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

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1. - E0A09

Which insulating material commonly used as a thermal conductor for some types of electronic devices is extremely toxic if broken or crushed and the particles are accidentally inhaled?

Select	Answer
A	Uranium Hexafluoride
B	Zinc oxide
C	Beryllium Oxide
D	Mica

2. - E1A06

Where must the carrier frequency of a CW signal be set to comply with FCC rules for 60 meter operation?

Select	Answer
A	At the highest frequency of the channel
B	On any frequency where the signal's sidebands are within the channel
C	At the center frequency of the channel
D	At the lowest frequency of the channel

3. - E1B08

What limitations may the FCC place on an amateur station if its signal causes interference to domestic broadcast reception, assuming that the receivers involved are of good engineering design?

Select	Answer
A	The amateur station must cease operation on all frequencies below 30 MHz
B	The amateur station must avoid transmitting during certain hours on frequencies that cause the interference
C	The amateur station must cease operation on all frequencies above 30 MHz
D	The amateur station must cease operation

4. - E1C05

When may an automatically controlled station originate third party communications?

Select	Answer
A	When agreed upon by the sending or receiving station
B	Only when transmitting RTTY or data emissions
C	When approved by the National Telecommunication and Information Administration
D	Never

5. - E1D09

Which UHF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

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

6. - E1E01

For which types of out-of-pocket expenses do the Part 97 rules state that VEs and VECs may be reimbursed?

Select	Answer
A	No expenses are authorized for reimbursement
B	Preparing, processing, administering, and coordinating an examination for an amateur radio operator license
C	Providing amateur operator license examination preparation training materials
D	Teaching an amateur operator license examination preparation course

7. - E1F09

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

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

8. - E2A09

What do the terms L band and S band specify regarding satellite communications?

Select	Answer
A	FM and Digital Store-and-Forward systems
B	The 2 meter and 70 centimeter bands
C	Which sideband to use
D	The 23 centimeter and 13 centimeter bands

9. - E2B11

What is the function of the Vertical Interval Signaling (VIS) code sent as part of an SSTV transmission?

Select	Answer
A	To identify the SSTV mode being used
B	To lock the color burst oscillator in color SSTV images
C	To identify the call sign of the station transmitting
D	To provide vertical synchronization

10. - E2C01

What indicator is required to be used by U.S.-licensed operators when operating a station via remote control and the remote transmitter is located in the U.S.?

Select	Answer
A	/ followed by the USPS two-letter abbreviation for the state in which the remote station is located
B	No additional indicator is required
C	/R# where # is the district of the remote station
D	/ followed by the ARRL Section of the remote station

11. - E2D07

What digital protocol is used by APRS?

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

12. - E2E01

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

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

13. - E3A11

What is a typical range for tropospheric propagation of microwave signals?

Select	Answer
A	1200 miles
B	10 miles to 50 miles
C	2500 miles
D	100 miles to 300 miles

14. - E3B07

What happens to linearly polarized radio waves that split into ordinary and extraordinary waves in the ionosphere?

Select	Answer
A	They become phase locked
B	They become depolarized
C	They become elliptically polarized
D	They are bent toward the magnetic poles

15. - E3C02

What is indicated by a rising A or K index?

Select	Answer
A	Increasing disruption of the geomagnetic field
B	Decreasing disruption of the geomagnetic field
C	Higher levels of solar UV radiation
D	An increase in the critical frequency

16. - E4A03

Which of the following test instruments is used to display spurious signals and/or intermodulation distortion products generated by an SSB transmitter?

Select	Answer
A	A spectrum analyzer
B	A wattmeter
C	A time-domain reflectometer
D	A logic analyzer

17. - E4B09

What is indicated if the current reading on an RF ammeter placed in series with the antenna feed line of a transmitter increases as the transmitter is tuned to resonance?

Select	Answer
A	There is an impedance mismatch between the antenna and feed line
B	There is possibly a short to ground in the feed line
C	There is more power going into the antenna
D	The transmitter is not properly neutralized

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

19. - E4D04

Which of the following may reduce or eliminate intermodulation interference in a repeater caused by another transmitter operating in close proximity?

Select	Answer
A	A band-pass filter in the feed line between the transmitter and receiver
B	Utilizing a Class D final amplifier
C	A properly terminated circulator at the output of the repeater's transmitter
D	Utilizing a Class C final amplifier

20. - E4E08

What current flows equally on all conductors of an unshielded multi-conductor cable?

Select	Answer
A	Return current
B	Common-mode current
C	Differential-mode current
D	Reactive current only

21. - E5A10

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

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

22. - E5B03

How is impedance in polar form converted to an equivalent admittance?

Select	Answer
A	Take the reciprocal of the angle and change the sign of the magnitude
B	Take the square root of the magnitude and add 180 degrees to the angle
C	Square the magnitude and subtract 90 degrees from the angle
D	Take the reciprocal of the magnitude and change the sign of the angle

23. - E5C08

What coordinate system is often used to display the phase angle of a circuit containing resistance, inductive and/or capacitive reactance?

Select	Answer
A	Polar coordinates
B	Maidenhead grid
C	Faraday grid
D	Elliptical coordinates

24. - E5D12

How many watts are consumed in a circuit having a power factor of 0.2 if the input is 100 VAC at 4 amperes?

Select	Answer
A	400 watts
B	50 watts
C	80 watts
D	2000 watts

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 switching speed
C	The change in collector current with respect to base current
D	The frequency at which the current gain is reduced to 0.707

26. - E6B02

What is an important characteristic of a Schottky diode as compared to an ordinary silicon diode when used as a power supply rectifier?

Select	Answer
A	More constant reverse avalanche voltage
B	Much higher reverse voltage breakdown
C	Longer carrier retention time
D	Less forward voltage drop

27. - E6C05

What is an advantage of CMOS logic devices over TTL devices?

Select	Answer
A	Lower distortion
B	Immune to damage from static discharge
C	Differential output capability
D	Lower power consumption

28. - E6D07

What is current in the primary winding of a transformer called if no load is attached to the secondary?

Select	Answer
A	Magnetizing current
B	Excitation current
C	Stabilizing current
D	Direct current

29. - E6E08

How is power supplied to the most common type of MMIC?

Select	Answer
A	Through a resistor and/or RF choke connected to the amplifier output lead
B	Directly to the bias voltage (VCC IN) lead
C	MMICs require no operating bias
D	Through a capacitor and RF choke connected to the amplifier input lead

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 amplitude modulated helium-neon laser
D	An LED and a phototransistor

31. - E7A09

What logical operation is performed by an exclusive NOR gate?

Select	Answer
A	It produces logic 0 at its output if only one input is logic 1
B	It produces logic 1 at its output only if all inputs are logic 1
C	It produces logic 1 at its output if only one input is logic 1
D	It produces logic 0 at its output only if all inputs are logic 0

32. - E7B09

Which of the following describes how the loading and tuning capacitors are to be adjusted when tuning a vacuum tube RF power amplifier that employs a Pi-network output circuit?

Select	Answer
A	The tuning capacitor is adjusted for minimum plate current, and the loading capacitor is adjusted for maximum permissible plate current
B	The loading capacitor is set to maximum capacitance and the tuning capacitor is adjusted for minimum allowable plate current
C	The tuning capacitor is set to maximum capacitance and the loading capacitor is adjusted for minimum plate permissible current
D	The loading capacitor is adjusted to minimum plate current while alternately adjusting the tuning capacitor for maximum allowable plate current

33. - E7C03

What advantage does a series-L Pi-L-network have over a series-L Pi-network for impedance matching between the final amplifier of a vacuum-tube transmitter and an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	Does not require a capacitor
B	Greater transformation range
C	Higher efficiency
D	Greater harmonic suppression

34. - E7D07

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

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

35. - E7E05

What circuit is added to an FM transmitter to boost the higher audio frequencies?

Select	Answer
A	A heterodyne suppressor
B	A de-emphasis network
C	A pre-emphasis network
D	A heterodyne enhancer

36. - E7F06

What is the minimum number of bits required for an analog-to-digital converter to sample a signal with a range of 1 volt at a resolution of 1 millivolt?

Select	Answer
A	4 bits
B	10 bits
C	6 bits
D	8 bits

37. - E7G01

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

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

38. - E7H14

What is a phase-locked loop circuit?

Select	Answer
A	An electronic circuit also known as a monostable multivibrator
B	An electronic servo loop consisting of a phase detector, a low-pass filter, a voltage-controlled oscillator, and a stable reference oscillator
C	An electronic servo loop consisting of a ratio detector, reactance modulator, and voltage-controlled oscillator
D	An electronic circuit consisting of a precision push-pull amplifier with a differential input

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	2.5 to 1
C	25 to 1
D	100 to 1

40. - E8B04

What is the modulation index of an FM-phone signal having a maximum carrier deviation of plus or minus 6 kHz when modulated with a 2 kHz modulating frequency?

Select	Answer
A	6000
B	1/3
C	3
D	2000

41. - E8C01

How is Forward Error Correction implemented?

Select	Answer
A	By transmitting extra data that may be used to detect and correct transmission errors
B	By the receiving station repeating each block of three data characters
C	By transmitting a special algorithm to the receiving station along with the data characters
D	By varying the frequency shift of the transmitted signal according to a predefined algorithm

42. - E8D02

What spread spectrum communications technique uses a high-speed binary bit stream to shift the phase of an RF carrier?

Select	Answer
A	Binary phase-shift keying
B	Frequency hopping
C	Direct sequence
D	Phase compandored spread spectrum

43. - E9A10

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

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

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. - E9C11

How is the far-field elevation pattern of a vertically polarized antenna affected by being mounted over seawater versus soil?

Select	Answer
A	The low-angle radiation decreases
B	The low-angle radiation increases
C	Fewer vertical angle lobes will be present
D	Additional higher vertical angle lobes will appear

46. - E9D06

What happens to the SWR bandwidth when one or more loading coils are used to resonate an electrically short antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It is unchanged if the loading coil is located at a voltage maximum point
B	It is decreased
C	It is unchanged if the loading coil is located at the feed point
D	It is increased

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

49. - E9G03

Which of the following is often determined using a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Trigonometric functions
B	Impedance and SWR values in transmission lines
C	Satellite azimuth and elevation bearings
D	Beam headings and radiation patterns

50. - E9H08

What is the function of a sense antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It increases the sensitivity of a DF antenna array
B	It provides diversity reception that cancels multipath signals
C	It modifies the pattern of a DF antenna array to provide a null in one direction
D	It allows DF antennas to receive signals at different vertical angles

Figure E7-2

Figure E9-1