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

2. - E1A08

If a station in a message forwarding system inadvertently forwards a message that is in violation of FCC rules, who is primarily accountable for the rules violation?

Select	Answer
A	The control operator of the originating station
B	The control operators of all the stations in the system not authenticating the source from which they accept communications
C	The control operators of all the stations in the system
D	The control operator of the packet bulletin board station

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	10 miles
D	30 miles

4. - E1C08

What is the maximum permissible duration of a remotely controlled station's transmissions if its control link malfunctions?

Select	Answer
A	5 minutes
B	10 minutes
C	30 seconds
D	3 minutes

5. - E1D12

Which of the following amateur stations may transmit one-way communications?

Select	Answer
A	A space station, beacon station, or telecommand station
B	A message forwarding station or automatically controlled digital station
C	All these choices are correct
D	A local repeater or linked repeater station

6. - E1E05

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

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

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 be capable of external RF switching between its input and output networks
B	It must satisfy the FCC's spurious emission standards when operated at the lesser of 1500 watts or its full output power
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. - E2A04

What is meant by the term mode? as applied to an amateur radio satellite?

Select	Answer
A	The satellite's uplink and downlink frequency bands
B	The satellite's orientation with respect to the Earth
C	Whether the satellite is in a low earth or geostationary orbit
D	Whether the satellite is in a polar or equatorial orbit

9. - E2B10

What aspect of an analog slow-scan television signal encodes the brightness of the picture?

Select	Answer
A	Sync frequency
B	Tone amplitude
C	Tone frequency
D	Sync amplitude

10. - E2C05

What is the function of a DX QSL Manager?

Select	Answer
A	To run a net to allow many stations to contact a rare DX station
B	To handle the receiving and sending of confirmation cards for a DX station
C	To relay calls to and from a DX station
D	To allocate frequencies for DXpeditions

11. - E2D07

What digital protocol is used by APRS?

Select	Answer
A	AMTOR
B	PACTOR
C	AX.25
D	802.11

12. - E2E11

What is the difference between direct FSK and audio FSK?

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

13. - E3A01

What is the approximate maximum separation measured along the surface of the Earth between two stations communicating by EME?

Select	Answer
A	5000 miles, if the moon is at perigee
B	12,000 miles, if the moon is visible by both stations
C	500 miles, if the moon is at perigee
D	2000 miles, if the moon is at apogee

14. - E3B02

What is the approximate maximum range for signals using transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	2500 miles
B	1000 miles
C	7500 miles
D	5000 miles

15. - E3C10

What does the 304A solar parameter measure?

Select	Answer
A	The solar wind velocity at 304 degrees from the solar equator, correlated to solar activity
B	The solar emission at 304 GHz, correlated to x-ray flare levels
C	The ratio of x-ray flux to radio flux, correlated to sunspot number
D	UV emissions at 304 angstroms, correlated to the solar flux index

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 amplifies low-level signals for more accurate counting
D	It prevents oscillation in a low-frequency counter circuit

17. - E4B01

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

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

18. - E4C04

What is the noise figure of a receiver?

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

19. - E4D06

What is the term for spurious signals generated by the combination of two or more signals in a non-linear device or circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Neutralization
B	Intermodulation
C	Amplifier desensitization
D	Adjacent channel interference

20. - E4E01

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

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

21. - E5A12

What is the half-power bandwidth of a resonant circuit that has a resonant frequency of 3.7 MHz and a Q of 118?

Select	Answer
A	436.6 kHz
B	15.7 kHz
C	31.4 kHz
D	218.3 kHz

22. - E5B05

What happens to the magnitude of a pure reactance when it is converted to a susceptance?

Select	Answer
A	It becomes the reciprocal
B	The sign is reversed
C	It is shifted by 90 degrees
D	It is unchanged

23. - E5C04

What coordinate system is often used to display the resistive, inductive, and/or capacitive reactance components of impedance?

Select	Answer
A	Maidenhead grid
B	Faraday grid
C	Elliptical coordinates
D	Rectangular coordinates

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	400 watts
C	50 watts
D	80 watts

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 provide a voltage reference for the correct amount of reverse-bias gate voltage
C	To protect the substrate from excessive voltages
D	To reduce the chance of static damage to the gate

26. - E6B08

Which of the following is a Schottky barrier diode?

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

27. - E6C09

What is a Programmable Logic Device (PLD)?

Select	Answer
A	A logic circuit that can be modified during use
B	A type of transistor whose gain can be changed by digital logic circuits
C	Programmable equipment used for testing digital logic integrated circuits
D	A programmable collection of logic gates and circuits in a single integrated circuit

28. - E6D04

Which materials are commonly used as a core in an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Teflon and Delrin
B	Cobalt and aluminum
C	Polystyrene and polyethylene
D	Ferrite and brass

29. - E6E05

Which of the following noise figure values is typical of a low-noise UHF preamplifier?

Select	Answer
A	-10 dB
B	-20 dBm
C	2 dB
D	44 dBm

30. - E6F05

Which describes an optical shaft encoder?

Select	Answer
A	A device for generating RTTY signals by means of a rotating light source
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 digital encryption device often used to encrypt spacecraft control signals

31. - E7A05

Which of the following is a circuit that continuously alternates between two states without an external clock?

Select	Answer
A	T flip-flop
B	Astable multivibrator
C	J-K flip-flop
D	Monostable multivibrator

32. - E7B14

Why are switching amplifiers more efficient than linear amplifiers?

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

33. - E7C12

What is one advantage of a Pi-matching network over an L-matching network consisting of a single inductor and a single capacitor?

Select	Answer
A	Pi-networks provide balanced input and output
B	Pi-networks are more stable
C	The Q of Pi-networks can be controlled
D	L-networks cannot perform impedance transformation

34. - E7D09

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

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

35. - E7E03

What is a frequency discriminator stage in a FM receiver?

Select	Answer
A	An automatic band-switching circuit
B	An FM generator circuit
C	A circuit for filtering two closely adjacent signals
D	A circuit for detecting FM signals

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	An adaptive filter
D	A phase-inverting filter

37. - E7G01

What is the typical output impedance of an op-amp?

Select	Answer
A	100 ohms
B	Very high
C	1000 ohms
D	Very low

38. - E7H03

How is positive feedback supplied in a Hartley oscillator?

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

39. - E8A02

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

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

40. - E8B07

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing is a technique used for which type of amateur communication?

Select	Answer
A	Extremely low-power contacts
B	OFDM signals are not allowed on amateur bands
C	EME
D	High-speed digital modes

41. - E8C03

Why should phase-shifting of a PSK signal be done at the zero crossing of the RF signal?

Select	Answer
A	To simplify modulation
B	To minimize bandwidth
C	To improve carrier suppression
D	All these choices are correct

42. - E8D02

What spread spectrum communications technique uses a high-speed binary bit stream to shift the phase of an RF carrier?

Select	Answer
A	Direct sequence
B	Binary phase-shift keying
C	Phase compandored spread spectrum
D	Frequency hopping

43. - E9A10

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

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

44. - E9B04

What is the front-to-back ratio of the radiation pattern shown in Figure E92?

Select	Answer
A	28 dB
B	3 dB
C	15 dB
D	38 dB

45. - E9C01

What is the radiation pattern of two 1/4-wavelength vertical antennas spaced 1/2-wavelength apart and fed 180 degrees out of phase?

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

46. - E9D03

Where should a high Q loading coil be placed to minimize losses in a shortened vertical antenna?

Select	Answer
A	As close to the transmitter as possible
B	Near the center of the vertical radiator
C	As low as possible on the vertical radiator
D	At a voltage node

47. - E9E07

What parameter describes the interactions at the load end of a mismatched transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	Velocity factor
B	Characteristic impedance
C	Dielectric constant
D	Reflection coefficient

48. - E9F03

Why is the physical length of a coaxial cable transmission line shorter than its electrical length?

Select	Answer
A	The characteristic impedance is higher in a parallel feed line
B	Skin effect is less pronounced in the coaxial cable
C	The surge impedance is higher in a parallel feed line
D	Electrical signals move more slowly in a coaxial cable than in air

49. - E9G08

What is the process of normalization with regard to a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Reassigning prime center with regard to the reactance axis
B	Reassigning impedance values with regard to the prime center
C	Reassigning reactance values with regard to the resistance axis
D	Reassigning resistance values with regard to the reactance axis

50. - E9H10

How can the output voltage of a multiple-turn receiving loop antenna be increased?

Select	Answer
A	By increasing the number of turns and/or the area
B	By reducing the permeability of the loop shield
C	By utilizing high impedance wire for the coupling loop
D	By winding adjacent turns in opposing directions