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

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1. - E1A13

Who must be in physical control of the station apparatus of an amateur station aboard any vessel or craft that is documented or registered in the United States?

Select	Answer
A	Only a person with an FCC Marine Radio
B	Any person holding an FCC issued amateur license or who is authorized for alien reciprocal operation
C	Any person named in an amateur station license grant or a person holding an unrestricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit
D	Only a person named in an amateur station license grant

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

3. - E1C11

Which of the following operating arrangements allows an FCC-licensed U.S. citizen to operate in many European countries, and alien amateurs from many European countries to operate in the U.S.?

Select	Answer
A	IARP agreement
B	All of these choices are correct
C	ITU reciprocal license
D	CEPT agreement

4. - E1D06

Which of the following is a requirement of a space station?

Select	Answer
A	The space station must be capable of changing its orbit whenever such a change is ordered by NASA
B	All of these choices are correct
C	The space station must be capable of terminating transmissions by telecommand when directed by the FCC
D	The space station must cease all transmissions after 5 years

5. - E1E09

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

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

6. - E1F01

On what frequencies are spread spectrum transmissions permitted?

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

7. - E2A01

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

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

8. - E2B03

How is an interlaced scanning pattern generated in a fast-scan (NTSC) television system?

Select	Answer
A	By scanning lines from left to right in one field and right to left in the next
B	By scanning each field from bottom to top
C	By scanning odd numbered lines in one field and even numbered lines in the next
D	By scanning two fields simultaneously

9. - E2C02

Which of the following best describes the term self-spotting in regards to HF contest operating?

Select	Answer
A	The generally prohibited practice of posting one's own call sign and frequency on a spotting network
B	An automatic method for rapidly zero beating or tuning to a station's frequency before calling that station
C	A manual technique for rapidly zero beating or tuning to a station's frequency before calling that station
D	The acceptable practice of manually posting the call signs of stations on a spotting network

10. - E2D14

What is one advantage of using JT65 coding?

Select	Answer
A	Easily copied by ear if necessary
B	Permits fast-scan TV transmissions over narrow bandwidth
C	The ability to decode signals which have a very low signal to noise ratio
D	Uses only a 65 Hz bandwidth

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

12. - E3A09

Which of the following frequency range is most suited for meteor scatter communications?

Select	Answer
A	28 MHz - 148 MHz
B	1.8 MHz - 1.9 MHz
C	220 MHz - 450 MHz
D	10 MHz - 14 MHz

13. - E3B06

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

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

14. - E3C04

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

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

15. - E4A02

Which of the following parameters would a spectrum analyzer display on the vertical and horizontal axes?

Select	Answer
A	SWR and frequency
B	RF amplitude and time
C	RF amplitude and frequency
D	SWR and time

16. - E4B16

Which S parameter represents return loss or SWR?

Select	Answer
A	S21
B	S11
C	S22
D	S12

17. - E4C03

What is the term for the blocking of one FM phone signal by another, stronger FM phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	Cross-modulation interference
B	Capture effect
C	Desensitization
D	Frequency discrimination

18. - E4D14

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

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

19. - E4E06

What is a major cause of atmospheric static?

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

20. - E5A15

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

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

21. - E5B13

What letter is commonly used to represent susceptance?

Select	Answer
A	B
B	X
C	Y
D	G

22. - E5C05

What is the name of the diagram used to show the phase relationship between impedances at a given frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Far field diagram
B	Phasor diagram
C	Venn diagram
D	Near field diagram

23. - E5D18

How many watts are consumed in a circuit having a power factor of 0.71 if the apparent power is 500VA?

Select	Answer
A	1.42 mW
B	252 W
C	355 W
D	704 W

24. - E6A08

What term indicates the frequency at which the grounded-base current gain of a transistor has decreased to 0.7 of the gain obtainable at 1 kHz?

Select	Answer
A	Alpha cutoff frequency
B	Corner frequency
C	Alpha rejection frequency
D	Beta cutoff frequency

25. - E6B13

What type of bias is required for an LED to emit light?

Select	Answer
A	Forward bias
B	Zero bias
C	Reverse bias
D	Inductive bias

26. - E6C14

What is the primary advantage of using a Programmable Gate Array (PGA) in a logic circuit?

Select	Answer
A	A PGA contains its own internal power supply
B	Many similar gates are less expensive than a mixture of gate types
C	Complex logic functions can be created in a single integrated circuit
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	Brass
C	Ferrite
D	Powdered-iron

28. - E6E11

What is a characteristic of DIP packaging used for integrated circuits?

Select	Answer
A	Low leakage doubly insulated package
B	Package mounts in a direct inverted position
C	A total of two rows of connecting pins placed on opposite sides of the package (Dual In-line Package)
D	Two chips in each package (Dual In Package)

29. - E6F11

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

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

30. - E7A11

What type of logic defines "1" as a high voltage?

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

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 tuning capacitor is adjusted for minimum plate current, and the loading capacitor is adjusted for maximum permissible plate current
C	The loading capacitor is set to maximum capacitance and the tuning capacitor is adjusted for minimum allowable 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 transformation range
B	Higher efficiency
C	Greater harmonic suppression
D	Lower losses

33. - E7D10

What is the primary reason that a high-frequency switching type high voltage power supply can be both less expensive and lighter in weight than a conventional power supply?

Select	Answer
A	It uses a large power factor compensation capacitor to create free power from the unused portion of the AC cycle
B	The inverter design does not require any output filtering
C	The high frequency inverter design uses much smaller transformers and filter components for an equivalent power output
D	It uses a diode bridge rectifier for increased output

34. - E7E04

What is one way a single-sideband phone signal can be generated?

Select	Answer
A	By using a loop modulator followed by a mixer
B	By using a balanced modulator followed by a filter
C	By using a reactance modulator followed by a mixer
D	By driving a product detector with a DSB signal

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. - E7G12

What is an integrated circuit operational amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	A high-gain, direct-coupled differential amplifier with very high input impedance and very low output impedance
B	A RF amplifier used in the UHF and microwave regions
C	An amplifier used to increase the average output of frequency modulated amateur signals to the legal limit
D	A digital audio amplifier whose characteristics are determined by components external to the amplifier

37. - E7H12

Which of the following must be done to insure that a crystal oscillator provides the frequency specified by the crystal manufacturer?

Select	Answer
A	Bias the crystal at a specified voltage
B	Bias the crystal at a specified current
C	Provide the crystal with a specified parallel inductance
D	Provide the crystal with a specified parallel capacitance

38. - E8A12

What is an advantage of using digital signals instead of analog signals to convey the same information?

Select	Answer
A	Digital signals can be regenerated multiple times without error
B	All of these choices are correct
C	Less complex circuitry is required for digital signal generation and detection
D	Digital signals always occupy a narrower bandwidth

39. - E8B08

What describes Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	A digital mode for narrow band, slow speed transmissions
B	A bandwidth compression technique using Fourier transforms
C	A digital modulation technique using subcarriers at frequencies chosen to avoid intersymbol interference
D	A frequency modulation technique which uses non-harmonically related frequencies

40. - E8C11

What is the relationship between symbol rate and baud?

Select	Answer
A	Baud is only used for RTTY
B	Symbol rate is only used for packet-based modes
C	Baud is twice the symbol rate
D	They are the same

41. - E8D11

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

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

42. - E9A16

What is the effective radiated power relative to a dipole of a repeater station with 200 watts transmitter power output, 4 dB feed line loss, 3.2 dB duplexer loss, 0.8 dB circulator loss, and 10 dBd antenna gain?

Select	Answer
A	317 watts
B	126 watts
C	300 watts
D	2000 watts

43. - E9B02

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

Select	Answer
A	18 dB
B	14 dB
C	24 dB
D	36 dB

44. - E9C03

What is the radiation pattern of two 1/4 wavelength vertical antennas spaced a 1/2 wavelength apart and fed in phase?

Select	Answer
A	A Figure-8 broadside to the axis of the array
B	A Figure-8 end-fire along the axis of the array
C	Cardioid
D	Omni-directional

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. - E9E07

What term best describes the interactions at the load end of a mismatched transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	Velocity factor
B	Dielectric constant
C	Characteristic impedance
D	Reflection coefficient

47. - E9F12

What impedance does a 1/4 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	Very high impedance
C	Very low impedance
D	The same as the input impedance to the generator

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	Prime axis
D	Impedance axis

49. - E9H07

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

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

50. - E0A08

What does SAR measure?

Select	Answer
A	Synthetic Aperture Ratio of the human body
B	The rate at which RF energy is absorbed by the body
C	The rate of RF energy reflected from stationary terrain
D	Signal Amplification Rating

Figure E9-1

Figure E9-3