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

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1. - E1A05

What is the maximum power output permitted on the 60 meter band?

Select	Answer
A	100 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to the gain of a half-wave dipole
B	50 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to a dipole
C	100 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to an isotropic radiator
D	50 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to an isotropic radiator

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

3. - E1C08

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

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

4. - E1D09

Which UHF amateur service bands have frequencies available for a space station?

Select	Answer
A	70 cm only
B	70 cm and 13 cm
C	33 cm and 13 cm
D	70 cm and 33 cm

5. - E1E10

What must the administering VEs do after the administration of a successful examination for an amateur operator license?

Select	Answer
A	They must submit the application document to the coordinating VEC according to the coordinating VEC instructions
B	They must collect and submit the documents to the coordinating VEC for grading
C	They must collect and send the documents to the FCC according to instructions
D	They must collect and send the documents to the NCVEC for grading

6. - E1F08

Which of the following types of amateur station communications are prohibited?

Select	Answer
A	Communications that have a religious content
B	Communications that have a political content, except as allowed by the Fairness Doctrine
C	Communications in a language other than English
D	Communications transmitted for hire or material compensation, except as otherwise provided in the rules

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	An isotropic antenna
D	A circularly polarized antenna

8. - E2B15

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

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

9. - E2C06

During a VHF/UHF contest, in which band segment would you expect to find the highest level of activity?

Select	Answer
A	In the middle of the band, usually 25 kHz above the national calling frequency
B	In the middle of each band, usually on the national calling frequency
C	In the weak signal segment of the band, with most of the activity near the calling frequency
D	At the top of each band, usually in a segment reserved for contests

10. - E2D02

Which of the following is a good technique for making meteor scatter contacts?

Select	Answer
A	15 second timed transmission sequences with stations alternating based on location
B	Use of high speed CW or digital modes
C	Short transmission with rapidly repeated call signs and signal reports
D	All of these choices are correct

11. - E2E05

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

Select	Answer
A	Winlink
B	RTTY
C	PSK31
D	MFSK

12. - E3A15

What is an electromagnetic wave?

Select	Answer
A	A wave of alternating current, in the core of an electromagnet
B	A wave consisting of two electric fields at parallel right angles to each other
C	A wave consisting of two magnetic fields at right angles to each other
D	A wave consisting of an electric field and a magnetic field oscillating at right angles to each other

13. - E3B01

What is transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Propagation between any two points located on the magnetic equator
B	Propagation between two stations at the same latitude
C	Propagation between two continents by way of ducts along the magnetic equator
D	Propagation between two mid-latitude points at approximately the same distance north and south of the magnetic equator

14. - E3C02

What is indicated by a rising A or K index?

Select	Answer
A	Higher levels of solar UV radiation
B	An increase in the critical frequency
C	Decreasing disruption of the geomagnetic field
D	Increasing disruption of the geomagnetic field

15. - E4A12

Which of the following procedures is an important precaution to follow when connecting a spectrum analyzer to a transmitter output?

Select	Answer
A	Use high quality double shielded coaxial cables to reduce signal losses
B	Match the antenna to the load
C	Attenuate the transmitter output going to the spectrum analyzer
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	Loosely couple the antenna and a dummy load to the analyzer
B	Connect the analyzer via a high-impedance transformer to the antenna
C	Loosely couple the analyzer near the antenna base
D	Connect the antenna feed line directly to the analyzer's connector

17. - E4C04

How is the noise figure of a receiver defined?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of thermal noise to atmospheric noise
B	The ratio in dB of the noise generated by the receiver to the theoretical minimum noise
C	The ratio of the noise bandwidth in Hertz to the theoretical bandwidth of a resistive network
D	The ratio of atmospheric noise to phase noise

18. - E4D12

What is the term for the reduction in receiver sensitivity caused by a strong signal near the received frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Cross-modulation interference
B	Squelch gain rollback
C	Quieting
D	Desensitization

19. - E4E09

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

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

20. - E5A08

What is the phase relationship between the current through and the voltage across a series resonant circuit at resonance?

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

21. - E5B11

What is the phase angle between the voltage across and the current through a series RLC circuit if XC is 25 ohms, R is 100 ohms, and XL is 50 ohms?

Select	Answer
A	76 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
B	14 degrees with the voltage leading the current
C	14 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
D	76 degrees with the voltage leading the current

22. - E5C13

What coordinate system is often used to display the resistive, inductive, and/or capacitive reactance components of impedance?

Select	Answer
A	Elliptical coordinates
B	Faraday grid
C	Rectangular coordinates
D	Maidenhead grid

23. - E5D13

How much power is consumed in a circuit consisting of a 100 ohm resistor in series with a 100 ohm inductive reactance drawing 1 ampere?

Select	Answer
A	200 Watts
B	141.4 Watts
C	100 Watts
D	70.7 Watts

24. - E6A13

What do the initials CMOS stand for?

Select	Answer
A	Common Mode Oscillating System
B	Common Mode Organic Silicon
C	Complementary Mica-Oxide Silicon
D	Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor

25. - E6B11

What is used to control the attenuation of RF signals by a PIN diode?

Select	Answer
A	Forward DC bias current
B	Reverse voltage larger than the RF signal
C	A sub-harmonic pump signal
D	Capacitance of an RF coupling capacitor

26. - E6C02

What happens when the level of a comparator's input signal crosses the threshold?

Select	Answer
A	The feedback loop becomes unstable
B	The comparator enters latch-up
C	The IC input can be damaged
D	The comparator changes its output state

27. - E6D05

What is one reason for using ferrite cores rather than powdered-iron in an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Ferrite toroids are easier to use with surface mount technology
B	Ferrite toroids generally have lower initial permeability
C	Ferrite toroids generally require fewer turns to produce a given inductance value
D	Ferrite toroids generally have better temperature stability

28. - E6E09

Which of the following component package types would be most suitable for use at frequencies above the HF range?

Select	Answer
A	Axial lead
B	Radial lead
C	Surface mount
D	TO-220

29. - E6F12

What absorbs the energy from light falling on a photovoltaic cell?

Select	Answer
A	Protons
B	Holes
C	Photons
D	Electrons

30. - E7A04

How many flip-flops are required to divide a signal frequency by 4?

Select	Answer
A	4
B	1
C	2
D	8

31. - E7B04

Where on the load line of a Class A common emitter amplifier would bias normally be set?

Select	Answer
A	Approximately half-way between saturation and cutoff
B	Where the load line intersects the voltage axis
C	At a point where the bias resistor equals the load resistor
D	At a point where the load line intersects the zero bias current curve

32. - E7C01

How are the capacitors and inductors of a low-pass filter Pi-network arranged between the network's input and output?

Select	Answer
A	An inductor is connected between the input and ground, another inductor is connected between the output and ground, and a capacitor is connected between the input and output
B	Two capacitors are in series between the input and output, and an inductor is connected between the two capacitors and ground
C	Two inductors are in series between the input and output, and a capacitor is connected between the two inductors and ground
D	A capacitor is connected between the input and ground, another capacitor is connected between the output and ground, and an inductor is connected between input and output

33. - E7D15

What is the purpose of a "step-start" circuit in a high voltage power supply?

Select	Answer
A	To provide a dual-voltage output for reduced power applications
B	To allow for remote control of the power supply
C	To compensate for variations of the incoming line voltage
D	To allow the filter capacitors to charge gradually

34. - E7E06

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

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

35. - E7F12

What digital process is applied to I and Q signals in order to recover the baseband modulation information?

Select	Answer
A	Quadrature mixing
B	Decimation
C	Signal conditioning
D	Fast Fourier Transform

36. - E7G01

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

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

37. - E7H07

How can an oscillator's microphonic responses be reduced?

Select	Answer
A	Mechanically isolating the oscillator circuitry from its enclosure
B	Using the oscillator only for CW and digital signals
C	Use of NP0 capacitors
D	Eliminating noise on the oscillator's power supply

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	Differential analysis
B	Fourier analysis
C	Vector analysis
D	Numerical analysis

39. - E8B07

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing is a technique used for which type of amateur communication?

Select	Answer
A	EME
B	High speed digital modes
C	OFDM signals are not allowed on amateur bands
D	Extremely low-power contacts

40. - E8C06

What is the necessary bandwidth of a 170-hertz shift, 300-baud ASCII transmission?

Select	Answer
A	1.0 kHz
B	0.5 kHz
C	0.3 kHz
D	0.1 Hz

41. - E8D04

What is the primary effect of extremely short rise or fall time on a CW signal?

Select	Answer
A	The generation of RF harmonics
B	Limits data speed
C	More difficult to copy
D	The generation of key clicks

42. - E9A05

What is included in the total resistance of an antenna system?

Select	Answer
A	Radiation resistance plus ohmic resistance
B	Transmission-line resistance plus radiation resistance
C	Radiation resistance plus space impedance
D	Radiation resistance plus transmission resistance

43. - E9B08

How can the approximate beam-width in a given plane of a directional antenna be determined?

Select	Answer
A	Measure the ratio of the signal strengths of the radiated power lobes from the front and rear of the antenna
B	Measure the ratio of the signal strengths of the radiated power lobes from the front and side of the antenna
C	Note the two points where the signal strength of the antenna is 3 dB less than maximum and compute the angular difference
D	Draw two imaginary lines through the ends of the elements and measure the angle between the lines

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

45. - E9D09

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

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

46. - E9E08

Which of the following measurements is characteristic of a mismatched transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	An SWR greater than 1:1
B	A reflection coefficient greater than 1
C	A dielectric constant greater than 1
D	An SWR less than 1:1

47. - E9F04

What is the typical velocity factor for a coaxial cable with solid polyethylene dielectric?

Select	Answer
A	0.30
B	0.66
C	2.70
D	0.10

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	Beam headings and radiation patterns
D	Impedance and SWR values in transmission lines

49. - E9H06

What is the triangulation method of direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	The geometric angles of sky waves from the source are used to determine its position
B	A fixed receiving station uses three different antennas to plot the location of the signal source
C	Antenna headings from several different receiving locations are used to locate the signal source
D	A fixed receiving station plots three headings to the signal source

50. - E0A01

What is the primary function of an external earth connection or ground rod?

Select	Answer
A	Lightning protection
B	Reduce received noise
C	Reduce RF current flow between pieces of equipment
D	Reduce RFI to telephones and home entertainment systems