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

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1. - E0A02

When evaluating RF exposure levels from your station at a neighbor's home, what must you do?

Select	Answer
A	Ensure signals from your station are less than the uncontrolled Maximum Permitted Emission (MPE) limits
B	Ensure signals from your station are less than the controlled Maximum Permitted Exposure (MPE) limits
C	Ensure signals from your station are less than the uncontrolled Maximum Permitted Exposure (MPE) limits
D	Ensure signals from your station are less than the controlled Maximum Permitted Emission (MPE) limits

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	On any frequency where the signal's sidebands are within the channel
C	At the center frequency of the channel
D	At the lowest frequency of the channel

3. - E1B03

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

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

4. - E1C14

How long must an operator wait after filing a notification with the Utilities Technology Council (UTC) before operating on the 2200 meter or 630 meter band?

Select	Answer
A	Operations may commence immediately, and may continue unless interference is reported by the UTC
B	Operators must not operate until approval is received
C	Operators may operate after 30 days, providing they have not been told that their station is within 1 km of PLC systems using those frequencies
D	Operators may not operate until a test signal has been transmitted in coordination with the local power company

5. - E1D09

Which UHF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

Select	Answer
A	70 cm and 13 cm
B	33 cm and 13 cm
C	70 cm only
D	70 cm and 33 cm

6. - E1E12

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

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

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

8. - E2A06

What are Keplerian elements?

Select	Answer
A	High-emission heater filaments used in magnetron tubes
B	Parameters that define the orbit of a satellite
C	Encrypting codes used for spread spectrum modulation
D	Phase reversing elements in a Yagi antenna

9. - E2B12

What signals SSTV receiving software to begin a new picture line?

Select	Answer
A	Specific tone frequencies
B	Elapsed time
C	A two-tone signal
D	Specific tone amplitudes

10. - E2C07

What is the Cabrillo format?

Select	Answer
A	A standard for submission of electronic contest logs
B	The most common set of contest rules
C	The rules of order for meetings between contest sponsors
D	A method of exchanging information during a contest QSO

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. - E2E04

What is indicated when one of the ellipses in an FSK crossed-ellipse display suddenly disappears?

Select	Answer
A	The receiver has drifted 5 kHz from the desired receive frequency
B	Selective fading has occurred
C	One of the signal filters is saturated
D	The mark and space signal have been inverted

13. - E3A10

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

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

14. - E3B03

What is the best time of day for transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Noon
B	Late at night
C	Morning
D	Afternoon or early evening

15. - E3C11

What does VOACAP software model?

Select	Answer
A	AC voltage and impedance
B	AC current and impedance
C	VHF radio propagation
D	HF propagation

16. - E4A07

Which of the following is an advantage of using an antenna analyzer compared to an SWR bridge to measure antenna SWR?

Select	Answer
A	Antenna analyzers do not need an external RF source
B	Antenna analyzers display a time-varying representation of the modulation envelope
C	All these choices are correct
D	Antenna analyzers automatically tune your antenna for resonance

17. - E4B07

What do the subscripts of S parameters represent?

Select	Answer
A	Relative quality of the data
B	The relative time between measurements
C	Frequency order of the measurements
D	The port or ports at which measurements are made

18. - E4C01

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

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

19. - E4D09

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

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

20. - E4E03

Which of the following signals might a receiver noise blanker be able to remove from desired signals?

Select	Answer
A	Signals that appear across a wide bandwidth
B	Signals that are constant at all IF levels
C	Signals that have a sharply peaked frequency distribution
D	Signals that appear at one IF but not another

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 equals 2 multiplied by pi, multiplied by frequency, multiplied by inductance
D	It is at a minimum

22. - E5B09

What is the relationship between the AC current through a capacitor and the voltage across a capacitor?

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

23. - E5C12

Which point on Figure E5-1 best represents the impedance of a series circuit consisting of a 300-ohm resistor and a 19-picofarad capacitor at 21.200 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	Point 1
B	Point 3
C	Point 8
D	Point 7

24. - E5D02

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

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

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. - 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	More constant reverse avalanche voltage
B	Less forward voltage drop
C	Longer carrier retention time
D	Much higher reverse voltage breakdown

27. - E6C02

What happens when the level of a comparator's input signal crosses the threshold?

Select	Answer
A	The comparator changes its output state
B	The feedback loop becomes unstable
C	The IC input can be damaged
D	The comparator enters latch-up

28. - E6D07

What is current in the primary winding of a transformer called if no load is attached to the secondary?

Select	Answer
A	Excitation current
B	Stabilizing current
C	Direct current
D	Magnetizing current

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	Components have less parasitic inductance and capacitance
C	Shorter circuit-board traces
D	Smaller circuit area

30. - E6F07

What is a solid-state relay?

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

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 diagram showing logic states when the digital device output is true
D	A table of logic symbols that indicate the logic states of an op-amp

32. - E7B04

Where on the load line of a Class A common emitter amplifier would bias normally be set?

Select	Answer
A	Approximately halfway between saturation and cutoff
B	At a point where the load line intersects the zero bias current curve
C	At a point where the bias resistor equals the load resistor
D	Where the load line intersects the voltage axis

33. - E7C02

Which of the following is a property of a T-network with series capacitors and a parallel shunt inductor?

Select	Answer
A	It is a band-pass filter
B	It is a low-pass filter
C	It is a high-pass filter
D	It is a notch filter

34. - E7D15

What is the purpose of a step-start circuit in a high-voltage power supply?

Select	Answer
A	To compensate for variations of the incoming line voltage
B	To allow for remote control of the power supply
C	To allow the filter capacitors to charge gradually
D	To provide a dual-voltage output for reduced power applications

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 mixing signals with noise in the transition region of the diode
C	By rectification and filtering of RF signals
D	By breakdown of the Zener voltage

36. - E7F13

What is the function of taps in a digital signal processing filter?

Select	Answer
A	Provide access for debugging software
B	Select the point at which baseband signals are generated
C	Provide incremental signal delays for filter algorithms
D	To reduce excess signal pressure levels

37. - E7G06

What is the gain-bandwidth of an operational amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	The frequency at which the open-loop gain of the amplifier equals one
B	The frequency at which the amplifier's offset voltage is zero
C	The gain of the amplifier at a filter's cutoff frequency
D	The maximum frequency for a filter circuit using that type of amplifier

38. - E7H13

Which of the following is a technique for providing highly accurate and stable oscillators needed for microwave transmission and reception?

Select	Answer
A	Use a GPS signal reference
B	All these choices are correct
C	Use a rubidium stabilized reference oscillator
D	Use a temperature-controlled high Q dielectric resonator

39. - E8A01

What is the name of the process that shows that a square wave is made up of a sine wave plus all its odd harmonics?

Select	Answer
A	Differential analysis
B	Vector analysis
C	Numerical analysis
D	Fourier analysis

40. - E8B02

How does the modulation index of a phase-modulated emission vary with RF carrier frequency?

Select	Answer
A	It decreases as the RF carrier frequency increases
B	It increases as the RF carrier frequency increases
C	It does not depend on the RF carrier frequency
D	It varies with the square root of the RF carrier frequency

41. - E8C02

What is the definition of symbol rate in a digital transmission?

Select	Answer
A	The rate at which the waveform changes to convey information
B	The number of characters carried per second by the station-to-station link
C	The number of control characters in a message packet
D	The duration of each bit in a message sent over the air

42. - E8D03

How does the spread spectrum technique of frequency hopping work?

Select	Answer
A	The frequency of the transmitted signal is changed very rapidly according to a pseudorandom sequence also used by the receiving station
B	A binary bit stream is used to shift the phase of an RF carrier very rapidly in a pseudorandom sequence
C	If interference is detected by the receiver it will signal the transmitter to wait until the frequency is clear
D	If interference is detected by the receiver it will signal the transmitter to change frequencies

43. - E9A11

Which of the following factors determines ground losses for a ground-mounted vertical antenna operating in the 3 MHz to 30 MHz range?

Select	Answer
A	Take-off angle
B	Distance from the transmitter
C	The standing wave ratio
D	Soil conductivity

44. - E9B03

In the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-1, what is the front-to-side ratio?

Select	Answer
A	18 dB
B	14 dB
C	24 dB
D	12 dB

45. - E9C03

What is the radiation pattern of two 1/4-wavelength vertical antennas spaced 1/2-wavelength apart and fed in phase?

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

46. - E9D05

What usually occurs if a Yagi antenna is designed solely for maximum forward gain?

Select	Answer
A	The front-to-back ratio increases
B	The front-to-back ratio decreases
C	The SWR is reduced
D	The frequency response is widened over the whole frequency band

47. - E9E08

What is a use for a Wilkinson divider?

Select	Answer
A	It is used to divide power equally between two 50-ohm loads while maintaining 50-ohm input impedance
B	It divides the operating frequency of a transmitter signal so it can be used on a lower frequency band
C	It is used to feed high-impedance antennas from a low-impedance source
D	It is used to feed low-impedance loads from a high-impedance source

48. - E9F05

What is the approximate physical length of a solid polyethylene dielectric coaxial transmission line that is electrically 1/4 wavelength long at 14.1 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	4.3 meters
B	5.3 meters
C	3.5 meters
D	10.6 meters

49. - E9G03

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

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

50. - E9H03

What is Receiving Directivity Factor (RDF)?

Select	Answer
A	Forward gain compared to the gain in the reverse direction
B	Relative directivity compared to a dipole
C	Forward gain compared to average gain over the entire hemisphere
D	Relative directivity compared to isotropic

Figure E5-1

Figure E9-1