NAK packets
C	It depends on the lunar phase
D	Alternating transmissions at 1 minute intervals

12. - E3A08

When a meteor strikes the Earth's atmosphere, a cylindrical region of free electrons is formed at what layer of the ionosphere?

Select	Answer
A	The F2 layer
B	The D layer
C	The E layer
D	The F1 layer

13. - E3B06

Which of the following amateur bands most frequently provides long-path propagation?

Select	Answer
A	20 meters
B	10 meters
C	80 meters
D	6 meters

14. - E3C08

What does the space weather term G5 mean?

Select	Answer
A	Very low solar activity
B	Waning sunspot numbers
C	An extreme geomagnetic storm
D	Moderate solar wind

15. - E4A04

What determines the upper frequency limit for a computer soundcard-based oscilloscope program?

Select	Answer
A	Q of the interface of the interface circuit
B	Amount of memory on the soundcard
C	Analog-to-digital conversion speed of the soundcard
D	All of these choices are correct

16. - E4B11

How should an antenna analyzer be connected when measuring antenna resonance and feed point impedance?

Select	Answer
A	Connect the antenna feed line directly to the analyzer's connector
B	Loosely couple the analyzer near the antenna base
C	Loosely couple the antenna and a dummy load to the analyzer
D	Connect the analyzer via a high-impedance transformer to the antenna

17. - E4C10

Which of the following is a desirable amount of selectivity for an amateur RTTY HF receiver?

Select	Answer
A	6000 Hz
B	100 Hz
C	2400 Hz
D	300 Hz

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

19. - E4E10

What is a common characteristic of interference caused by a touch controlled electrical device?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	The interfering signal can be several kHz in width and usually repeats at regular intervals across a HF band
C	The interfering signal may drift slowly across the HF spectrum
D	The interfering signal sounds like AC hum on an AM receiver or a carrier modulated by 60 Hz hum on a SSB or CW receiver

20. - E5A03

What is the magnitude of the impedance of a series RLC circuit at resonance?

Select	Answer
A	Approximately equal to circuit resistance
B	High, as compared to the circuit resistance
C	Approximately equal to inductive reactance
D	Approximately equal to capacitive reactance

21. - E5B13

What letter is commonly used to represent susceptance?

Select	Answer
A	G
B	X
C	Y
D	B

22. - E5C06

What does the impedance 50-j25 represent?

Select	Answer
A	50 ohms resistance in series with 25 ohms inductive reactance
B	25 ohms resistance in series with 50 ohms capacitive reactance
C	25 ohms resistance in series with 50 ohms inductive reactance
D	50 ohms resistance in series with 25 ohms capacitive reactance

23. - E5D11

What is the power factor of an R-L circuit having a 60 degree phase angle between the voltage and the current?

Select	Answer
A	1.73
B	0.866
C	0.5
D	1.414

24. - E6A02

Which of the following semiconductor materials contains excess free electrons?

Select	Answer
A	N-type
B	P-type
C	Insulated gate
D	Bipolar

25. - E6B05

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

Select	Answer
A	A large region of intrinsic material
B	Ability to dissipate large amounts of power
C	Reverse bias controls its forward voltage drop
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	4
C	2
D	5

27. - E6D14

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

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

28. - E6E04

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

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

29. - E6F07

What is a solid state relay?

Select	Answer
A	A device that uses semiconductors to implement the functions of an electromechanical relay
B	A mechanical relay that latches in the on or off state each time it is pulsed
C	A passive delay line
D	A relay using transistors to drive the relay coil

30. - E7A01

Which is a bi-stable circuit?

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

31. - E7B07

Which of the following is a likely result when a Class C amplifier is used to amplify a single-sideband phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	Reduced intermodulation products
B	Increased overall intelligibility
C	Signal inversion
D	Signal distortion and excessive bandwidth

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

33. - E7D11

What circuit element is controlled by a series analog voltage regulator to maintain a constant output voltage?

Select	Answer
A	Pass transistor
B	Error amplifier
C	Switching inductance
D	Reference voltage

34. - E7E06

Why is de-emphasis commonly used in FM communications receivers?

Select	Answer
A	To remove third-order distortion products
B	For compatibility with transmitters using phase modulation
C	For higher efficiency
D	To reduce impulse noise reception

35. - E7F07

What function can a Fast Fourier Transform perform?

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

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	14
B	0.07
C	28
D	7

37. - E7H11

What are the major spectral impurity components of direct digital synthesizers?

Select	Answer
A	Digital conversion noise
B	Spurious signals at discrete frequencies
C	Broadband noise
D	Nyquist limit noise

38. - E8A11

What type of information can be conveyed using digital waveforms?

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

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	2000
B	3
C	6000
D	1/3

40. - E8C08

How does ARQ accomplish error correction?

Select	Answer
A	If errors are detected, a retransmission is requested
B	If errors are detected, redundant data is substituted
C	Special binary codes provide automatic correction
D	Special polynomial codes provide automatic correction

41. - E8D11

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

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

42. - E9A03

Why would one need to know the feed point impedance of an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	To calculate the front-to-back ratio of the antenna
B	To measure the near-field radiation density from a transmitting antenna
C	To calculate the front-to-side ratio of the antenna
D	To match impedances in order to minimize standing wave ratio on the transmission line

43. - E9B03

In the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-1, what is the front-to-side ratio?

Select	Answer
A	24 dB
B	14 dB
C	18 dB
D	12 dB

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

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

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

47. - E9F15

What impedance does a 1/2 wavelength transmission line present to a generator when the line is open at the far end?

Select	Answer
A	Very low impedance
B	Very high impedance
C	The same as the output impedance of the generator
D	The same as the characteristic impedance of the line

48. - E9G04

What are the two families of circles and arcs that make up a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Reactance and voltage
B	Resistance and voltage
C	Resistance and reactance
D	Voltage and impedance

49. - E9H01

When constructing a Beverage antenna, which of the following factors should be included in the design to achieve good performance at the desired frequency?

Select	Answer
A	It should be one or more wavelengths long
B	It should be configured as a four-sided loop
C	It must be mounted more than 1 wavelength above ground
D	Its overall length must not exceed 1/4 wavelength

50. - E0A10

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

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

Figure E6-5

Figure E7-4

Figure E9-1