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

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1. - E0A07

How may dangerous levels of carbon monoxide from an emergency generator be detected?

Select	Answer
A	Any ordinary smoke detector can be used
B	By the yellowish appearance of the gas
C	Only with a carbon monoxide detector
D	By the odor

2. - E1A05

What is the maximum power output permitted on the 60 meter band?

Select	Answer
A	100 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to the gain of a half-wave dipole
B	50 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to an isotropic radiator
C	100 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to an isotropic radiator
D	50 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to a dipole

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

4. - E1C08

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

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

5. - E1D04

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

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

6. - E1E06

Who is responsible for the proper conduct and necessary supervision during an amateur operator license examination session?

Select	Answer
A	The FCC
B	Each administering VE
C	The VEC coordinating the session
D	The VE session manager

7. - E1F06

Under what circumstances might the FCC issue a Special Temporary Authority (STA) to an amateur station?

Select	Answer
A	To provide temporary operation while awaiting normal licensing
B	To provide additional spectrum for personal use
C	To allow regular operation on Land Mobile channels
D	To provide for experimental amateur communications

8. - E2A05

What do the letters in a satellite's mode designator specify?

Select	Answer
A	Power limits for uplink and downlink transmissions
B	The location of the ground control station
C	The polarization of uplink and downlink signals
D	The uplink and downlink frequency ranges

9. - E2B09

What hardware, other than a receiver with SSB capability and a suitable computer, is needed to decode SSTV using Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM)?

Select	Answer
A	A special IF converter
B	A special notch filter to remove synchronization pulses
C	No other hardware is needed
D	A special front end limiter

10. - E2C04

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

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

11. - E2D08

What type of packet frame is used to transmit APRS beacon data?

Select	Answer
A	Disconnect
B	Unnumbered Information
C	Acknowledgement
D	Connect

12. - E2E01

Which of the following types of modulation is common for data emissions below 30 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	DTMF tones modulating an FM signal
B	FSK
C	Pulse modulation
D	Spread spectrum

13. - E3A12

What is the cause of auroral activity?

Select	Answer
A	An extreme low-pressure area in the polar regions
B	The interaction in the F2 layer between the solar wind and the Van Allen belt
C	The interaction in the E layer of charged particles from the Sun with the Earth's magnetic field
D	Meteor showers concentrated in the extreme northern and southern latitudes

14. - E3B02

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

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

15. - E3C04

What does the value of Bz (B sub Z) represent?

Select	Answer
A	Direction and strength of the interplanetary magnetic field
B	Duration of long-delayed echoes
C	Critical frequency for vertical transmissions
D	Geomagnetic field stability

16. - E4A08

Which of the following measures SWR?

Select	Answer
A	A spectrum analyzer
B	A Q meter
C	An antenna analyzer
D	An ohmmeter

17. - E4B01

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

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

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	Amplifier desensitization
B	Intermodulation
C	Adjacent channel interference
D	Neutralization

20. - E4E04

How can conducted and radiated noise caused by an automobile alternator be suppressed?

Select	Answer
A	By installing a noise suppression resistor and a blocking capacitor in both leads
B	By installing a high-pass filter in series with the radio's power lead and a low-pass filter in parallel with the field lead
C	By connecting the radio's power leads directly to the battery and by installing coaxial capacitors in line with the alternator leads
D	By installing filter capacitors in series with the DC power lead and a blocking capacitor in the field lead

21. - E5A09

How is the Q of an RLC parallel resonant circuit calculated?

Select	Answer
A	Reactance of either the inductance or capacitance multiplied by the resistance
B	Reactance of the inductance multiplied by the reactance of the capacitance
C	Reactance of either the inductance or capacitance divided by the resistance
D	Resistance divided by the reactance of either the inductance or capacitance

22. - E5B02

What letter is commonly used to represent susceptance?

Select	Answer
A	Y
B	B
C	G
D	X

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 8
B	Point 3
C	Point 7
D	Point 1

24. - E5D04

Why are short connections used at microwave frequencies?

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

25. - E6A01

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

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

26. - E6B10

In Figure E6-2, what is the schematic symbol for a light-emitting diode?

Select	Answer
A	6
B	7
C	1
D	5

27. - E6C01

What is the function of hysteresis in a comparator?

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

28. - E6D08

What is one reason for using powdered-iron cores rather than ferrite cores in an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Powdered-iron cores use smaller diameter wire for the same inductance
B	Powdered-iron cores generally maintain their characteristics at higher currents
C	Powdered-iron cores generally require fewer turns to produce a given inductance
D	Powdered-iron cores generally have greater initial permeability

29. - E6E11

What is a characteristic of DIP packaging used for integrated circuits?

Select	Answer
A	A total of two rows of connecting pins placed on opposite sides of the package (Dual In-line Package)
B	Low leakage doubly insulated package
C	Two chips in each package (Dual In Package)
D	Package mounts in a direct inverted position

30. - E6F03

What is the most common configuration of an optoisolator or optocoupler?

Select	Answer
A	A frequency modulated helium-neon laser
B	A lens and a photomultiplier
C	An LED and a phototransistor
D	An amplitude modulated helium-neon laser

31. - E7A08

What logical operation does an OR gate perform?

Select	Answer
A	It only produces logic 0 at its output when all inputs are logic 1
B	It produces logic 1 at its output if all inputs are logic 0
C	It produces logic 1 at its output if any or all inputs are logic 1
D	It produces logic 0 at its output if all inputs are logic 1

32. - E7B06

Which of the following amplifier types reduces even-order harmonics?

Select	Answer
A	Class AB
B	Class C
C	Push-pull
D	Push-push

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

34. - E7D06

What is the purpose of Q1 in the circuit shown in Figure E7-2?

Select	Answer
A	It provides negative feedback to improve regulation
B	It provides D1 with current
C	It provides a constant load for the voltage source
D	It controls the current supplied to the load

35. - E7E11

Which type of detector circuit is used for demodulating SSB signals?

Select	Answer
A	Discriminator
B	Phase comparator
C	Phase detector
D	Product detector

36. - E7F03

What type of digital signal processing filter is used to generate an SSB signal?

Select	Answer
A	An elliptical filter
B	An adaptive filter
C	A Hilbert-transform filter
D	A notch filter

37. - E7G09

What will be the output voltage of the circuit shown in Figure E7-3 if R1 is 1000 ohms, RF is 10,000 ohms, and 0.23 volts DC is applied to the input?

Select	Answer
A	2.3 volts
B	-0.23 volts
C	-2.3 volts
D	0.23 volts

38. - E7H15

Which of these functions can be performed by a phase-locked loop?

Select	Answer
A	Wide-band AF and RF power amplification
B	Comparison of two digital input signals, digital pulse counter
C	Photovoltaic conversion, optical coupling
D	Frequency synthesis, FM demodulation

39. - E8A06

What is the approximate ratio of PEP-to-average power in a typical single-sideband phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	1 to 1
B	25 to 1
C	100 to 1
D	2.5 to 1

40. - E8B02

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

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

41. - E8C12

What factors affect the bandwidth of a transmitted CW signal?

Select	Answer
A	IF bandwidth and Q
B	Modulation index and output power
C	Keying speed and shape factor (rise and fall time)
D	All these choices are correct

42. - E8D08

What parameter evaluates distortion of an AFSK signal caused by excessive input audio levels?

Select	Answer
A	Intermodulation Distortion (IMD)
B	Repeat Request Rate (RRR)
C	Baud rate
D	Signal-to-noise ratio

43. - E9A13

What term describes station output, taking into account all gains and losses?

Select	Answer
A	Half-power bandwidth
B	Apparent power
C	Power factor
D	Effective radiated power

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	18 dB
C	24 dB
D	14 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 broadside to the axis of the array
B	A Figure-8 end-fire along the axis of the array
C	Cardioid
D	Omni-directional

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. - 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 delta match
C	The epsilon match
D	The stub match

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	5.3 meters
B	10.6 meters
C	3.5 meters
D	4.3 meters

49. - E9G02

What type of coordinate system is used in a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Resistance circles and reactance arcs
B	Resistance lines and reactance chords
C	Voltage lines and current chords
D	Voltage circles and current arcs

50. - E9H06

What is the triangulation method of direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	A fixed receiving station plots three headings to the signal source
B	Antenna headings from several different receiving locations are used to locate the signal source
C	The geometric angles of sky waves from the source are used to determine its position
D	A fixed receiving station uses three different antennas to plot the location of the signal source

Figure E5-1

Figure E6-2

Figure E7-2

Figure E7-3

Figure E9-1