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

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

3. - E1B10

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

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

4. - E1C10

What is the permitted mean power of any spurious emission relative to the mean power of the fundamental emission from a station transmitter or external RF amplifier installed after January 1, 2003 and transmitting on a frequency below 30 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	At least 63 dB below
B	At least 53 dB below
C	At least 73 dB below
D	At least 43 dB below

5. - E1D09

Which UHF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

Select	Answer
A	70 cm and 13 cm
B	70 cm only
C	33 cm and 13 cm
D	70 cm and 33 cm

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

7. - E1F10

Who may be the control operator of an auxiliary station?

Select	Answer
A	Any licensed amateur operator
B	Only Amateur Extra Class operators
C	Only Technician, General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators
D	Only General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators

8. - E2A10

What type of satellite appears to stay in one position in the sky?

Select	Answer
A	Geostationary
B	LEO
C	Geomagnetic
D	HEO

9. - E2B01

How many times per second is a new frame transmitted in a fast-scan (NTSC) television system?

Select	Answer
A	90
B	30
C	120
D	60

10. - E2C12

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

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

11. - E2D04

What technology is used to track, in real time, balloons carrying amateur radio transmitters?

Select	Answer
A	Bandwidth compressed LORAN
B	APRS
C	Doppler shift of beacon signals
D	Ultrasonics

12. - E2E06

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

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

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

14. - E3B02

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

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

15. - E3C05

What orientation of Bz (B sub z) increases the likelihood that incoming particles from the sun will cause disturbed conditions?

Select	Answer
A	Eastward
B	Southward
C	Westward
D	Northward

16. - E4A09

Which of the following is good practice when using an oscilloscope probe?

Select	Answer
A	Never use a DC-coupled probe to measure an AC circuit
B	Never use a high-impedance probe to measure a low-impedance circuit
C	Keep the signal ground connection of the probe as short as possible
D	All these choices are correct

17. - E4B10

Which of the following methods measures intermodulation distortion in an SSB transmitter?

Select	Answer
A	Modulate the transmitter using two RF signals having non-harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a spectrum analyzer
B	Modulate the transmitter using two RF signals having harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a logic analyzer
C	Modulate the transmitter using two AF signals having harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a peak reading wattmeter
D	Modulate the transmitter using two AF signals having non-harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a spectrum analyzer

18. - E4C03

What is the term for the suppression in an FM receiver of one signal by another stronger signal on the same frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Desensitization
B	Frequency discrimination
C	Cross-modulation interference
D	Capture effect

19. - E4D02

Which of the following describes problems caused by poor dynamic range in a receiver?

Select	Answer
A	Oscillator instability requiring frequent retuning and loss of ability to recover the opposite sideband
B	Spurious signals caused by cross-modulation and desensitization from strong adjacent signals
C	Oscillator instability and severe audio distortion of all but the strongest received signals
D	Cross-modulation of the desired signal and insufficient audio power to operate the speaker

20. - E4E09

What undesirable effect can occur when using an IF noise blanker?

Select	Answer
A	FM signals can no longer be demodulated
B	The audio frequency bandwidth of the received signal might be compressed
C	Nearby signals may appear to be excessively wide even if they meet emission standards
D	Received audio in the speech range might have an echo effect

21. - E5A02

What is resonance in an LC or RLC circuit?

Select	Answer
A	The lowest frequency that will pass current
B	The frequency at which the reactive impedance equals the resistive impedance
C	The highest frequency that will pass current
D	The frequency at which the capacitive reactance equals the inductive reactance

22. - E5B12

What is admittance?

Select	Answer
A	The inverse of impedance
B	The inverse of Q factor
C	The term for the gain of a field effect transistor
D	The turns ratio of a transformer

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 4
B	Point 5
C	Point 6
D	Point 2

24. - E5D14

What is reactive power?

Select	Answer
A	Power consumed in circuit Q
B	Power consumed in wire resistance in an inductor
C	Power lost because of capacitor leakage
D	Wattless, nonproductive power

25. - E6A07

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

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

26. - E6B07

What is the failure mechanism when a junction diode fails due to excessive current?

Select	Answer
A	Excessive inverse voltage
B	Insufficient forward voltage
C	Charge carrier depletion
D	Excessive junction temperature

27. - E6C10

In Figure E6-3, what is the schematic symbol for a NOR gate?

Select	Answer
A	2
B	4
C	3
D	1

28. - E6D12

What is inductor saturation?

Select	Answer
A	The inductor's voltage rating is exceeded causing a flashover
B	Adjacent inductors become over-coupled
C	The ability of the inductor's core to store magnetic energy has been exceeded
D	The inductor windings are over-coupled

29. - E6E09

Which of the following component package types would be most suitable for use at frequencies above the HF range?

Select	Answer
A	Axial lead
B	Surface mount
C	Radial lead
D	TO-220

30. - E6F10

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

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

31. - E7A08

What logical operation does an OR gate perform?

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

32. - E7B18

What is a characteristic of a grounded-grid amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	High power gain
B	Low bandwidth
C	Low input impedance
D	High filament voltage

33. - E7C01

How are the capacitors and inductors of a low-pass filter Pi-network arranged between the network's input and output?

Select	Answer
A	Two inductors are in series between the input and output, and a capacitor is connected between the two inductors and ground
B	A capacitor is connected between the input and ground, another capacitor is connected between the output and ground, and an inductor is connected between input and output
C	An inductor is connected between the input and ground, another inductor is connected between the output and ground, and a capacitor is connected between the input and output
D	Two capacitors are in series between the input and output, and an inductor is connected between the two capacitors and ground

34. - E7D07

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

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

35. - E7E07

What is meant by the term "baseband" in radio communications?

Select	Answer
A	The lowest frequency band that the transmitter or receiver covers
B	The frequency range occupied by a message signal prior to modulation
C	The basic oscillator frequency in an FM transmitter that is multiplied to increase the deviation and carrier frequency
D	The unmodulated bandwidth of the transmitted signal

36. - E7F10

What aspect of receiver analog-to-digital conversion determines the maximum receive bandwidth of a Direct Digital Conversion SDR?

Select	Answer
A	Processor latency
B	Sample clock phase noise
C	Sample rate
D	Sample width in bits

37. - E7G02

What is ringing in a filter?

Select	Answer
A	A reduction in high frequency response
B	Partial cancellation of the signal over a range of frequencies
C	Undesired oscillations added to the desired signal
D	An echo caused by a long time delay

38. - E7H04

How is positive feedback supplied in a Colpitts oscillator?

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

39. - E8A09

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

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

40. - E8B11

What is digital time division multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	Two or more signals are arranged to share discrete time slots of a data transmission
B	Two or more data streams share the same channel by transmitting time of transmission as the sub-carrier
C	Two or more signals are quadrature modulated to increase bandwidth efficiency
D	Two or more data streams are assigned to discrete sub-carriers on an FM transmitter

41. - E8C03

Why should phase-shifting of a PSK signal be done at the zero crossing of the RF signal?

Select	Answer
A	To improve carrier suppression
B	To simplify modulation
C	To minimize bandwidth
D	All these choices are correct

42. - E8D04

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

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

43. - E9A11

Which of the following factors determines ground losses for a ground-mounted vertical antenna operating in the 3 MHz to 30 MHz range?

Select	Answer
A	Soil conductivity
B	Take-off angle
C	The standing wave ratio
D	Distance from the transmitter

44. - E9B10

What is the principle of a Method of Moments analysis?

Select	Answer
A	A wire is modeled as a series of segments, each having a uniform value of current
B	A wire is modeled as a single sine-wave voltage source
C	A wire is modeled as a single sine-wave current generator
D	A wire is modeled as a series of segments, each having a distinct value of voltage across it

45. - E9C02

What is the radiation pattern of two 1/4-wavelength vertical antennas spaced 1/4 wavelength apart and fed 90 degrees out of phase?

Select	Answer
A	A figure-8 broadside to the axis of the array
B	Cardioid
C	A figure-8 end-fire along the axis of the array
D	Omni-directional

46. - E9D11

Which of the following conductors would be best for minimizing losses in a station's RF ground system?

Select	Answer
A	Stranded wire
B	Solid wire
C	Wide flat copper strap
D	Resistive wire, such as spark plug wire

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 stub match
B	The delta match
C	The epsilon match
D	The gamma match

48. - E9F06

What is the approximate physical length of an air-insulated, parallel conductor transmission line that is electrically 1/2 wavelength long at 14.10 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	13.3 meters
B	8.5 meters
C	7.0 meters
D	10.6 meters

49. - E9G11

How are the wavelength scales on a Smith chart calibrated?

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

50. - E9H07

Why is RF attenuation used when direction-finding?

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

Figure E5-1

Figure E6-3

Figure E7-2