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

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

4. - E1C08

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

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

5. - E1D06

What is the maximum permitted transmitter output power when operating a model craft by telecommand?

Select	Answer
A	100 watts
B	2 watts
C	5 watts
D	1 watt

6. - E1E03

What is a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator?

Select	Answer
A	The person who has entered into an agreement with the FCC to be the VE session manager
B	A person who has volunteered to administer amateur operator license examinations
C	A person who has volunteered to prepare amateur operator license examinations
D	An organization that has entered into an agreement with the FCC to coordinate, prepare, and administer amateur operator license examinations

7. - E1F09

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

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

8. - E2A08

Why should effective radiated power to a satellite that uses a linear transponder be limited?

Select	Answer
A	To prevent creating errors in the satellite telemetry
B	To prevent the satellite from emitting out-of-band signals
C	To avoid interfering with terrestrial QSOs
D	To avoid reducing the downlink power to all other users

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 odd numbered lines in one field and even numbered lines in the next
C	By scanning lines from left to right in one field and right to left in the next
D	By scanning each field from bottom to top

10. - E2C12

What technique do individual nodes use to form a mesh network?

Select	Answer
A	Acting as store-and-forward digipeaters
B	Discovery and link establishment protocols
C	Custom code plugs for the local trunking systems
D	Forward error correction and Viterbi codes

11. - E2D10

How can an APRS station be used to help support a public service communications activity?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	APRS stations with General Personnel Scanners can automatically relay the participant numbers and time as they pass the check points
C	An APRS station with a Global Positioning System unit can automatically transmit information to show a mobile station's position during the event
D	An APRS station with an emergency medical technician can automatically transmit medical data to the nearest hospital

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 occupies less bandwidth
D	Direct FSK applies the data signal to the transmitter VFO, while AFSK transmits tones via phone

13. - E3A02

What characterizes libration fading of an EME signal?

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

14. - E3B10

Why is chordal hop propagation desirable?

Select	Answer
A	The signal experiences less loss compared to multi-hop using Earth as a reflector
B	The MUF for chordal hop propagation is much lower than for normal skip propagation
C	Atmospheric noise is lower in the direction of chordal hop propagation
D	Signals travel faster along ionospheric chords

15. - E3C13

What type of polarization is best for ground-wave propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Vertical
B	Horizontal
C	Circular
D	Elliptical

16. - E4A05

What is the purpose of the prescaler function on a frequency counter?

Select	Answer
A	It prevents oscillation in a low-frequency counter circuit
B	It amplifies low-level signals for more accurate counting
C	It divides a higher frequency signal so a low-frequency counter can display the input frequency
D	It multiplies a higher frequency signal so a low-frequency counter can display the operating frequency

17. - E4B05

What three test loads are used to calibrate an RF vector network analyzer?

Select	Answer
A	50 ohms, 75 ohms, and 90 ohms
B	Short circuit, open circuit, and resonant circuit
C	50 ohms through 1/8 wavelength, 1/4 wavelength, and 1/2 wavelength of coaxial cable
D	Short circuit, open circuit, and 50 ohms

18. - E4C07

What does the MDS of a receiver represent?

Select	Answer
A	The multiplex distortion stability
B	The minimum discernible signal
C	The maximum detectable spectrum
D	The meter display sensitivity

19. - E4D08

What causes intermodulation in an electronic circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Positive feedback
B	Too little gain
C	Nonlinear circuits or devices
D	Lack of neutralization

20. - E4E05

How can radio frequency interference from an AC motor be suppressed?

Select	Answer
A	By installing a bypass capacitor in series with the motor leads
B	By installing a high-pass filter in series with the motor's power leads
C	By using a ground-fault current interrupter in the circuit used to power the motor
D	By installing a brute-force AC-line filter in series with the motor leads

21. - E5A13

What is an effect of increasing Q in a series resonant circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Parasitic effects are minimized
B	Fewer components are needed for the same performance
C	Phase shift can become uncontrolled
D	Internal voltages increase

22. - E5B01

What is the term for the time required for the capacitor in an RC circuit to be charged to 63.2% of the applied voltage or to discharge to 36.8% of its initial voltage?

Select	Answer
A	A time factor of one
B	An exponential rate of one
C	One exponential period
D	One time constant

23. - E5C03

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

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

24. - E5D02

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

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

25. - E6A06

What is the beta of a bipolar junction transistor?

Select	Answer
A	The breakdown voltage of the base to collector junction
B	The change in collector current with respect to base current
C	The switching speed
D	The frequency at which the current gain is reduced to 0.707

26. - E6B11

What is used to control the attenuation of RF signals by a PIN diode?

Select	Answer
A	Forward DC bias current
B	Reverse voltage larger than the RF signal
C	A sub-harmonic pump signal
D	Capacitance of an RF coupling capacitor

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. - E6D01

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

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

29. - E6E12

Why are DIP through-hole package ICs not typically used at UHF and higher frequencies?

Select	Answer
A	Excessive lead length
B	Unsuitable for combining analog and digital signals
C	Too many pins
D	Epoxy coating is conductive above 300 MHz

30. - E6F07

What is a solid-state relay?

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

31. - E7A05

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

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

32. - E7B07

Which of the following is a likely result when a Class C amplifier is used to amplify a single-sideband phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	Signal distortion and excessive bandwidth
B	Reduced intermodulation products
C	Signal inversion
D	Increased overall intelligibility

33. - E7C11

Which of the following describes a receiving filter's ability to reject signals occupying an adjacent channel?

Select	Answer
A	Passband ripple
B	Noise factor
C	Phase response
D	Shape factor

34. - E7D02

What is a characteristic of a switching electronic voltage regulator?

Select	Answer
A	It gives a ramp voltage at its output
B	The controlled device's duty cycle is changed to produce a constant average output voltage
C	The resistance of a control element is varied in direct proportion to the line voltage or load current
D	It is generally less efficient than a linear regulator

35. - E7E06

Why is de-emphasis commonly used in FM communications receivers?

Select	Answer
A	For higher efficiency
B	For compatibility with transmitters using phase modulation
C	To reduce impulse noise reception
D	To remove third-order distortion products

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	Missing codes and jitter
C	Sample clock phase noise
D	Data storage transfer rate

37. - E7G01

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

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

38. - E7H09

What type of frequency synthesizer circuit uses a phase accumulator, lookup table, digital to analog converter, and a low-pass anti-alias filter?

Select	Answer
A	A direct digital synthesizer
B	A diode-switching matrix synthesizer
C	A hybrid synthesizer
D	A phase-locked loop synthesizer

39. - E8A10

What is the purpose of a low-pass filter used in conjunction with a digital-to-analog converter?

Select	Answer
A	Improve accuracy by removing out-of-sequence codes from the input
B	Lower the input bandwidth to increase the effective resolution
C	All these choices are correct
D	Remove harmonics from the output caused by the discrete analog levels generated

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 varies with the square root of the RF carrier frequency
C	It decreases as the RF carrier frequency increases
D	It increases as the RF carrier frequency increases

41. - E8C07

What is the bandwidth of a 4800-Hz frequency shift, 9600-baud ASCII FM transmission?

Select	Answer
A	4.8 kHz
B	5.76 kHz
C	15.36 kHz
D	9.6 kHz

42. - E8D07

What is a common cause of overmodulation of AFSK signals?

Select	Answer
A	Excessive numbers of retries
B	Excessive transmit audio levels
C	Ground loops
D	Bit errors in the modem

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. - E9B03

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

Select	Answer
A	12 dB
B	14 dB
C	24 dB
D	18 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 main lobe takeoff angle decreases in the downhill direction
C	The horizontal beamwidth increases in the uphill direction
D	The horizontal beamwidth decreases in the downhill direction

46. - E9D10

What happens to feed-point impedance at the base of a fixed length HF mobile antenna when operated below its resonant frequency?

Select	Answer
A	The radiation resistance increases and the capacitive reactance increases
B	The radiation resistance decreases and the capacitive reactance decreases
C	The radiation resistance decreases and the capacitive reactance increases
D	The radiation resistance increases and the capacitive reactance decreases

47. - E9E08

What is a use for a Wilkinson divider?

Select	Answer
A	It is used to feed low-impedance loads from a high-impedance source
B	It is used to divide power equally between two 50-ohm loads while maintaining 50-ohm input impedance
C	It divides the operating frequency of a transmitter signal so it can be used on a lower frequency band
D	It is used to feed high-impedance antennas from a low-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	10.6 meters
C	5.3 meters
D	3.5 meters

49. - E9G08

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

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

50. - E9H03

What is Receiving Directivity Factor (RDF)?

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

Figure E9-1