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

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1. - E0A08

What does SAR measure?

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

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	14.100 MHz
B	14.349 MHz
C	14.149 MHz
D	14.070 MHz

3. - E1B08

What limitations may the FCC place on an amateur station if its signal causes interference to domestic broadcast reception, assuming that the receivers involved are of good engineering design?

Select	Answer
A	The amateur station must cease operation
B	The amateur station must cease operation on all frequencies above 30 MHz
C	The amateur station must cease operation on all frequencies below 30 MHz
D	The amateur station must avoid transmitting during certain hours on frequencies that cause the interference

4. - E1C05

When may an automatically controlled station originate third party communications?

Select	Answer
A	When agreed upon by the sending or receiving station
B	Never
C	When approved by the National Telecommunication and Information Administration
D	Only when transmitting RTTY or data emissions

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. - E1E05

What is the minimum passing score on all amateur operator license examinations?

Select	Answer
A	Minimum passing score of 77%
B	Minimum passing score of 74%
C	Minimum passing score of 70%
D	Minimum passing score of 80%

7. - E1F02

What privileges are authorized in the U.S. to persons holding an amateur service license granted by the government of Canada?

Select	Answer
A	Full privileges, up to and including those of the Amateur Extra Class license, on the 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter bands
B	All privileges of the Amateur Extra Class license
C	The operating terms and conditions of the Canadian amateur service license, not to exceed U.S. Amateur Extra Class license privileges
D	None, they must obtain a U.S. license

8. - E2A13

Which of the following techniques is normally used by low Earth orbiting digital satellites to relay messages around the world?

Select	Answer
A	Store-and-forward
B	Multi-satellite relaying
C	Digipeating
D	Node hopping

9. - E2B06

What is vestigial sideband modulation?

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

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 weak signal segment of the band, with most of the activity near the calling frequency
C	In the middle of each band, usually on the national calling frequency
D	In the middle of the band, usually 25 kHz above the national calling frequency

11. - E2D06

Which of the following describes a method of establishing EME contacts?

Select	Answer
A	Time synchronous transmissions alternately from each station
B	High-speed CW identification to avoid fading
C	Storing and forwarding digital messages
D	Judging optimum transmission times by monitoring beacons reflected from the moon

12. - E2E01

Which of the following types of modulation is common for data emissions below 30 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	FSK
B	DTMF tones modulating an FM signal
C	Spread spectrum
D	Pulse modulation

13. - E3A10

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

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

14. - E3B04

What is meant by the terms "extraordinary" and "ordinary" waves?

Select	Answer
A	Refracted rays and reflected waves
B	Extraordinary waves describe rare long-skip propagation compared to ordinary waves, which travel shorter distances
C	Independent waves created in the ionosphere that are elliptically polarized
D	Long-path and short-path waves

15. - E3C04

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

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

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	All signals will have a DC offset
C	Calibration of the vertical scale is no longer valid
D	A false, jittery low-frequency version of the signal is displayed

17. - E4B09

What is indicated if the current reading on an RF ammeter placed in series with the antenna feed line of a transmitter increases as the transmitter is tuned to resonance?

Select	Answer
A	The transmitter is not properly neutralized
B	There is possibly a short to ground in the feed line
C	There is more power going into the antenna
D	There is an impedance mismatch between the antenna and feed line

18. - E4C09

Which of the following choices is a good reason for selecting a high frequency for the design of the IF in a superheterodyne HF or VHF communications receiver?

Select	Answer
A	Fewer components in the receiver
B	Easier for front-end circuitry to eliminate image responses
C	Reduced drift
D	Improved receiver noise figure

19. - E4D07

Which of the following reduces the likelihood of receiver desensitization?

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

20. - E4E01

What problem can occur when using an automatic notch filter (ANF) to remove interfering carriers while receiving CW signals?

Select	Answer
A	Received CW signals will appear to be modulated at the DSP clock frequency
B	Removal of the CW signal as well as the interfering carrier
C	Ringing in the DSP filter will completely remove the spaces between the CW characters
D	Any nearby signal passing through the DSP system will overwhelm the desired signal

21. - E5A04

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

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

22. - E5B07

What is the phase angle between the voltage across and the current through a series RLC circuit if XC is 500 ohms, R is 1 kilohm, and XL is 250 ohms?

Select	Answer
A	68.2 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
B	14.0 degrees with the voltage leading the current
C	14.0 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
D	68.2 degrees with the voltage leading the current

23. - E5C02

How are impedances described in polar coordinates?

Select	Answer
A	By phase angle and magnitude
B	By Y and G values
C	By X and R values
D	By real and imaginary parts

24. - E5D03

What is microstrip?

Select	Answer
A	Short lengths of coax mounted on printed circuit boards to minimize time delay between microwave circuits
B	Precision printed circuit conductors above a ground plane that provide constant impedance interconnects at microwave frequencies
C	Miniature coax used for low power applications
D	Lightweight transmission line made of common zip cord

25. - E6A09

What is a depletion-mode FET?

Select	Answer
A	Any FET without a channel
B	An FET that has no current flow between source and drain when no gate voltage is applied
C	Any FET for which holes are the majority carriers
D	An FET that exhibits a current flow between source and drain when no gate voltage is applied

26. - E6B08

Which of the following is a Schottky barrier diode?

Select	Answer
A	Electrolytic rectifier
B	PIN junction
C	Metal-semiconductor junction
D	Thermionic emission diode

27. - E6C11

In Figure E6-3, what is the schematic symbol for the NOT operation (inverter)?

Select	Answer
A	4
B	6
C	5
D	2

28. - E6D08

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

Select	Answer
A	Powdered-iron cores generally require fewer turns to produce a given inductance
B	Powdered-iron cores generally maintain their characteristics at higher currents
C	Powdered-iron cores use smaller diameter wire for the same inductance
D	Powdered-iron cores generally have greater initial permeability

29. - E6E03

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

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

30. - E6F04

What is the photovoltaic effect?

Select	Answer
A	The tendency of a battery to discharge when exposed to light
B	The conversion of electrical energy to mechanical energy
C	The conversion of voltage to current when exposed to light
D	The conversion of light to electrical energy

31. - E7A07

What logical operation does a NAND gate perform?

Select	Answer
A	It produces logic 0 at its output if some but not all inputs are logic 1
B	It produces logic 0 at its output only when all inputs are logic 1
C	It produces logic 1 at its output only when all inputs are logic 1
D	It produces logic 0 at its output only when all inputs are logic 0

32. - E7B14

Why are switching amplifiers more efficient than linear amplifiers?

Select	Answer
A	Switching amplifiers use push-pull circuits
B	The power transistor is at saturation or cutoff most of the time
C	Linear amplifiers have high gain resulting in higher harmonic content
D	Switching amplifiers operate at higher voltages

33. - E7C10

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

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

34. - E7D03

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

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

35. - E7E01

Which of the following can be used to generate FM phone emissions?

Select	Answer
A	A balanced modulator on the oscillator
B	A reactance modulator on the final amplifier
C	A reactance modulator on the oscillator
D	A balanced modulator on the audio amplifier

36. - E7F09

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

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

37. - E7G04

What is meant by the "op-amp input offset voltage"?

Select	Answer
A	The output voltage of the op-amp minus its input voltage
B	The difference between the output voltage of the op-amp and the input voltage required in the immediately following stage
C	The potential between the amplifier input terminals of the op-amp in an open loop condition
D	The differential input voltage needed to bring the open loop output voltage to zero

38. - E7H08

Which of the following components can be used to reduce thermal drift in crystal oscillators?

Select	Answer
A	Toroidal inductors
B	NP0 capacitors
C	Wirewound resistors
D	Non-inductive resistors

39. - E8A02

Which of the following is a type of analog-to-digital conversion?

Select	Answer
A	Phase reversal
B	Harmonic regeneration
C	Successive approximation
D	Level shifting

40. - E8B08

What describes Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing?

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

41. - E8C04

What technique minimizes the bandwidth of a PSK31 signal?

Select	Answer
A	Reed-Solomon character encoding
B	Use of trapezoidal data pulses
C	Use of sinusoidal data pulses
D	Zero-sum character encoding

42. - E8D06

What is the advantage of including parity bits in ASCII characters?

Select	Answer
A	The signal can overpower interfering signals
B	Faster transmission rate
C	Foreign language characters can be sent
D	Some types of errors can be detected

43. - E9A10

Which of the following improves the efficiency of a ground-mounted quarter-wave vertical antenna?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	Installing a radial system
C	Isolating the coax shield from ground
D	Shortening the radiating element

44. - E9B10

What is the principle of a Method of Moments analysis?

Select	Answer
A	A wire is modeled as a series of segments, each having a uniform value of current
B	A wire is modeled as a single sine-wave voltage source
C	A wire is modeled as a single sine-wave current generator
D	A wire is modeled as a series of segments, each having a distinct value of voltage across it

45. - E9C06

What is the effect of adding a terminating resistor to a rhombic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It changes the radiation pattern from bidirectional to unidirectional
B	It decreases the ground loss
C	It reflects the standing waves on the antenna elements back to the transmitter
D	It changes the radiation pattern from horizontal to vertical polarization

46. - E9D04

Why should an HF mobile antenna loading coil have a high ratio of reactance to resistance?

Select	Answer
A	To minimize the Q
B	To swamp out harmonics
C	To minimize losses
D	To lower the radiation angle

47. - E9E06

Which of these feed line impedances would be suitable for constructing a quarter-wave Q-section for matching a 100-ohm loop to 50-ohm feed line?

Select	Answer
A	450 ohms
B	75 ohms
C	62 ohms
D	50 ohms

48. - E9F06

What is the approximate physical length of an air-insulated, parallel conductor transmission line that is electrically 1/2 wavelength long at 14.10 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	7.0 meters
B	10.6 meters
C	8.5 meters
D	13.3 meters

49. - 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	Polar axis
B	Impedance axis
C	Prime axis
D	Reactance axis

50. - 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 plots three headings to the signal source
C	Antenna headings from several different receiving locations are used to locate the signal source
D	A fixed receiving station uses three different antennas to plot the location of the signal source

Figure E6-3

Figure E9-3