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

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1. - E0A05

What is one of the potential hazards of operating in the amateur radio microwave bands?

Select	Answer
A	The extremely high frequency energy can damage the joints of antenna structures
B	Microwaves often travel long distances by ionospheric reflection
C	The high gain antennas commonly used can result in high exposure levels
D	Microwaves are ionizing radiation

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

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

4. - E1C13

What notifications must be given before transmitting on the 630 meter or 2200 meter bands?

Select	Answer
A	Operators must inform the Utilities Technology Council (UTC) of their call sign and coordinates of the station
B	Operators must inform the FAA of their intent to operate, giving their call sign and distance to the nearest runway
C	An environmental impact statement must be filed with the Department of the Interior
D	A special endorsement must be requested from the FCC

5. - E1D05

What must be posted at the station location of a station being operated by telecommand on or within 50 km of the earth's surface?

Select	Answer
A	A photocopy of the station license
B	All these choices are correct
C	A label with the name, address, and telephone number of the station licensee
D	A label with the name, address, and telephone number of the control operator

6. - E1E10

What must the administering VEs do after the administration of a successful examination for an amateur operator license?

Select	Answer
A	They must collect and send the documents to the NCVEC for grading
B	They must submit the application document to the coordinating VEC according to the coordinating VEC instructions
C	They must collect and send the documents to the FCC according to instructions
D	They must collect and submit the documents to the coordinating VEC for grading

7. - E1F09

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

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

8. - E2A02

Which of the following occurs when a satellite is using an inverting linear transponder?

Select	Answer
A	Upper sideband on the uplink becomes lower sideband on the downlink, and vice versa
B	Signal position in the band is reversed
C	All these choices are correct
D	Doppler shift is reduced because the uplink and downlink shifts are in opposite directions

9. - E2B12

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

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

10. - E2C02

Which of the following best describes the term self-spotting? in connection with HF contest operating?

Select	Answer
A	The often-prohibited practice of posting one's own call sign and frequency on a spotting network
B	A manual technique for rapidly zero beating or tuning to a station's frequency before calling that station
C	The acceptable practice of manually posting the call signs of stations on a spotting network
D	An automatic method for rapidly zero beating or tuning to a station's frequency before calling that station

11. - E2D11

Which of the following data are used by the APRS network to communicate station location?

Select	Answer
A	Polar coordinates
B	Time and frequency
C	Latitude and longitude
D	Radio direction finding spectrum analysis

12. - E2E07

Which of the following is a possible reason that attempts to initiate contact with a digital station on a clear frequency are unsuccessful?

Select	Answer
A	Your transmit frequency is incorrect
B	The protocol version you are using is not supported by the digital station
C	Another station you are unable to hear is using the frequency
D	All these choices are correct

13. - E3A06

What might help to restore contact when DX signals become too weak to copy across an entire HF band a few hours after sunset?

Select	Answer
A	Wait 24 hours before attempting another communication on the band
B	Wait 90 minutes or so for the signal degradation to pass
C	Switch to a lower frequency HF band
D	Switch to a higher frequency HF band

14. - E3B12

What is the primary characteristic of chordal hop propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Successive ionospheric refractions without an intermediate reflection from the ground
B	Propagation across the geomagnetic equator
C	Propagation away from the great circle bearing between stations
D	Signals reflected back toward the transmitting station

15. - E3C12

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

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

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

18. - E4C14

What transmit frequency might generate an image response signal in a receiver tuned to 14.300 MHz and that uses a 455 kHz IF frequency?

Select	Answer
A	13.845 MHz
B	15.210 MHz
C	14.755 MHz
D	14.445 MHz

19. - E4D01

What is meant by the blocking dynamic range of a receiver?

Select	Answer
A	The minimum difference in dB between the levels of two FM signals that will cause one signal to block the other
B	The minimum difference in dB between two signals which produce third-order intermodulation products greater than the noise floor
C	The difference in dB between the noise floor and the third-order intercept point
D	The difference in dB between the noise floor and the level of an incoming signal that will cause 1 dB of gain compression

20. - E4E07

Which of the following can cause shielded cables to radiate or receive interference?

Select	Answer
A	Low inductance ground connections at both ends of the shield
B	Use of braided shielding material
C	Tying all ground connections to a common point resulting in differential-mode currents in the shield
D	Common-mode currents on the shield and conductors

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	47.3 kHz
B	315.6 Hz
C	23.67 kHz
D	157.8 Hz

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 in phase
C	Voltage leads current by 90 degrees
D	Voltage and current are 180 degrees out of phase

23. - E5C10

Which point on Figure E5-1 best represents the impedance of a series circuit consisting of a 400-ohm resistor and a 38-picofarad capacitor at 14 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	Point 2
B	Point 6
C	Point 4
D	Point 5

24. - E5D07

How many watts are consumed in a circuit having a power factor of 0.71 if the apparent power is 500VA?

Select	Answer
A	1.42 mW
B	355 W
C	252 W
D	704 W

25. - E6A07

Which of the following indicates that a silicon NPN junction transistor is biased on?

Select	Answer
A	Base-to-emitter voltage of approximately 6 to 7 volts
B	Base-to-emitter voltage of approximately 0.6 to 0.7 volts
C	Base-to-emitter resistance of approximately 0.6 to 0.7 ohms
D	Base-to-emitter resistance of approximately 6 to 7 ohms

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. - E6C07

What best describes a pull-up or pull-down resistor?

Select	Answer
A	A resistor connected to an op-amp output that prevents signals from exceeding the power supply voltage
B	A resistor in a keying circuit used to reduce key clicks
C	A resistor connected to the positive or negative supply line used to establish a voltage when an input or output is an open circuit
D	A resistor that ensures that an oscillator frequency does not drift

28. - E6D03

Which of the following is an aspect of the piezoelectric effect?

Select	Answer
A	Generation of electrical energy in the presence of light
B	Mechanical deformation of material by the application of a voltage
C	Mechanical deformation of material by the application of a magnetic field
D	Increased conductivity in the presence of light

29. - E6E03

Which of the following materials is likely to provide the highest frequency of operation when used in MMICs?

Select	Answer
A	Gallium nitride
B	Silicon
C	Silicon dioxide
D	Silicon nitride

30. - E6F10

What is the most common type of photovoltaic cell used for electrical power generation?

Select	Answer
A	Cadmium Sulfide
B	Copper oxide
C	Silicon
D	Selenium

31. - E7A09

What logical operation is performed by an exclusive NOR gate?

Select	Answer
A	It produces logic 0 at its output if only one input is logic 1
B	It produces logic 1 at its output if only one input is logic 1
C	It produces logic 1 at its output only if all inputs are logic 1
D	It produces logic 0 at its output only if all inputs are logic 0

32. - E7B12

What type of amplifier circuit is shown in Figure E7-1?

Select	Answer
A	Common collector
B	Emitter follower
C	Common emitter
D	Common base

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

34. - E7D07

What is the purpose of C2 in the circuit shown in Figure E7-2?

Select	Answer
A	To self-resonate at the hum frequency
B	To provide fixed DC bias for Q1
C	It bypasses rectifier output ripple around D1
D	It is a brute force filter for the output

35. - E7E04

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

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

36. - E7F04

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

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

37. - E7G11

What absolute voltage gain can be expected from the circuit in Figure E7-3 when R1 is 3300 ohms and RF is 47 kilohms?

Select	Answer
A	7
B	28
C	14
D	0.07

38. - E7H14

What is a phase-locked loop circuit?

Select	Answer
A	An electronic servo loop consisting of a ratio detector, reactance modulator, and voltage-controlled oscillator
B	An electronic circuit consisting of a precision push-pull amplifier with a differential input
C	An electronic circuit also known as a monostable multivibrator
D	An electronic servo loop consisting of a phase detector, a low-pass filter, a voltage-controlled oscillator, and a stable reference oscillator

39. - E8A04

What is "dither" with respect to analog-to-digital converters?

Select	Answer
A	An abnormal condition where the converter cannot settle on a value to represent the signal
B	A method of decimation by randomly skipping samples
C	An error caused by irregular quantization step size
D	A small amount of noise added to the input signal to allow more precise representation of a signal over time

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	6000
B	2000
C	3
D	1/3

41. - E8C09

Which digital code allows only one bit to change between sequential code values?

Select	Answer
A	Excess 3 code
B	Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code
C	Binary Coded Decimal Code
D	Gray code

42. - E8D09

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

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

43. - E9A01

What is an isotropic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A spacecraft antenna used to direct signals toward Earth
B	A theoretical, omnidirectional antenna used as a reference for antenna gain
C	A grounded antenna used to measure Earth conductivity
D	A horizontally polarized antenna used to compare Yagi antennas

44. - E9B07

How does the total amount of radiation emitted by a directional gain antenna compare with the total amount of radiation emitted from a theoretical isotropic antenna, assuming each is driven by the same amount of power?

Select	Answer
A	The total amount of radiation from the directional antenna is increased by the gain of the antenna
B	The radiation from the isotropic antenna is 2.15 dB stronger than that from the directional antenna
C	The total amount of radiation from the directional antenna is stronger by its front-to-back ratio
D	They are the same

45. - E9C06

What is the effect of adding a terminating resistor to a rhombic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It decreases the ground loss
B	It reflects the standing waves on the antenna elements back to the transmitter
C	It changes the radiation pattern from bidirectional to unidirectional
D	It changes the radiation pattern from horizontal to vertical polarization

46. - E9D04

Why should an HF mobile antenna loading coil have a high ratio of reactance to resistance?

Select	Answer
A	To minimize losses
B	To lower the radiation angle
C	To minimize the Q
D	To swamp out harmonics

47. - E9E04

What is the purpose of the series capacitor in a gamma-type antenna matching network?

Select	Answer
A	To cancel the inductive reactance of the matching network
B	To provide DC isolation between the feed line and the antenna
C	To transform the antenna impedance to a higher value
D	To provide a rejection notch that prevents the radiation of harmonics

48. - E9F07

How does ladder line compare to small-diameter coaxial cable such as RG-58 at 50 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	Lower velocity factor
B	Smaller reflection coefficient
C	Lower loss
D	Higher SWR

49. - E9G11

How are the wavelength scales on a Smith chart calibrated?

Select	Answer
A	In fractions of transmission line electrical frequency
B	In fractions of transmission line electrical wavelength
C	In fractions of antenna electrical frequency
D	In fractions of antenna electrical wavelength

50. - E9H07

Why is RF attenuation used when direction-finding?

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

Figure E5-1

Figure E7-1

Figure E7-2

Figure E7-3