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

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1. - E0A02

When evaluating RF exposure levels from your station at a neighbor's home, what must you do?

Select	Answer
A	Ensure signals from your station are less than the uncontrolled Maximum Permitted Emission (MPE) limits
B	Ensure signals from your station are less than the uncontrolled Maximum Permitted Exposure (MPE) limits
C	Ensure signals from your station are less than the controlled Maximum Permitted Emission (MPE) limits
D	Ensure signals from your station are less than the controlled Maximum Permitted Exposure (MPE) limits

2. - E1A05

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

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

3. - E1B02

Which of the following is an acceptable bandwidth for Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) based voice or SSTV digital transmissions made on the HF amateur bands?

Select	Answer
A	15 kHz
B	3 kHz
C	20 kHz
D	10 kHz

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. - 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 designated by NASA
B	Any amateur station so designated by the space station licensee
C	Any amateur station so designated by the ITU
D	All these choices are correct

6. - E1E12

What must the VE team do with the application form if the examinee does not pass the exam?

Select	Answer
A	Destroy the application form
B	Maintain the application form with the VEC's records
C	Return the application document to the examinee
D	Send the application form to the FCC and inform the FCC of the grade

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 exhibit a gain of 0 dB or less over its full output range
B	It must be capable of external RF switching between its input and output networks
C	It must satisfy the FCC's spurious emission standards when operated at the lesser of 1500 watts or its full output power
D	It must produce full legal output when driven by not more than 5 watts of mean RF input power

8. - E2A03

How is the signal inverted by an inverting linear transponder?

Select	Answer
A	The signal is passed through a non-linear filter
B	The signal is detected and remodulated on the reverse sideband
C	The signal is passed through a mixer and the difference rather than the sum is transmitted
D	The signal is reduced to I and Q components and the Q component is filtered out

9. - E2B06

What is vestigial sideband modulation?

Select	Answer
A	A type of modulation in which one sideband is inverted
B	Spread spectrum modulation achieved by applying FM modulation following single sideband amplitude modulation
C	Amplitude modulation in which one complete sideband and a portion of the other are transmitted
D	Narrow-band FM modulation achieved by filtering one sideband from the audio before frequency modulating the carrier

10. - E2C06

During a VHF/UHF contest, in which band segment would you expect to find the highest level of SSB or CW activity?

Select	Answer
A	At the top of each band, usually in a segment reserved for contests
B	In the weak signal segment of the band, with most of the activity near the calling frequency
C	In the middle of the band, usually 25 kHz above the national calling frequency
D	In the middle of each band, usually on the national calling frequency

11. - E2D07

What digital protocol is used by APRS?

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

12. - E2E10

Which of these digital modes has the narrowest bandwidth?

Select	Answer
A	300-baud packet
B	MFSK16
C	170 Hz shift, 45-baud RTTY
D	PSK31

13. - E3A04

What do Hepburn maps predict?

Select	Answer
A	Sporadic E propagation
B	Locations of auroral reflecting zones
C	Probability of tropospheric propagation
D	Likelihood of rain scatter along cold or warm fronts

14. - E3B04

What is meant by the terms "extraordinary" and "ordinary" waves?

Select	Answer
A	Independent waves created in the ionosphere that are elliptically polarized
B	Extraordinary waves describe rare long-skip propagation compared to ordinary waves, which travel shorter distances
C	Refracted rays and reflected waves
D	Long-path and short-path waves

15. - E3C07

Which of the following descriptors indicates the greatest solar flare intensity?

Select	Answer
A	Class X
B	Class B
C	Class A
D	Class M

16. - E4A06

What is the effect of aliasing on a digital oscilloscope caused by setting the time base too slow?

Select	Answer
A	All signals will have a DC offset
B	Excessive blanking occurs, which prevents display of the signal
C	Calibration of the vertical scale is no longer valid
D	A false, jittery low-frequency version of the signal is displayed

17. - E4B08

Which of the following can be used to measure the Q of a series-tuned circuit?

Select	Answer
A	The resonant frequency of the circuit
B	The frequency shift
C	The inductance to capacitance ratio
D	The bandwidth of the circuit's frequency response

18. - E4C15

What is reciprocal mixing?

Select	Answer
A	In-phase signals cancelling in a mixer resulting in loss of receiver sensitivity
B	Two digital signals combining from alternate time slots
C	Local oscillator phase noise mixing with adjacent strong signals to create interference to desired signals
D	Two out-of-band signals mixing to generate an in-band spurious signal

19. - E4D12

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

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

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	Tying all ground connections to a common point resulting in differential-mode currents in the shield
C	Common-mode currents on the shield and conductors
D	Use of braided shielding material

21. - E5A14

What is the resonant frequency of an RLC circuit if R is 22 ohms, L is 50 microhenries and C is 40 picofarads?

Select	Answer
A	22.36 MHz
B	1.78 MHz
C	44.72 MHz
D	3.56 MHz

22. - E5B05

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

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

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 7
B	Point 8
C	Point 3
D	Point 1

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	0.707
B	0.5
C	1.0
D	0.866

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. - E6B04

What type of semiconductor device is designed for use as a voltage-controlled capacitor?

Select	Answer
A	Silicon-controlled rectifier
B	Varactor diode
C	Tunnel diode
D	Zener diode

27. - E6C02

What happens when the level of a comparator's input signal crosses the threshold?

Select	Answer
A	The comparator enters latch-up
B	The feedback loop becomes unstable
C	The comparator changes its output state
D	The IC input can be damaged

28. - E6D02

What is the equivalent circuit of a quartz crystal?

Select	Answer
A	Motional inductance and loss resistance in series, paralleled with motional capacitance and a capacitor representing electrode and stray capacitance
B	Motional capacitance, motional inductance, and loss resistance in series, all in parallel with a shunt capacitor representing electrode and stray capacitance
C	Motional capacitance, motional inductance, loss resistance, and a capacitor representing electrode and stray capacitance all in parallel
D	Motional capacitance, motional inductance, loss resistance, and a capacitor representing electrode and stray capacitance all in series

29. - E6E12

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

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

30. - E6F01

What absorbs the energy from light falling on a photovoltaic cell?

Select	Answer
A	Holes
B	Protons
C	Electrons
D	Photons

31. - E7A08

What logical operation does an OR gate perform?

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

32. - E7B12

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

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

33. - E7C06

What are the distinguishing features of an elliptical filter?

Select	Answer
A	Extremely flat response over its pass band with gradually rounded stop band corners
B	Extremely sharp cutoff with one or more notches in the stop band
C	Gradual passband rolloff with minimal stop band ripple
D	Gradual passband rolloff with extreme stop band ripple

34. - E7D01

How does a linear electronic voltage regulator work?

Select	Answer
A	The control element duty cycle is proportional to the line or load conditions
B	It eliminates the need for a pass transistor
C	It has a ramp voltage as its output
D	The conduction of a control element is varied to maintain a constant output voltage

35. - E7E10

How does a diode envelope detector function?

Select	Answer
A	By rectification and filtering of RF signals
B	By sensing the change of reactance in the diode with respect to frequency
C	By breakdown of the Zener voltage
D	By mixing signals with noise in the transition region of the diode

36. - E7F01

What is meant by direct digital conversion as applied to software defined radios?

Select	Answer
A	A switching mixer is used to generate I and Q signals directly from the RF input
B	Software is converted from source code to object code during operation of the receiver
C	Incoming RF is digitized by an analog-to-digital converter without being mixed with a local oscillator signal
D	Incoming RF is converted to a control voltage for a voltage controlled oscillator

37. - E7G01

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

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

38. - E7H08

Which of the following components can be used to reduce thermal drift in crystal oscillators?

Select	Answer
A	NP0 capacitors
B	Wirewound resistors
C	Non-inductive resistors
D	Toroidal inductors

39. - E8A09

How many different input levels can be encoded by an analog-to-digital converter with 8-bit resolution?

Select	Answer
A	256
B	8 multiplied by the gain of the input amplifier
C	256 divided by the gain of the input amplifier
D	8

40. - E8B10

What is frequency division multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	Two or more information streams are merged into a baseband, which then modulates the transmitter
B	Two or more information streams are merged into a digital combiner, which then pulse position modulates the transmitter
C	The transmitted signal is divided into packets of information
D	The transmitted signal jumps from band to band at a predetermined rate

41. - E8C02

What is the definition of symbol rate in a digital transmission?

Select	Answer
A	The number of control characters in a message packet
B	The duration of each bit in a message sent over the air
C	The number of characters carried per second by the station-to-station link
D	The rate at which the waveform changes to convey information

42. - E8D05

What is the most common method of reducing key clicks?

Select	Answer
A	Reduce keying waveform rise and fall times
B	Low-pass filters at the transmitter output
C	Increase keying waveform rise and fall times
D	High-pass filters at the transmitter output

43. - E9A10

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

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

44. - E9B11

What is a disadvantage of decreasing the number of wire segments in an antenna model below 10 segments per half-wavelength?

Select	Answer
A	The antenna will become mechanically unstable
B	Ground conductivity will not be accurately modeled
C	The resulting design will favor radiation of harmonic energy
D	The computed feed point impedance may be incorrect

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 horizontal beamwidth decreases in the downhill direction
B	The main lobe takeoff angle increases in the downhill direction
C	The main lobe takeoff angle decreases in the downhill direction
D	The horizontal beamwidth increases in the uphill direction

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	At a voltage node
C	Near the center of the vertical radiator
D	As low as possible on the vertical radiator

47. - E9E01

What system matches a higher-impedance transmission line to a lower-impedance antenna by connecting the line to the driven element in two places spaced a fraction of a wavelength each side of element center?

Select	Answer
A	The gamma matching system
B	The delta matching system
C	The stub matching system
D	The omega matching system

48. - E9F01

What is the velocity factor of a transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	The velocity of the wave in the transmission line multiplied by the velocity of light in a vacuum
B	The ratio of the characteristic impedance of the line to the terminating impedance
C	The index of shielding for coaxial cable
D	The velocity of the wave in the transmission line divided by the velocity of light in a vacuum

49. - E9G10

What do the arcs on a Smith chart represent?

Select	Answer
A	SWR
B	Frequency
C	Points with constant resistance
D	Points with constant reactance

50. - E9H07

Why is RF attenuation used when direction-finding?

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

Figure E5-1

Figure E7-1