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

Logging in (or registering) will help the system to select questions that you need to focus on.

1. - E1A04

With your transceiver displaying the carrier frequency of phone signals, you hear a DX station calling CQ on 3.601 MHz LSB. Is it legal to return the call using lower sideband on the same frequency?

Select	Answer
A	No, the sideband will extend beyond the edge of the phone band segment
B	Yes, because the DX station initiated the contact
C	Yes, because the displayed frequency is within the 75 meter phone band segment
D	No, U.S. stations are not permitted to use phone emissions below 3.610 MHz

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 must file an Environmental Impact Statement with the EPA before construction begins
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. - E1C07

What is meant by local control?

Select	Answer
A	Direct manipulation of the transmitter by a control operator
B	Automatically manipulating local station controls
C	Controlling a repeater using a portable handheld transceiver
D	Controlling a station through a local auxiliary link

4. - E1D04

What is an Earth station in the amateur satellite service?

Select	Answer
A	An amateur station within 50 km of the Earth's surface intended for communications with amateur stations by means of objects in space
B	An amateur station that is not able to communicate using amateur satellites
C	An amateur station that transmits telemetry consisting of measurement of upper atmosphere
D	Any amateur station on the surface of the Earth

5. - E1E03

What is a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator?

Select	Answer
A	An organization that has entered into an agreement with the FCC to coordinate amateur operator license examinations
B	A person who has volunteered to administer amateur operator license examinations
C	The person who has entered into an agreement with the FCC to be the VE session manager
D	A person who has volunteered to prepare amateur operator license examinations

6. - E1F06

Under what circumstances might the FCC issue a Special Temporary Authority (STA) to an amateur station?

Select	Answer
A	To provide for experimental amateur communications
B	To provide temporary operation while awaiting normal licensing
C	To allow regular operation on Land Mobile channels
D	To provide additional spectrum for personal use

7. - E2A01

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

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

8. - E2B06

What is vestigial sideband modulation?

Select	Answer
A	Narrow-band FM modulation achieved by filtering one sideband from the audio before frequency modulating the carrier
B	Amplitude modulation in which one complete sideband and a portion of the other are transmitted
C	Spread spectrum modulation achieved by applying FM modulation following single sideband amplitude modulation
D	A type of modulation in which one sideband is inverted

9. - E2C11

How should you generally identify your station when attempting to contact a DX station during a contest or in a pileup?

Select	Answer
A	Send only the last two letters of your call sign until you make contact
B	Send your full call sign once or twice
C	Send your full call sign and grid square
D	Send the call sign of the DX station three times, the words "this is", then your call sign three times

10. - E2D12

How does JT65 improve EME communications?

Select	Answer
A	It controls the receiver to track Doppler shift
B	All of these choices are correct
C	It supplies signals to guide the antenna to track the Moon
D	It can decode signals many dB below the noise floor using FEC

11. - E2E11

What is the difference between direct FSK and audio FSK?

Select	Answer
A	Direct FSK applies the data signal to the transmitter VFO
B	Audio FSK can be performed anywhere in the transmit chain
C	Audio FSK has a superior frequency response
D	Direct FSK uses a DC-coupled data connection

12. - E3A11

What is a typical range for tropospheric propagation of microwave signals?

Select	Answer
A	10 miles to 50 miles
B	2500 miles
C	100 miles to 300 miles
D	1200 miles

13. - E3B11

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

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

14. - E3C15

What might a sudden rise in radio background noise indicate?

Select	Answer
A	A meteor ping
B	Increased transequatorial propagation likely
C	A solar flare has occurred
D	Long-path propagation is occurring

15. - E4A01

Which of the following parameter determines the bandwidth of a digital or computer-based oscilloscope?

Select	Answer
A	Input impedance
B	Sampling rate
C	Sample resolution
D	Input capacitance

16. - E4B04

If a frequency counter with a specified accuracy of +/- 0.1 ppm reads 146,520,000 Hz, what is the most the actual frequency being measured could differ from the reading?

Select	Answer
A	1.4652 kHz
B	1.4652 Hz
C	0.1 MHz
D	14.652 Hz

17. - E4C02

Which of the following portions of a receiver can be effective in eliminating image signal interference?

Select	Answer
A	A notch filter
B	A front-end filter or pre-selector
C	A properly adjusted product detector
D	A narrow IF filter

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	Quieting
C	Squelch gain rollback
D	Desensitization

19. - E4E16

What current flows equally on all conductors of an unshielded multi-conductor cable?

Select	Answer
A	Return current
B	Differential-mode current
C	Reactive current only
D	Common-mode current

20. - E5A03

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

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

21. - E5B06

What is susceptance?

Select	Answer
A	The magnetic impedance of a circuit
B	The inverse of reactance
C	A measure of the efficiency of a transformer
D	The ratio of magnetic field to electric field

22. - E5C03

Which of the following represents an inductive reactance in polar coordinates?

Select	Answer
A	A negative real part
B	A positive real part
C	A negative phase angle
D	A positive phase angle

23. - E5D12

How many watts are consumed in a circuit having a power factor of 0.2 if the input is 100-VAC at 4 amperes?

Select	Answer
A	2000 watts
B	400 watts
C	80 watts
D	50 watts

24. - E6A04

What is the name given to an impurity atom that adds holes to a semiconductor crystal structure?

Select	Answer
A	N-type impurity
B	Donor impurity
C	Insulator impurity
D	Acceptor impurity

25. - E6B11

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

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

26. - E6C10

In Figure E6-5, what is the schematic symbol for a NOR gate?

Select	Answer
A	1
B	4
C	3
D	2

27. - E6D02

What is the equivalent circuit of a quartz crystal?

Select	Answer
A	Motional inductance and loss resistance in series, paralleled with motional capacitance and a capacitor representing electrode and stray capacitance
B	Motional capacitance, motional inductance, loss resistance, and a capacitor representing electrode and stray capacitance all in parallel
C	Motional capacitance, motional inductance, loss resistance, and a capacitor representing electrode and stray capacitance all in series
D	Motional capacitance, motional inductance, and loss resistance in series, all in parallel with a shunt capacitor representing electrode and stray capacitance

28. - E6E07

Which of the following is typically used to construct a MMIC-based microwave amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	Wave-soldering construction
B	Microstrip construction
C	Ground-plane construction
D	Point-to-point construction

29. - E6F05

Which describes an optical shaft encoder?

Select	Answer
A	A digital encryption device often used to encrypt spacecraft control signals
B	A device which detects rotation of a control by interrupting a light source with a patterned wheel
C	A device which measures the strength of a beam of light using analog to digital conversion
D	A device for generating RTTY signals by means of a rotating light source

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. - E7B10

In Figure E7-1, what is the purpose of R1 and R2?

Select	Answer
A	Fixed bias
B	Feedback
C	Self bias
D	Load resistors

32. - E7C05

Which filter type is described as having ripple in the passband and a sharp cutoff?

Select	Answer
A	A Butterworth filter
B	A passive op-amp filter
C	An active LC filter
D	A Chebyshev filter

33. - E7D03

What device is typically used as a stable reference voltage in a linear voltage regulator?

Select	Answer
A	A Zener diode
B	An SCR
C	A varactor diode
D	A tunnel diode

34. - E7E02

What is the function of a reactance modulator?

Select	Answer
A	To produce AM signals by using an electrically variable resistance
B	To produce AM signals by using an electrically variable inductance or capacitance
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 8-bit data to 16 bit data
B	Converting analog signals to digital form
C	Converting digital signals from the time domain to the frequency domain
D	Converting digital signals to analog form

36. - E7G02

What is the effect of ringing in a filter?

Select	Answer
A	A reduction in high frequency response
B	Partial cancellation of the signal over a range of frequencies
C	An echo caused by a long time delay
D	Undesired oscillations added to the desired signal

37. - E7H02

Which describes a microphonic?

Select	Answer
A	An IC used for amplifying microphone signals
B	Excess loading of the microphone by an oscillator
C	Changes in oscillator frequency due to mechanical vibration
D	Distortion caused by RF pickup on the microphone cable

38. - E8A07

What determines the PEP-to-average power ratio of a single-sideband phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	The degree of carrier suppression
B	The frequency of the modulating signal
C	The characteristics of the modulating signal
D	The amplifier gain

39. - E8B11

What is digital time division multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	Two or more signals are arranged to share discrete time slots of a data transmission
B	Two or more data streams are assigned to discrete sub-carriers on an FM transmitter
C	Two or more signals are quadrature modulated to increase bandwidth efficiency
D	Two or more data streams share the same channel by transmitting time of transmission as the sub-carrier

40. - E8C11

What is the relationship between symbol rate and baud?

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

41. - E8D10

What are some of the differences between the Baudot digital code and ASCII?

Select	Answer
A	Baudot uses 4 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot uses 1 character as a letters/figures shift code, ASCII has no letters/figures code
B	Baudot uses 5 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot uses 2 characters as letters/figures shift codes, ASCII has no letters/figures shift code
C	Baudot uses 6 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot has no letters/figures shift code, ASCII uses 2 letters/figures shift codes
D	Baudot uses 7 data bits per character, ASCII uses 8; Baudot has no letters/figures shift code, ASCII uses 2 letters/figures shift codes

42. - E9A15

What is the effective radiated power relative to a dipole of a repeater station with 150 watts transmitter power output, 2 dB feed line loss, 2.2 dB duplexer loss, and 7 dBd antenna gain?

Select	Answer
A	78.7 watts
B	1977 watts
C	286 watts
D	420 watts

43. - E9B13

What does the abbreviation NEC stand for when applied to antenna modeling programs?

Select	Answer
A	Numerical Electromagnetic Code
B	Next Element Comparison
C	National Electrical Code
D	Numeric Electrical Computation

44. - E9C09

What is a G5RV antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A wide band dipole using shorted coaxial cable for the radiating elements and fed with a 4:1 balun
B	A multi-band dipole antenna fed with coax and a balun through a selected length of open wire transmission line
C	A phased array antenna consisting of multiple loops
D	A multi-band trap antenna

45. - E9D07

What is an advantage of using top loading in a shortened HF vertical antenna?

Select	Answer
A	Higher losses
B	Improved radiation efficiency
C	Greater structural strength
D	Lower Q

46. - E9E07

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

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

47. - E9F14

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

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

48. - E9G05

What type of chart is shown in Figure E9-3?

Select	Answer
A	Azimuth angle radiation pattern chart
B	Smith chart
C	Elevation angle radiation pattern chart
D	Free space radiation directivity chart

49. - E9H06

What is the triangulation method of direction finding?

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

50. - E0A01

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

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

Figure E6-5

Figure E7-1

Figure E9-3