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

2. - E1A01

Which of the following carrier frequencies is illegal for LSB AFSK emissions on the 17 meter band RTTY and data segment of 18.068 to 18.110 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	18.107 MHz
B	18.068 MHz
C	18.110 MHz
D	18.100 MHz

3. - E1B10

What frequencies are authorized to an amateur station operating under RACES rules?

Select	Answer
A	Specific segments in the amateur service MF, HF, VHF and UHF bands
B	All amateur service frequencies authorized to the control operator
C	Specific local government channels
D	Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) channels

4. - E1C02

Which of the following types of communications may be transmitted to amateur stations in foreign countries?

Select	Answer
A	Communications incidental to the purpose of the amateur service and remarks of a personal nature
B	Business-related messages for non-profit organizations
C	All these choices are correct
D	Messages intended for users of the maritime satellite service

5. - E1D10

Which amateur stations are eligible to be telecommand stations of space stations (subject to the privileges of the class of operator license held by the control operator of the station)?

Select	Answer
A	Any amateur station so designated by the space station licensee
B	Any amateur station designated by NASA
C	All these choices are correct
D	Any amateur station so designated by the ITU

6. - E1E02

Who does Part 97 task with maintaining the pools of questions for all U.S. amateur license examinations?

Select	Answer
A	The VEs
B	The ARRL
C	The FCC
D	The VECs

7. - E1F07

When may an amateur station send a message to a business?

Select	Answer
A	When neither the amateur nor his or her employer has a pecuniary interest in the communications
B	When the total money involved does not exceed $25
C	When the control operator is employed by the FCC or another government agency
D	When transmitting international third-party communications

8. - E2A13

Which of the following techniques is normally used by low Earth orbiting digital satellites to relay messages around the world?

Select	Answer
A	Node hopping
B	Multi-satellite relaying
C	Digipeating
D	Store-and-forward

9. - E2B03

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

Select	Answer
A	By scanning lines from left to right in one field and right to left in the next
B	By scanning two fields simultaneously
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. - 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 allocate frequencies for DXpeditions
C	To handle the receiving and sending of confirmation cards for a DX station
D	To relay calls to and from a DX station

11. - E2D06

Which of the following describes a method of establishing EME contacts?

Select	Answer
A	High-speed CW identification to avoid fading
B	Time synchronous transmissions alternately from each station
C	Storing and forwarding digital messages
D	Judging optimum transmission times by monitoring beacons reflected from the moon

12. - E2E06

What is the most common data rate used for HF packet?

Select	Answer
A	110 baud
B	48 baud
C	300 baud
D	1200 baud

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	Meteor showers concentrated in the extreme northern and southern latitudes
D	The interaction in the E layer of charged particles from the Sun with the Earth's magnetic field

14. - E3B01

What is transequatorial propagation?

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

15. - E3C14

Why does the radio-path horizon distance exceed the geometric horizon?

Select	Answer
A	E-region skip
B	Due to the Doppler effect
C	Downward bending due to density variations in the atmosphere
D	D-region skip

16. - E4A08

Which of the following measures SWR?

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

17. - E4B01

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

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

18. - E4C10

What is an advantage of having a variety of receiver IF bandwidths from which to select?

Select	Answer
A	Receive bandwidth can be set to match the modulation bandwidth, maximizing signal-to-noise ratio and minimizing interference
B	Multiple frequencies can be received simultaneously if desired
C	Receiver power consumption can be reduced when wider bandwidth is not required
D	The noise figure of the RF amplifier can be adjusted to match the modulation type, thus increasing receiver sensitivity

19. - E4D12

What is the term for the reduction in receiver sensitivity caused by a strong signal near the received frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Quieting
B	Desensitization
C	Squelch gain rollback
D	Cross-modulation interference

20. - E4E04

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

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

21. - E5A03

What is the magnitude of the impedance of a series RLC circuit at resonance?

Select	Answer
A	Approximately equal to circuit resistance
B	Approximately equal to inductive reactance
C	Approximately equal to capacitive reactance
D	High, as compared to the circuit resistance

22. - E5B06

What is susceptance?

Select	Answer
A	The imaginary part of admittance
B	The magnetic impedance of a circuit
C	The ratio of magnetic field to electric field
D	A measure of the efficiency of a transformer

23. - E5C07

Where is the impedance of a pure resistance plotted on rectangular coordinates?

Select	Answer
A	On a line through the origin, slanted at 45 degrees
B	On the horizontal axis
C	On the vertical axis
D	On a horizontal line, offset vertically above the horizontal axis

24. - E5D15

What is the power factor of an RL circuit having a 45-degree phase angle between the voltage and the current?

Select	Answer
A	0.5
B	1.0
C	0.866
D	0.707

25. - E6A06

What is the beta of a bipolar junction transistor?

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

26. - E6B05

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

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

27. - E6C03

What is tri-state logic?

Select	Answer
A	Proprietary logic devices manufactured by Tri-State Devices
B	Logic devices that utilize ternary math
C	Logic devices with 0, 1, and high-impedance output states
D	Low-power logic devices designed to operate at 3 volts

28. - E6D08

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

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

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	Components have less parasitic inductance and capacitance
D	All these choices are correct

30. - E6F11

What is the approximate open-circuit voltage produced by a fully illuminated silicon photovoltaic cell?

Select	Answer
A	1.5 V
B	0.5 V
C	12 V
D	0.1 V

31. - E7A03

Which of the following can divide the frequency of a pulse train by 2?

Select	Answer
A	A multiplexer
B	An XOR gate
C	An OR gate
D	A flip-flop

32. - E7B06

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

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

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

34. - E7D11

What is the function of the pass transistor in a linear voltage regulator circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Permits a wide range of output voltage settings
B	Maintains nearly constant output impedance over a wide range of load current
C	Provides a stable input impedance over a wide range of source voltage
D	Maintains nearly constant output voltage over a wide range of load current

35. - E7E03

What is a frequency discriminator stage in a FM receiver?

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

36. - E7F13

What is the function of taps in a digital signal processing filter?

Select	Answer
A	Provide access for debugging software
B	Select the point at which baseband signals are generated
C	To reduce excess signal pressure levels
D	Provide incremental signal delays for filter algorithms

37. - E7G08

How does the gain of an ideal operational amplifier vary with frequency?

Select	Answer
A	It decreases linearly with increasing frequency
B	It decreases logarithmically with increasing frequency
C	It does not vary with frequency
D	It increases linearly with increasing frequency

38. - E7H03

How is positive feedback supplied in a Hartley oscillator?

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

39. - E8A11

Which of the following is a measure of the quality of an analog-to-digital converter?

Select	Answer
A	Power factor
B	Reciprocal mixing
C	Peak envelope power
D	Total harmonic distortion

40. - E8B07

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

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

41. - E8C06

What is the bandwidth of a 170-hertz shift, 300-baud ASCII transmission?

Select	Answer
A	0.3 kHz
B	0.5 kHz
C	1.0 kHz
D	0.1 Hz

42. - E8D04

What is the primary effect of extremely short rise or fall time on a CW signal?

Select	Answer
A	The generation of RF harmonics
B	The generation of key clicks
C	Limits data speed
D	More difficult to copy

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	3.85 dB
B	6.0 dB
C	2.79 dB
D	8.15 dB

44. - E9B05

What type of antenna pattern is shown in Figure E9-2?

Select	Answer
A	Elevation
B	Azimuth
C	Polarization
D	Radiation resistance

45. - E9C08

What is a folded dipole antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A dipole one-quarter wavelength long
B	A type of ground-plane antenna
C	A dipole configured to provide forward gain
D	A half-wave dipole with an additional parallel wire connecting its two ends

46. - E9D01

How much does the gain of an ideal parabolic dish antenna change when the operating frequency is doubled?

Select	Answer
A	2 dB
B	4 dB
C	6 dB
D	3 dB

47. - E9E03

What is the name of the matching system that uses a section of transmission line connected in parallel with the feed line at or near the feed point?

Select	Answer
A	The gamma match
B	The delta match
C	The omega match
D	The stub match

48. - E9F10

What impedance does a 1/8-wavelength transmission line present to a generator when the line is shorted at the far end?

Select	Answer
A	The same as the characteristic impedance of the line
B	A capacitive reactance
C	An inductive reactance
D	Zero

49. - E9G04

What are the two families of circles and arcs that make up a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Resistance and reactance
B	Voltage and impedance
C	Reactance and voltage
D	Resistance and voltage

50. - E9H03

What is Receiving Directivity Factor (RDF)?

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

Figure E9-2