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

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

3. - E1B03

Within what distance must an amateur station protect an FCC monitoring facility from harmful interference?

Select	Answer
A	3 miles
B	1 mile
C	30 miles
D	10 miles

4. - E1C04

What is meant by IARP?

Select	Answer
A	A forecast of intermittent aurora radio propagation
B	An indication of increased antenna reflected power
C	An international amateur radio permit that allows U.S. amateurs to operate in certain countries of the Americas
D	The internal amateur radio practices policy of the FCC

5. - E1D02

Which of the following may transmit special codes intended to obscure the meaning of messages?

Select	Answer
A	Data containing personal information
B	Telecommand signals from a space telecommand station
C	Binary control characters
D	Auxiliary relay links carrying repeater audio

6. - E1E04

Which of the following best describes the Volunteer Examiner accreditation process?

Select	Answer
A	The procedure by which a VEC confirms that the VE applicant meets FCC requirements to serve as an examiner
B	Each General, Advanced and Amateur Extra Class operator is automatically accredited as a VE when the license is granted
C	The amateur operator applying must pass a VE examination administered by the FCC Enforcement Bureau
D	The prospective VE obtains accreditation from the FCC

7. - E1F10

Who may be the control operator of an auxiliary station?

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

8. - E2A03

How is the signal inverted by an inverting linear transponder?

Select	Answer
A	The signal is passed through a non-linear filter
B	The signal is passed through a mixer and the difference rather than the sum is transmitted
C	The signal is reduced to I and Q components and the Q component is filtered out
D	The signal is detected and remodulated on the reverse sideband

9. - E2B11

What is the function of the Vertical Interval Signaling (VIS) code sent as part of an SSTV transmission?

Select	Answer
A	To lock the color burst oscillator in color SSTV images
B	To identify the call sign of the station transmitting
C	To identify the SSTV mode being used
D	To provide vertical synchronization

10. - E2C01

What indicator is required to be used by U.S.-licensed operators when operating a station via remote control and the remote transmitter is located in the U.S.?

Select	Answer
A	/ followed by the ARRL Section of the remote station
B	/R# where # is the district of the remote station
C	/ followed by the USPS two-letter abbreviation for the state in which the remote station is located
D	No additional indicator is required

11. - E2D05

What is one advantage of the JT65 mode?

Select	Answer
A	Easily copied by ear if necessary
B	Uses only a 65 Hz bandwidth
C	The ability to decode signals which have a very low signal-to-noise ratio
D	Permits fast-scan TV transmissions over narrow bandwidth

12. - E2E09

Which of the following HF digital modes uses variable-length coding for bandwidth efficiency?

Select	Answer
A	PACTOR
B	MT63
C	RTTY
D	PSK31

13. - E3A07

Atmospheric ducts capable of propagating microwave signals often form over what geographic feature?

Select	Answer
A	Forests
B	Urban areas
C	Mountain ranges
D	Bodies of water

14. - E3B09

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

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

15. - E3C12

How does the maximum range of ground-wave propagation change when the signal frequency is increased?

Select	Answer
A	It peaks at roughly 14 MHz
B	It increases
C	It stays the same
D	It decreases

16. - E4A04

How is the compensation of an oscilloscope probe typically adjusted?

Select	Answer
A	A DC voltage standard is displayed and the probe is adjusted until the displayed voltage is accurate
B	A square wave is displayed and the probe is adjusted until the horizontal portions of the displayed wave are as nearly flat as possible
C	A high frequency sine wave is displayed and the probe is adjusted for maximum amplitude
D	A frequency standard is displayed and the probe is adjusted until the deflection time is accurate

17. - E4B01

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

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

18. - E4C11

Why can an attenuator be used to reduce receiver overload on the lower frequency HF bands with little or no impact on signal-to-noise ratio?

Select	Answer
A	The attenuator has a low-pass filter to increase the strength of lower frequency signals
B	Signals are attenuated separately from the noise
C	Atmospheric noise is generally greater than internally generated noise even after attenuation
D	The attenuator has a noise filter to suppress interference

19. - E4D08

What causes intermodulation in an electronic circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Positive feedback
B	Lack of neutralization
C	Nonlinear circuits or devices
D	Too little gain

20. - E4E09

What undesirable effect can occur when using an IF noise blanker?

Select	Answer
A	FM signals can no longer be demodulated
B	The audio frequency bandwidth of the received signal might be compressed
C	Nearby signals may appear to be excessively wide even if they meet emission standards
D	Received audio in the speech range might have an echo effect

21. - E5A06

What is the magnitude of the circulating current within the components of a parallel LC circuit at resonance?

Select	Answer
A	It is at a maximum
B	It equals 1 divided by the quantity 2 times pi, multiplied by the square root of inductance L multiplied by capacitance C
C	It is at a minimum
D	It equals 2 multiplied by pi, multiplied by frequency, multiplied by inductance

22. - E5B10

What is the relationship between the AC current through an inductor and the voltage across an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Voltage and current are in phase
B	Voltage leads current by 90 degrees
C	Voltage and current are 180 degrees out of phase
D	Current leads voltage by 90 degrees

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. - E5D04

Why are short connections used at microwave frequencies?

Select	Answer
A	To increase neutralizing resistance
B	To increase compensating capacitance
C	To reduce phase shift along the connection
D	To reduce noise figure

25. - E6A01

In what application is gallium arsenide used as a semiconductor material?

Select	Answer
A	In high-current rectifier circuits
B	In microwave circuits
C	In very low-frequency RF circuits
D	In high-power audio circuits

26. - E6B02

What is an important characteristic of a Schottky diode as compared to an ordinary silicon diode when used as a power supply rectifier?

Select	Answer
A	Less forward voltage drop
B	Longer carrier retention time
C	Much higher reverse voltage breakdown
D	More constant reverse avalanche voltage

27. - E6C11

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

Select	Answer
A	6
B	2
C	4
D	5

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

29. - E6E01

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

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

30. - E6F05

Which describes an optical shaft encoder?

Select	Answer
A	A digital encryption device often used to encrypt spacecraft control signals
B	A device that detects rotation of a control by interrupting a light source with a patterned wheel
C	A device that 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

31. - E7A10

What is a truth table?

Select	Answer
A	A table of logic symbols that indicate the high logic states of an op-amp
B	A list of inputs and corresponding outputs for a digital device
C	A table of logic symbols that indicate the logic states of an op-amp
D	A diagram showing logic states when the digital device output is true

32. - E7B01

For what portion of the signal cycle does each active element in a push-pull Class AB amplifier conduct?

Select	Answer
A	More than 180 degrees but less than 360 degrees
B	Less than 180 degrees
C	The entire cycle
D	Exactly 180 degrees

33. - E7C05

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

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

34. - E7D09

What is the main reason to use a charge controller with a solar power system?

Select	Answer
A	Control of electrolyte levels during battery discharge
B	Matching of day and night charge rates
C	Prevention of battery undercharge
D	Prevention of battery damage due to overcharge

35. - E7E06

Why is de-emphasis commonly used in FM communications receivers?

Select	Answer
A	To reduce impulse noise reception
B	To remove third-order distortion products
C	For higher efficiency
D	For compatibility with transmitters using phase modulation

36. - E7F04

What is a common method of generating an SSB signal using digital signal processing?

Select	Answer
A	Mixing products are converted to voltages and subtracted by adder circuits
B	A frequency synthesizer removes the unwanted sidebands
C	Signals are combined in quadrature phase relationship
D	Varying quartz crystal characteristics emulated in digital form

37. - E7G12

What is an operational amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	An amplifier used to increase the average output of frequency modulated amateur signals to the legal limit
B	A digital audio amplifier whose characteristics are determined by components external to the amplifier
C	A high-gain, direct-coupled differential amplifier with very high input impedance and very low output impedance
D	A RF amplifier used in the UHF and microwave regions

38. - E7H11

What are the major spectral impurity components of direct digital synthesizers?

Select	Answer
A	Digital conversion noise
B	Broadband noise
C	Spurious signals at discrete frequencies
D	Nyquist limit noise

39. - E8A08

Why would a direct or flash conversion analog-to-digital converter be useful for a software defined radio?

Select	Answer
A	Very high speed allows digitizing high frequencies
B	Very low power consumption decreases frequency drift
C	All these choices are correct
D	Immunity to out-of-sequence coding reduces spurious responses

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. - E8C04

What technique minimizes the bandwidth of a PSK31 signal?

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

42. - E8D09

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

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

43. - E9A02

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	286 watts
C	420 watts
D	1977 watts

44. - E9B11

What is a disadvantage of decreasing the number of wire segments in an antenna model below 10 segments per half-wavelength?

Select	Answer
A	Ground conductivity will not be accurately modeled
B	The computed feed point impedance may be incorrect
C	The resulting design will favor radiation of harmonic energy
D	The antenna will become mechanically unstable

45. - E9C05

Which of the following is a type of OCFD antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A remotely tunable dipole antenna using orthogonally controlled frequency diversity
B	A multiband dipole antenna using one-way circular polarization for frequency diversity
C	A dipole fed approximately 1/3 the way from one end with a 4:1 balun to provide multiband operation
D	A folded dipole center-fed with 300-ohm transmission line

46. - E9D07

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

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

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 gamma match
B	The stub match
C	The delta match
D	The epsilon match

48. - E9F09

What is the approximate physical length of a foam polyethylene dielectric coaxial transmission line that is electrically 1/4 wavelength long at 7.2 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	5.2 meters
B	10.4 meters
C	8.3 meters
D	6.9 meters

49. - E9G01

Which of the following can be calculated using a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Antenna radiation pattern
B	Radiation resistance
C	Radio propagation
D	Impedance along transmission lines

50. - E9H09

What is a Pennant antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A stealth antenna built to look like a flagpole
B	A four-element, high-gain vertical array invented by George Pennant
C	A form of rhombic antenna terminated in a variable capacitor to provide frequency diversity
D	A small, vertically oriented receiving antenna consisting of a triangular loop terminated in approximately 900 ohms

Figure E6-3