US Amateur Radio - Amateur Extra (Element 4, 2020-2024) Practice Test

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1. - E0A01

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

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

2. - E1A03

What is the maximum legal carrier frequency on the 20 meter band for transmitting USB AFSK digital signals having a 1 kHz bandwidth?

Select	Answer
A	14.070 MHz
B	14.100 MHz
C	14.349 MHz
D	14.149 MHz

3. - E1B11

What does PRB-1 require of regulations affecting amateur radio?

Select	Answer
A	No limitations may be placed on antenna size or placement
B	Reasonable accommodations of amateur radio must be made
C	Use of wireless devices in a vehicle is exempt from regulation
D	Amateur radio operations must be permitted in any private residence

4. - E1C07

At what level below a signal's mean power level is its bandwidth determined according to FCC rules?

Select	Answer
A	23 dB
B	6 dB
C	3 dB
D	26 dB

5. - E1D10

Which amateur stations are eligible to be telecommand stations of space stations (subject to the privileges of the class of operator license held by the control operator of the station)?

Select	Answer
A	Any amateur station so designated by the ITU
B	Any amateur station so designated by the space station licensee
C	Any amateur station designated by NASA
D	All these choices are correct

6. - E1E09

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

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

7. - E1F11

Which of the following best describes one of the standards that must be met by an external RF power amplifier if it is to qualify for a grant of FCC certification?

Select	Answer
A	It must produce full legal output when driven by not more than 5 watts of mean RF input power
B	It must exhibit a gain of 0 dB or less over its full output range
C	It must be capable of external RF switching between its input and output networks
D	It must satisfy the FCC's spurious emission standards when operated at the lesser of 1500 watts or its full output power

8. - E2A10

What type of satellite appears to stay in one position in the sky?

Select	Answer
A	LEO
B	Geostationary
C	HEO
D	Geomagnetic

9. - E2B01

How many times per second is a new frame transmitted in a fast-scan (NTSC) television system?

Select	Answer
A	30
B	90
C	120
D	60

10. - E2C05

What is the function of a DX QSL Manager?

Select	Answer
A	To run a net to allow many stations to contact a rare DX station
B	To allocate frequencies for DXpeditions
C	To handle the receiving and sending of confirmation cards for a DX station
D	To relay calls to and from a DX station

11. - E2D08

What type of packet frame is used to transmit APRS beacon data?

Select	Answer
A	Acknowledgement
B	Unnumbered Information
C	Disconnect
D	Connect

12. - E2E11

What is the difference between direct FSK and audio FSK?

Select	Answer
A	Direct FSK applies the data signal to the transmitter VFO, while AFSK transmits tones via phone
B	Only direct FSK can be decoded by computer
C	Direct FSK can transmit faster baud rates
D	Direct FSK occupies less bandwidth

13. - E3A12

What is the cause of auroral activity?

Select	Answer
A	The interaction in the E layer of charged particles from the Sun with the Earth's magnetic field
B	The interaction in the F2 layer between the solar wind and the Van Allen belt
C	Meteor showers concentrated in the extreme northern and southern latitudes
D	An extreme low-pressure area in the polar regions

14. - E3B05

Which amateur bands typically support long-path propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Only 160 meters to 40 meters
B	6 meters to 2 meters
C	Only 30 meters to 10 meters
D	160 meters to 10 meters

15. - E3C08

What does the space weather term G5 mean?

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

16. - E4A06

What is the effect of aliasing on a digital oscilloscope caused by setting the time base too slow?

Select	Answer
A	Excessive blanking occurs, which prevents display of the signal
B	A false, jittery low-frequency version of the signal is displayed
C	Calibration of the vertical scale is no longer valid
D	All signals will have a DC offset

17. - E4B01

Which of the following factors most affects the accuracy of a frequency counter?

Select	Answer
A	Decade divider accuracy
B	Input attenuator accuracy
C	Time base accuracy
D	Temperature coefficient of the logic

18. - E4C01

What is an effect of excessive phase noise in a receiver's local oscillator?

Select	Answer
A	It can affect the receiver's frequency calibration
B	It can combine with strong signals on nearby frequencies to generate interference
C	It decreases receiver third-order intercept point
D	It limits the receiver's ability to receive strong signals

19. - E4D11

Why are odd-order intermodulation products, created within a receiver, of particular interest compared to other products?

Select	Answer
A	Odd-order intermodulation produces three products for every input signal within the band of interest
B	Odd-order products overload the IF filters
C	Odd-order products of two signals in the band of interest are also likely to be within the band
D	Odd-order products are an indication of poor image rejection

20. - E4E04

How can conducted and radiated noise caused by an automobile alternator be suppressed?

Select	Answer
A	By installing filter capacitors in series with the DC power lead and a blocking capacitor in the field lead
B	By installing a high-pass filter in series with the radio's power lead and a low-pass filter in parallel with the field lead
C	By connecting the radio's power leads directly to the battery and by installing coaxial capacitors in line with the alternator leads
D	By installing a noise suppression resistor and a blocking capacitor in both leads

21. - E5A04

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

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

22. - E5B01

What is the term for the time required for the capacitor in an RC circuit to be charged to 63.2% of the applied voltage or to discharge to 36.8% of its initial voltage?

Select	Answer
A	One exponential period
B	A time factor of one
C	One time constant
D	An exponential rate of one

23. - E5C01

Which of the following represents capacitive reactance in rectangular notation?

Select	Answer
A	-jX
B	Delta
C	Omega
D	+jX

24. - E5D07

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

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

25. - E6A07

Which of the following indicates that a silicon NPN junction transistor is biased on?

Select	Answer
A	Base-to-emitter voltage of approximately 6 to 7 volts
B	Base-to-emitter resistance of approximately 0.6 to 0.7 ohms
C	Base-to-emitter resistance of approximately 6 to 7 ohms
D	Base-to-emitter voltage of approximately 0.6 to 0.7 volts

26. - E6B05

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

Select	Answer
A	Ability to dissipate large amounts of power
B	Reverse bias controls its forward voltage drop
C	Low junction capacitance
D	Extremely high reverse breakdown voltage

27. - E6C10

In Figure E6-3, what is the schematic symbol for a NOR gate?

Select	Answer
A	4
B	3
C	1
D	2

28. - E6D12

What is inductor saturation?

Select	Answer
A	Adjacent inductors become over-coupled
B	The inductor's voltage rating is exceeded causing a flashover
C	The inductor windings are over-coupled
D	The ability of the inductor's core to store magnetic energy has been exceeded

29. - E6E03

Which of the following materials is likely to provide the highest frequency of operation when used in MMICs?

Select	Answer
A	Gallium nitride
B	Silicon nitride
C	Silicon dioxide
D	Silicon

30. - E6F01

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

Select	Answer
A	Holes
B	Electrons
C	Protons
D	Photons

31. - E7A05

Which of the following is a circuit that continuously alternates between two states without an external clock?

Select	Answer
A	T flip-flop
B	Monostable multivibrator
C	Astable multivibrator
D	J-K flip-flop

32. - E7B13

Which of the following describes an emitter follower (or common collector) amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	A two-transistor amplifier with the emitters sharing a common bias resistor
B	An amplifier with a low impedance output that follows the base input voltage
C	A differential amplifier with both inputs fed to the emitter of the input transistor
D	An OR circuit with only one emitter used for output

33. - E7C06

What are the distinguishing features of an elliptical filter?

Select	Answer
A	Gradual passband rolloff with minimal stop band ripple
B	Extremely sharp cutoff with one or more notches in the stop band
C	Gradual passband rolloff with extreme stop band ripple
D	Extremely flat response over its pass band with gradually rounded stop band corners

34. - E7D06

What is the purpose of Q1 in the circuit shown in Figure E7-2?

Select	Answer
A	It controls the current supplied to the load
B	It provides negative feedback to improve regulation
C	It provides D1 with current
D	It provides a constant load for the voltage source

35. - 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	For compatibility with transmitters using phase modulation
D	To reduce impulse noise reception

36. - E7F09

Why is an anti-aliasing digital filter required in a digital decimator?

Select	Answer
A	It peaks the response of the decimator, improving bandwidth
B	It notches out the sampling frequency to avoid sampling errors
C	It removes high-frequency signal components that would otherwise be reproduced as lower frequency components
D	It removes low-frequency signal components to eliminate the need for DC restoration

37. - E7G09

What will be the output voltage of the circuit shown in Figure E7-3 if R1 is 1000 ohms, RF is 10,000 ohms, and 0.23 volts DC is applied to the input?

Select	Answer
A	2.3 volts
B	-2.3 volts
C	-0.23 volts
D	0.23 volts

38. - E7H04

How is positive feedback supplied in a Colpitts oscillator?

Select	Answer
A	Through a neutralizing capacitor
B	Through a capacitive divider
C	Through a tapped coil
D	Through link coupling

39. - E8A03

What type of wave does a Fourier analysis show to be made up of sine waves of a given fundamental frequency plus all its harmonics?

Select	Answer
A	A sine wave
B	A square wave
C	A cosine wave
D	A sawtooth wave

40. - E8B10

What is frequency division multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	The transmitted signal is divided into packets of information
B	The transmitted signal jumps from band to band at a predetermined rate
C	Two or more information streams are merged into a digital combiner, which then pulse position modulates the transmitter
D	Two or more information streams are merged into a baseband, which then modulates the transmitter

41. - E8C05

What is the approximate bandwidth of a 13-WPM International Morse Code transmission?

Select	Answer
A	13 Hz
B	26 Hz
C	52 Hz
D	104 Hz

42. - E8D10

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

Select	Answer
A	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
B	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
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

43. - E9A07

What is the effective isotropic 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	252 watts
B	63.2 watts
C	632 watts
D	159 watts

44. - E9B05

What type of antenna pattern is shown in Figure E9-2?

Select	Answer
A	Elevation
B	Polarization
C	Radiation resistance
D	Azimuth

45. - E9C12

Which of the following describes an Extended Double Zepp antenna?

Select	Answer
A	An end-fed folded dipole antenna
B	A wideband vertical antenna constructed from precisely tapered aluminum tubing
C	A portable antenna erected using two push support poles
D	A center-fed 1.25-wavelength antenna (two 5/8-wave elements in phase)

46. - E9D01

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

Select	Answer
A	4 dB
B	6 dB
C	3 dB
D	2 dB

47. - E9E07

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

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

48. - E9F03

Why is the physical length of a coaxial cable transmission line shorter than its electrical length?

Select	Answer
A	Electrical signals move more slowly in a coaxial cable than in air
B	Skin effect is less pronounced in the coaxial cable
C	The characteristic impedance is higher in a parallel feed line
D	The surge impedance is higher in a parallel feed line

49. - E9G10

What do the arcs on a Smith chart represent?

Select	Answer
A	Points with constant reactance
B	Points with constant resistance
C	SWR
D	Frequency

50. - E9H08

What is the function of a sense antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It increases the sensitivity of a DF antenna array
B	It modifies the pattern of a DF antenna array to provide a null in one direction
C	It allows DF antennas to receive signals at different vertical angles
D	It provides diversity reception that cancels multipath signals

Figure E6-3

Figure E7-2

Figure E7-3

Figure E9-2