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

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1. - E0A07

How may dangerous levels of carbon monoxide from an emergency generator be detected?

Select	Answer
A	By the odor
B	Only with a carbon monoxide detector
C	By the yellowish appearance of the gas
D	Any ordinary smoke detector can be used

2. - E1A06

Where must the carrier frequency of a CW signal be set to comply with FCC rules for 60 meter operation?

Select	Answer
A	At the highest frequency of the channel
B	At the lowest frequency of the channel
C	On any frequency where the signal's sidebands are within the channel
D	At the center frequency of the channel

3. - 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 Historic Places?

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

4. - E1C12

On what portion of the 630 meter band are phone emissions permitted?

Select	Answer
A	The entire band
B	Only the top 3 kHz
C	None
D	Only the bottom 3 kHz

5. - E1D07

Which HF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

Select	Answer
A	Only the 40, 20, 17, 15, and 10 meter bands
B	All HF bands
C	Only the 40, 30, 20, 15, 12, and 10 meter bands
D	Only the 40, 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10 meter bands

6. - E1E12

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

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

7. - E1F10

Who may be the control operator of an auxiliary station?

Select	Answer
A	Only Amateur Extra Class operators
B	Only Technician, General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators
C	Any licensed amateur operator
D	Only General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators

8. - E2A09

What do the terms L band and S band specify regarding satellite communications?

Select	Answer
A	The 2 meter and 70 centimeter bands
B	FM and Digital Store-and-Forward systems
C	The 23 centimeter and 13 centimeter bands
D	Which sideband to use

9. - E2B05

Which of the following describes the use of vestigial sideband in analog fast-scan TV transmissions?

Select	Answer
A	The vestigial sideband contains chroma information
B	Vestigial sideband provides high frequency emphasis to sharpen the picture
C	Vestigial sideband reduces bandwidth while allowing for simple video detector circuitry
D	The vestigial sideband carries the audio information

10. - E2C06

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

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

11. - E2D07

What digital protocol is used by APRS?

Select	Answer
A	AMTOR
B	AX.25
C	802.11
D	PACTOR

12. - E2E07

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

13. - E3A10

Which type of atmospheric structure can create a path for microwave propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Dust devil
B	Temperature inversion
C	The jet stream
D	Wind shear

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	160 meters to 10 meters
D	Only 30 meters to 10 meters

15. - E3C07

Which of the following descriptors indicates the greatest solar flare intensity?

Select	Answer
A	Class B
B	Class A
C	Class X
D	Class M

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	All signals will have a DC offset
D	Calibration of the vertical scale is no longer valid

17. - E4B05

What three test loads are used to calibrate an RF vector network analyzer?

Select	Answer
A	50 ohms through 1/8 wavelength, 1/4 wavelength, and 1/2 wavelength of coaxial cable
B	50 ohms, 75 ohms, and 90 ohms
C	Short circuit, open circuit, and 50 ohms
D	Short circuit, open circuit, and resonant circuit

18. - E4C12

Which of the following has the largest effect on an SDR receiver's dynamic range?

Select	Answer
A	Anti-aliasing input filter bandwidth
B	RAM speed used for data storage
C	Analog-to-digital converter sample width in bits
D	CPU register width in bits

19. - E4D09

What is the purpose of the preselector in a communications receiver?

Select	Answer
A	To increase rejection of signals outside the desired band
B	To provide a range of AGC time constants
C	To allow selection of the optimum RF amplifier device
D	To store often-used frequencies

20. - E4E08

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

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

21. - E5A02

What is resonance in an LC or RLC circuit?

Select	Answer
A	The lowest frequency that will pass current
B	The frequency at which the capacitive reactance equals the inductive reactance
C	The highest frequency that will pass current
D	The frequency at which the reactive impedance equals the resistive impedance

22. - E5B12

What is admittance?

Select	Answer
A	The inverse of Q factor
B	The inverse of impedance
C	The term for the gain of a field effect transistor
D	The turns ratio of a transformer

23. - E5C07

Where is the impedance of a pure resistance plotted on rectangular coordinates?

Select	Answer
A	On the horizontal axis
B	On a line through the origin, slanted at 45 degrees
C	On a horizontal line, offset vertically above the horizontal axis
D	On the vertical axis

24. - 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	80 watts
C	400 watts
D	50 watts

25. - E6A12

Why do many MOSFET devices have internally connected Zener diodes on the gates?

Select	Answer
A	To keep the gate voltage within specifications and prevent the device from overheating
B	To protect the substrate from excessive voltages
C	To reduce the chance of static damage to the gate
D	To provide a voltage reference for the correct amount of reverse-bias gate voltage

26. - E6B11

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

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

27. - E6C05

What is an advantage of CMOS logic devices over TTL devices?

Select	Answer
A	Differential output capability
B	Lower distortion
C	Lower power consumption
D	Immune to damage from static discharge

28. - E6D04

Which materials are commonly used as a core in an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Teflon and Delrin
B	Ferrite and brass
C	Cobalt and aluminum
D	Polystyrene and polyethylene

29. - E6E01

Why is gallium arsenide (GaAs) useful for semiconductor devices operating at UHF and higher frequencies?

Select	Answer
A	Lower transconductance
B	Higher noise figures
C	Lower junction voltage drop
D	Higher electron mobility

30. - E6F05

Which describes an optical shaft encoder?

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

31. - E7A01

Which circuit is bistable?

Select	Answer
A	A flip-flop
B	A bipolar amplifier
C	An OR gate
D	An AND gate

32. - E7B12

What type of amplifier circuit is shown in Figure E7-1?

Select	Answer
A	Common base
B	Common collector
C	Common emitter
D	Emitter follower

33. - E7C10

Which of the following filters would be the best choice for use in a 2 meter band repeater duplexer?

Select	Answer
A	A DSP filter
B	A crystal filter
C	A cavity filter
D	An L-C filter

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

35. - E7E09

What occurs when an excessive amount of signal energy reaches a mixer circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Spurious mixer products are generated
B	Automatic limiting occurs
C	A beat frequency is generated
D	Mixer blanking occurs

36. - E7F10

What aspect of receiver analog-to-digital conversion determines the maximum receive bandwidth of a Direct Digital Conversion SDR?

Select	Answer
A	Sample clock phase noise
B	Sample width in bits
C	Sample rate
D	Processor latency

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	-0.23 volts
B	-2.3 volts
C	0.23 volts
D	2.3 volts

38. - E7H01

What are three oscillator circuits used in amateur radio equipment?

Select	Answer
A	Colpitts, Hartley and Pierce
B	Taft, Pierce and negative feedback
C	Taft, Hartley and Pierce
D	Pierce, Fenner and Beane

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

40. - E8B09

What is deviation ratio?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of the maximum carrier frequency deviation to the highest audio modulating frequency
B	The ratio of the carrier center frequency to the audio modulating frequency
C	The ratio of the highest audio modulating frequency to the average audio modulating frequency
D	The ratio of the audio modulating frequency to the center carrier frequency

41. - E8C12

What factors affect the bandwidth of a transmitted CW signal?

Select	Answer
A	IF bandwidth and Q
B	All these choices are correct
C	Keying speed and shape factor (rise and fall time)
D	Modulation index and output power

42. - E8D05

What is the most common method of reducing key clicks?

Select	Answer
A	Low-pass filters at the transmitter output
B	High-pass filters at the transmitter output
C	Reduce keying waveform rise and fall times
D	Increase keying waveform rise and fall times

43. - E9A01

What is an isotropic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A theoretical, omnidirectional antenna used as a reference for antenna gain
B	A grounded antenna used to measure Earth conductivity
C	A horizontally polarized antenna used to compare Yagi antennas
D	A spacecraft antenna used to direct signals toward Earth

44. - E9B06

What is the elevation angle of peak response in the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-2?

Select	Answer
A	75 degrees
B	7.5 degrees
C	25 degrees
D	45 degrees

45. - E9C08

What is a folded dipole antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A dipole configured to provide forward gain
B	A dipole one-quarter wavelength long
C	A half-wave dipole with an additional parallel wire connecting its two ends
D	A type of ground-plane antenna

46. - E9D02

How can linearly polarized Yagi antennas be used to produce circular polarization?

Select	Answer
A	Stack two Yagis fed in phase to form an array with the respective elements in parallel planes
B	Stack two Yagis fed 90 degrees out of phase to form an array with the respective elements in parallel planes
C	Arrange two Yagis perpendicular to each other with the driven elements at the same point on the boom fed 90 degrees out of phase
D	Arrange two Yagis collinear to each other with the driven elements fed 180 degrees out of phase

47. - E9E02

What is the name of an antenna matching system that matches an unbalanced feed line to an antenna by feeding the driven element both at the center of the element and at a fraction of a wavelength to one side of center?

Select	Answer
A	The epsilon match
B	The stub match
C	The delta match
D	The gamma match

48. - 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	Very low impedance
B	Very high impedance
C	The same as the characteristic impedance of the line
D	The same as the input impedance to the generator

49. - E9G07

On the Smith chart shown in Figure E9-3, what is the only straight line shown?

Select	Answer
A	The current axis
B	The resistance axis
C	The reactance axis
D	The voltage axis

50. - E9H02

Which is generally true for low band (160 meter and 80 meter) receiving antennas?

Select	Answer
A	Atmospheric noise is so high that gain over a dipole is not important
B	All these choices are correct
C	They must be erected at least 1/2 wavelength above the ground to attain good directivity
D	Low loss coax transmission line is essential for good performance

Figure E7-1

Figure E7-3

Figure E9-2

Figure E9-3