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

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1. - E0A10

What toxic material may be present in some electronic components such as high voltage capacitors and transformers?

Select	Answer
A	Polymorphic silicon
B	Polyethylene
C	Polychlorinated biphenyls
D	Polytetrafluoroethylene

2. - E1A10

If an amateur station is installed aboard a ship or aircraft, what condition must be met before the station is operated?

Select	Answer
A	The amateur station must have a power supply that is completely independent of the main ship or aircraft power supply
B	The amateur operator must have an FCC Marine or Aircraft endorsement on his or her amateur license
C	Its operation must be approved by the master of the ship or the pilot in command of the aircraft
D	The amateur station operator must agree not to transmit when the main radio of the ship or aircraft is in use

3. - 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 may have to notify the Federal Aviation Administration and register it with the FCC as required by Part 17 of the FCC rules
B	You must file an Environmental Impact Statement with the EPA before construction begins
C	You must obtain a construction permit from the airport zoning authority
D	You must submit engineering drawings to the FAA

4. - E1C07

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

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

5. - E1D03

What is a space telecommand station?

Select	Answer
A	An amateur station located in a satellite or a balloon more than 50 kilometers above the surface of the Earth
B	An amateur station that receives telemetry from a satellite or balloon more than 50 kilometers above the surface of the Earth
C	An amateur station located on the surface of the Earth for communication with other Earth stations by means of Earth satellites
D	An amateur station that transmits communications to initiate, modify or terminate functions of a space station

6. - E1E01

For which types of out-of-pocket expenses do the Part 97 rules state that VEs and VECs may be reimbursed?

Select	Answer
A	Providing amateur operator license examination preparation training materials
B	Preparing, processing, administering, and coordinating an examination for an amateur radio operator license
C	No expenses are authorized for reimbursement
D	Teaching an amateur operator license examination preparation course

7. - E1F08

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

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

8. - E2A05

What do the letters in a satellite's mode designator specify?

Select	Answer
A	The polarization of uplink and downlink signals
B	The uplink and downlink frequency ranges
C	Power limits for uplink and downlink transmissions
D	The location of the ground control station

9. - E2B07

What is the name of the signal component that carries color information in NTSC video?

Select	Answer
A	Chroma
B	Luminance
C	Spectral intensity
D	Hue

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

11. - E2D04

What technology is used to track, in real time, balloons carrying amateur radio transmitters?

Select	Answer
A	APRS
B	Ultrasonics
C	Doppler shift of beacon signals
D	Bandwidth compressed LORAN

12. - E2E03

How is the timing of FT4 contacts organized?

Select	Answer
A	Alternating transmissions at 7.5 second intervals
B	By exchanging ACK/NAK packets
C	It depends on the lunar phase
D	Stations take turns on alternate days

13. - E3A09

Which of the following frequency ranges is most suited for meteor scatter communications?

Select	Answer
A	1.8 MHz - 1.9 MHz
B	10 MHz - 14 MHz
C	28 MHz - 148 MHz
D	220 MHz - 450 MHz

14. - E3B09

At what time of year is sporadic E propagation most likely to occur?

Select	Answer
A	Around the equinoxes, especially the fall equinox
B	Around the equinoxes, especially the spring equinox
C	Around the solstices, especially the summer solstice
D	Around the solstices, especially the winter solstice

15. - E3C08

What does the space weather term G5 mean?

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

16. - E4A05

What is the purpose of the prescaler function on a frequency counter?

Select	Answer
A	It multiplies a higher frequency signal so a low-frequency counter can display the operating frequency
B	It divides a higher frequency signal so a low-frequency counter can display the input frequency
C	It prevents oscillation in a low-frequency counter circuit
D	It amplifies low-level signals for more accurate counting

17. - E4B03

Which S parameter is equivalent to forward gain?

Select	Answer
A	S12
B	S11
C	S22
D	S21

18. - E4C04

What is the noise figure of a receiver?

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

19. - E4D10

What does a third-order intercept level of 40 dBm mean with respect to receiver performance?

Select	Answer
A	A pair of 40 dBm input signals will theoretically generate a third-order intermodulation product that has the same output amplitude as either of the input signals
B	The receiver can tolerate signals up to 40 dB above the noise floor without producing third-order intermodulation products
C	A pair of 1 mW input signals will produce a third-order intermodulation product that is 40 dB stronger than the input signal
D	Signals less than 40 dBm will not generate audible third-order intermodulation products

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	Differential-mode current
D	Return current

21. - E5A02

What is resonance in an LC or RLC circuit?

Select	Answer
A	The frequency at which the capacitive reactance equals the inductive reactance
B	The lowest frequency that will pass current
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 term for the gain of a field effect transistor
B	The turns ratio of a transformer
C	The inverse of impedance
D	The inverse of Q factor

23. - E5C05

What is the name of the diagram used to show the phase relationship between impedances at a given frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Phasor diagram
B	Venn diagram
C	Far field diagram
D	Near field diagram

24. - E5D02

Why is it important to keep lead lengths short for components used in circuits for VHF and above?

Select	Answer
A	To maintain component lifetime
B	To increase the thermal time constant
C	All these choices are correct
D	To avoid unwanted inductive reactance

25. - E6A10

In Figure E6-1, what is the schematic symbol for an N-channel dual-gate MOSFET?

Select	Answer
A	2
B	6
C	4
D	5

26. - E6B08

Which of the following is a Schottky barrier diode?

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

27. - E6C05

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

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

28. - E6D10

What is a primary advantage of using a toroidal core instead of a solenoidal core in an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Toroidal cores make it easier to couple the magnetic energy into other components
B	Toroidal cores have lower Q characteristics
C	Toroidal cores confine most of the magnetic field within the core material
D	Toroidal cores exhibit greater hysteresis

29. - E6E10

What advantage does surface-mount technology offer at RF compared to using through-hole components?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	Shorter circuit-board traces
C	Smaller circuit area
D	Components have less parasitic inductance and capacitance

30. - E6F07

What is a solid-state relay?

Select	Answer
A	A relay using transistors to drive the relay coil
B	A mechanical relay that latches in the on or off state each time it is pulsed
C	A device that uses semiconductors to implement the functions of an electromechanical relay
D	A semiconductor passive delay line

31. - E7A01

Which circuit is bistable?

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

32. - E7B16

What is the effect of intermodulation products in a linear power amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	Low efficiency
B	All these choices are correct
C	Creation of parasitic oscillations
D	Transmission of spurious signals

33. - E7C06

What are the distinguishing features of an elliptical filter?

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

34. - E7D08

What type of circuit is shown in Figure E7-2?

Select	Answer
A	Monostable multivibrator
B	Linear voltage regulator
C	Switching voltage regulator
D	Grounded emitter amplifier

35. - E7E10

How does a diode envelope detector function?

Select	Answer
A	By sensing the change of reactance in the diode with respect to frequency
B	By rectification and filtering of RF signals
C	By mixing signals with noise in the transition region of the diode
D	By breakdown of the Zener voltage

36. - E7F02

What kind of digital signal processing audio filter is used to remove unwanted noise from a received SSB signal?

Select	Answer
A	A crystal-lattice filter
B	A Hilbert-transform filter
C	A phase-inverting filter
D	An adaptive filter

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	0.23 volts
C	-2.3 volts
D	2.3 volts

38. - E7H04

How is positive feedback supplied in a Colpitts oscillator?

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

39. - E8A11

Which of the following is a measure of the quality of an analog-to-digital converter?

Select	Answer
A	Peak envelope power
B	Reciprocal mixing
C	Total harmonic distortion
D	Power factor

40. - E8B06

What is the deviation ratio of an FM-phone signal having a maximum frequency swing of plus or minus 7.5 kHz when the maximum modulation frequency is 3.5 kHz?

Select	Answer
A	0.214
B	2.14
C	47
D	0.47

41. - E8C10

How may data rate be increased without increasing bandwidth?

Select	Answer
A	Using forward error correction
B	Using a more efficient digital code
C	Increasing analog-to-digital conversion resolution
D	It is impossible

42. - E8D09

What is considered an acceptable maximum IMD level for an idling PSK signal?

Select	Answer
A	-30 dB
B	+15 dB
C	+10 dB
D	-20 dB

43. - E9A06

What is the effective radiated power relative to a dipole of a repeater station with 200 watts transmitter power output, 4 dB feed line loss, 3.2 dB duplexer loss, 0.8 dB circulator loss, and 10 dBd antenna gain?

Select	Answer
A	2000 watts
B	126 watts
C	300 watts
D	317 watts

44. - E9B05

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

Select	Answer
A	Radiation resistance
B	Elevation
C	Azimuth
D	Polarization

45. - E9C02

What is the radiation pattern of two 1/4-wavelength vertical antennas spaced 1/4 wavelength apart and fed 90 degrees out of phase?

Select	Answer
A	Cardioid
B	A figure-8 broadside to the axis of the array
C	Omni-directional
D	A figure-8 end-fire along the axis of the array

46. - E9D07

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

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

47. - E9E11

What is the primary purpose of phasing lines when used with an antenna having multiple driven elements?

Select	Answer
A	It ensures that each driven element operates in concert with the others to create the desired antenna pattern
B	It prevents reflected power from traveling back down the feed line and causing harmonic radiation from the transmitter
C	It allows single-band antennas to operate on other bands
D	It creates a low-angle radiation pattern

48. - E9F01

What is the velocity factor of a transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	The velocity of the wave in the transmission line divided by the velocity of light in a vacuum
B	The ratio of the characteristic impedance of the line to the terminating impedance
C	The index of shielding for coaxial cable
D	The velocity of the wave in the transmission line multiplied by the velocity of light in a vacuum

49. - E9G03

Which of the following is often determined using a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Beam headings and radiation patterns
B	Trigonometric functions
C	Impedance and SWR values in transmission lines
D	Satellite azimuth and elevation bearings

50. - E9H07

Why is RF attenuation used when direction-finding?

Select	Answer
A	To increase receiver sensitivity
B	To compensate for isotropic directivity and the antenna effect of feed lines
C	To prevent receiver overload which reduces pattern nulls
D	To narrow the receiver bandwidth

Figure E6-1

Figure E7-2

Figure E7-3

Figure E9-2