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

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1. - E0A06

Why are there separate electric (E) and magnetic (H) field MPE limits?

Select	Answer
A	E field and H field radiation intensity peaks can occur at different locations
B	Ground reflections and scattering make the field strength vary with location
C	The body reacts to electromagnetic radiation from both the E and H fields
D	All these choices are correct

2. - E1A09

What action or actions should you take if your digital message forwarding station inadvertently forwards a communication that violates FCC rules?

Select	Answer
A	Notify the originating station that the communication does not comply with FCC rules
B	Discontinue forwarding the communication as soon as you become aware of it
C	Notify the nearest FCC Field Engineers office
D	All these choices are correct

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

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	Operators may not operate until a test signal has been transmitted in coordination with the local power company
B	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
C	Operations may commence immediately, and may continue unless interference is reported by the UTC
D	Operators must not operate until approval is received

5. - E1D04

Which of the following is required in the identification transmissions from a balloon-borne telemetry station?

Select	Answer
A	The station's six-character Maidenhead grid locator
B	The output power of the balloon transmitter
C	Call sign
D	All these choices are correct

6. - E1E11

What must the VE team do if an examinee scores a passing grade on all examination elements needed for an upgrade or new license?

Select	Answer
A	Photocopy all examination documents and forward them to the FCC for processing
B	Issue the examinee the new or upgrade license
C	All these choices are correct
D	Three VEs must certify that the examinee is qualified for the license grant and that they have complied with the administering VE requirements

7. - E1F09

Which of the following conditions apply when transmitting spread spectrum emissions?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	The transmission must not be used to obscure the meaning of any communication
C	A station transmitting SS emission must not cause harmful interference to other stations employing other authorized emissions
D	The transmitting station must be in an area regulated by the FCC or in a country that permits SS emissions

8. - E2A07

Which of the following types of signals can be relayed through a linear transponder?

Select	Answer
A	PSK and packet
B	FM and CW
C	SSB and SSTV
D	All these choices are correct

9. - E2B03

How is an interlaced scanning pattern generated in a fast-scan (NTSC) television system?

Select	Answer
A	By scanning two fields simultaneously
B	By scanning lines from left to right in one field and right to left in the next
C	By scanning odd numbered lines in one field and even numbered lines in the next
D	By scanning each field from bottom to top

10. - E2C04

Which of the following frequencies are sometimes used for amateur radio mesh networks?

Select	Answer
A	Frequencies shared with various unlicensed wireless data services
B	Cable TV channels 41 through 43
C	The 60 meter band channel centered on 5373 kHz
D	HF frequencies where digital communications are permitted

11. - E2D03

Which of the following digital modes is especially useful for EME communications?

Select	Answer
A	JT65
B	PACTOR III
C	Olivia
D	MSK144

12. - E2E11

What is the difference between direct FSK and audio FSK?

Select	Answer
A	Only direct FSK can be decoded by computer
B	Direct FSK can transmit faster baud rates
C	Direct FSK applies the data signal to the transmitter VFO, while AFSK transmits tones via phone
D	Direct FSK occupies less bandwidth

13. - E3A02

What characterizes libration fading of an EME signal?

Select	Answer
A	The returning echo is several hertz lower in frequency than the transmitted signal
B	A gradual loss of signal as the sun rises
C	A slow change in the pitch of the CW signal
D	A fluttery irregular fading

14. - E3B01

What is transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Propagation between a point on the equator and its antipodal point
B	Propagation between points located on the magnetic equator
C	Propagation between two mid-latitude points at approximately the same distance north and south of the magnetic equator
D	Propagation between points at the same latitude

15. - E3C02

What is indicated by a rising A or K index?

Select	Answer
A	An increase in the critical frequency
B	Increasing disruption of the geomagnetic field
C	Decreasing disruption of the geomagnetic field
D	Higher levels of solar UV radiation

16. - E4A04

How is the compensation of an oscilloscope probe typically adjusted?

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

17. - E4B07

What do the subscripts of S parameters represent?

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

18. - E4C02

Which of the following receiver circuits can be effective in eliminating interference from strong out-of-band signals?

Select	Answer
A	A front-end filter or pre-selector
B	A narrow IF filter
C	A notch filter
D	A properly adjusted product detector

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 allow selection of the optimum RF amplifier device
C	To increase rejection of signals outside the desired band
D	To store often-used frequencies

20. - E4E08

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

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

21. - E5A11

What is the half-power bandwidth of a resonant circuit that has a resonant frequency of 7.1 MHz and a Q of 150?

Select	Answer
A	23.67 kHz
B	315.6 Hz
C	157.8 Hz
D	47.3 kHz

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

23. - E5C03

Which of the following represents an inductive reactance in polar coordinates?

Select	Answer
A	A positive phase angle
B	A negative magnitude
C	A positive magnitude
D	A negative phase angle

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	50 watts
C	400 watts
D	80 watts

25. - E6A03

Why does a PN-junction diode not conduct current when reverse biased?

Select	Answer
A	Only P-type semiconductor material can conduct current
B	Holes in P-type material and electrons in the N-type material are separated by the applied voltage, widening the depletion region
C	Only N-type semiconductor material can conduct current
D	Excess holes in P-type material combine with the electrons in N-type material, converting the entire diode into an insulator

26. - E6B05

What characteristic of a PIN diode makes it useful as an RF switch?

Select	Answer
A	Low junction capacitance
B	Extremely high reverse breakdown voltage
C	Reverse bias controls its forward voltage drop
D	Ability to dissipate large amounts of power

27. - E6C01

What is the function of hysteresis in a comparator?

Select	Answer
A	To cause the output to change states continually
B	To allow the comparator to be used with AC input signals
C	To increase the sensitivity
D	To prevent input noise from causing unstable output signals

28. - E6D01

Why should core saturation of an impedance matching transformer be avoided?

Select	Answer
A	Harmonics and distortion could result
B	Magnetic flux would increase with frequency
C	RF susceptance would increase
D	Temporary changes of the core permeability could result

29. - E6E10

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

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

30. - E6F06

Which of these materials is most commonly used to create photoconductive devices?

Select	Answer
A	A crystalline semiconductor
B	A liquid semiconductor
C	An ordinary metal
D	A heavy metal

31. - E7A01

Which circuit is bistable?

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

32. - E7B01

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

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

33. - E7C07

Which describes a Pi-L-network used for matching a vacuum tube final amplifier to a 50-ohm unbalanced output?

Select	Answer
A	A Phase Inverter Load network
B	A network with only three discrete parts
C	A Pi-network with an additional series inductor on the output
D	A matching network in which all components are isolated from ground

34. - E7D08

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

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

35. - E7E04

What is one way a single-sideband phone signal can be generated?

Select	Answer
A	By using a balanced modulator followed by a filter
B	By using a reactance modulator followed by a mixer
C	By driving a product detector with a DSB signal
D	By using a loop modulator followed by a mixer

36. - E7F11

What sets the minimum detectable signal level for a direct-sampling SDR receiver in the absence of atmospheric or thermal noise?

Select	Answer
A	Reference voltage level and sample width in bits
B	Sample clock phase noise
C	Missing codes and jitter
D	Data storage transfer rate

37. - E7G12

What is an operational amplifier?

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

38. - E7H10

What information is contained in the lookup table of a direct digital synthesizer (DDS)?

Select	Answer
A	Amplitude values that represent the desired waveform
B	The phase relationship between a voltage-controlled oscillator and the output waveform
C	The phase relationship between a reference oscillator and the output waveform
D	Frequently used receiver and transmitter frequencies

39. - E8A02

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

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

40. - E8B04

What is the modulation index of an FM-phone signal having a maximum carrier deviation of plus or minus 6 kHz when modulated with a 2 kHz modulating frequency?

Select	Answer
A	1/3
B	6000
C	3
D	2000

41. - E8C11

What is the relationship between symbol rate and baud?

Select	Answer
A	They are the same
B	Baud is only used for RTTY
C	Symbol rate is only used for packet-based modes
D	Baud is twice the symbol rate

42. - E8D05

What is the most common method of reducing key clicks?

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

43. - E9A12

How much gain does an antenna have compared to a 1/2-wavelength dipole when it has 6 dB gain over an isotropic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	2.79 dB
B	3.85 dB
C	8.15 dB
D	6.0 dB

44. - E9B02

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

Select	Answer
A	36 dB
B	24 dB
C	18 dB
D	14 dB

45. - E9C14

How does the performance of a horizontally polarized antenna mounted on the side of a hill compare with the same antenna mounted on flat ground?

Select	Answer
A	The main lobe takeoff angle increases in the downhill direction
B	The horizontal beamwidth increases in the uphill direction
C	The horizontal beamwidth decreases in the downhill direction
D	The main lobe takeoff angle decreases in the downhill direction

46. - E9D02

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

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

47. - E9E08

What is a use for a Wilkinson divider?

Select	Answer
A	It is used to feed high-impedance antennas from a low-impedance source
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 divide power equally between two 50-ohm loads while maintaining 50-ohm input impedance
D	It is used to feed low-impedance loads from a high-impedance source

48. - E9F04

What impedance does a 1/2-wavelength transmission line present to a generator when the line is shorted at the far end?

Select	Answer
A	The same as the output impedance of the generator
B	The same as the characteristic impedance of the line
C	Very high impedance
D	Very low impedance

49. - E9G01

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

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

50. - E9H07

Why is RF attenuation used when direction-finding?

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

Figure E7-2

Figure E9-1