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

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1. - E0A11

Which of the following injuries can result from using high-power UHF or microwave transmitters?

Select	Answer
A	Ingestion of ozone gas from the cooling system
B	Blood clotting from the intense magnetic field
C	Hearing loss caused by high voltage corona discharge
D	Localized heating of the body from RF exposure in excess of the MPE limits

2. - E1A14

Except in some parts of Alaska, what is the maximum power permitted on the 630 meter band?

Select	Answer
A	1 watt EIRP
B	50 watts PEP
C	100 watts PEP
D	5 watts EIRP

3. - E1B10

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

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

4. - E1C12

On what portion of the 630 meter band are phone emissions permitted?

Select	Answer
A	Only the bottom 3 kHz
B	None
C	The entire band
D	Only the top 3 kHz

5. - E1D11

Which amateur stations are eligible to operate as Earth stations?

Select	Answer
A	Only those of General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators
B	Any amateur station, subject to the privileges of the class of operator license held by the control operator
C	Any amateur station whose licensee has filed a pre-space notification with the FCC's International Bureau
D	Only those of Amateur Extra Class operators

6. - E1E07

What should a VE do if a candidate fails to comply with the examiner's instructions during an amateur operator license examination?

Select	Answer
A	Allow the candidate to complete the examination, but invalidate the results
B	Immediately terminate everyone's examination and close the session
C	Immediately terminate the candidate's examination
D	Warn the candidate that continued failure to comply will result in termination of the examination

7. - E1F05

Amateur stations may not transmit in which of the following frequency segments if they are located in the contiguous 48 states and north of Line A?

Select	Answer
A	222 MHz - 223 MHz
B	420 MHz - 430 MHz
C	53 MHz - 54 MHz
D	440 MHz - 450 MHz

8. - E2A09

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

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

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

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 each band, usually on the national calling frequency
D	In the middle of the band, usually 25 kHz above the national calling frequency

11. - E2D03

Which of the following digital modes is especially useful for EME communications?

Select	Answer
A	JT65
B	Olivia
C	PACTOR III
D	MSK144

12. - E2E04

What is indicated when one of the ellipses in an FSK crossed-ellipse display suddenly disappears?

Select	Answer
A	Selective fading has occurred
B	One of the signal filters is saturated
C	The receiver has drifted 5 kHz from the desired receive frequency
D	The mark and space signal have been inverted

13. - E3A03

When scheduling EME contacts, which of these conditions will generally result in the least path loss?

Select	Answer
A	When the moon is full
B	When the moon is at perigee
C	When the MUF is above 30 MHz
D	When the moon is at apogee

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. - E3C15

What might be indicated by a sudden rise in radio background noise across a large portion of the HF spectrum?

Select	Answer
A	Increased transequatorial propagation is likely
B	A solar flare has occurred
C	Long-path propagation is likely
D	A temperature inversion has occurred

16. - E4A05

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

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

17. - E4B07

What do the subscripts of S parameters represent?

Select	Answer
A	Frequency order of the measurements
B	Relative quality of the data
C	The port or ports at which measurements are made
D	The relative time between measurements

18. - E4C09

Which of the following choices is a good reason for selecting a high frequency for the design of the IF in a superheterodyne HF or VHF communications receiver?

Select	Answer
A	Easier for front-end circuitry to eliminate image responses
B	Improved receiver noise figure
C	Reduced drift
D	Fewer components in the receiver

19. - E4D12

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

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

20. - E4E11

What could cause local AM broadcast band signals to combine to generate spurious signals in the MF or HF bands?

Select	Answer
A	Your station receiver IF amplifier stage is defective
B	You are receiving skywave signals from a distant station
C	Nearby corroded metal joints are mixing and re-radiating the broadcast signals
D	One or more of the broadcast stations is transmitting an over-modulated signal

21. - E5A11

What is the half-power bandwidth of a resonant circuit that has a resonant frequency of 7.1 MHz and a Q of 150?

Select	Answer
A	23.67 kHz
B	157.8 Hz
C	47.3 kHz
D	315.6 Hz

22. - E5B05

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

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

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 8
B	Point 1
C	Point 7
D	Point 3

24. - E5D14

What is reactive power?

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

25. - E6A03

Why does a PN-junction diode not conduct current when reverse biased?

Select	Answer
A	Excess holes in P-type material combine with the electrons in N-type material, converting the entire diode into an insulator
B	Only P-type semiconductor material can conduct current
C	Only N-type semiconductor material can conduct current
D	Holes in P-type material and electrons in the N-type material are separated by the applied voltage, widening the depletion region

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. - E6C10

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

Select	Answer
A	3
B	2
C	1
D	4

28. - E6D03

Which of the following is an aspect of the piezoelectric effect?

Select	Answer
A	Increased conductivity in the presence of light
B	Mechanical deformation of material by the application of a magnetic field
C	Generation of electrical energy in the presence of light
D	Mechanical deformation of material by the application of a voltage

29. - E6E05

Which of the following noise figure values is typical of a low-noise UHF preamplifier?

Select	Answer
A	2 dB
B	-10 dB
C	-20 dBm
D	44 dBm

30. - E6F05

Which describes an optical shaft encoder?

Select	Answer
A	A device for generating RTTY signals by means of a rotating light source
B	A device that detects rotation of a control by interrupting a light source with a patterned wheel
C	A device that measures the strength of a beam of light using analog to digital conversion
D	A digital encryption device often used to encrypt spacecraft control signals

31. - E7A07

What logical operation does a NAND gate perform?

Select	Answer
A	It produces logic 0 at its output only when all inputs are logic 0
B	It produces logic 0 at its output only when all inputs are logic 1
C	It produces logic 1 at its output only when all inputs are logic 1
D	It produces logic 0 at its output if some but not all inputs are logic 1

32. - E7B17

Why are odd-order rather than even-order intermodulation distortion products of concern in linear power amplifiers?

Select	Answer
A	Because they are relatively far in frequency from the desired signal
B	Because they are relatively close in frequency to the desired signal
C	Because they invert the sidebands causing distortion
D	Because they maintain the sidebands, thus causing multiple duplicate signals

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

34. - E7D01

How does a linear electronic voltage regulator work?

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

35. - E7E03

What is a frequency discriminator stage in a FM receiver?

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

36. - E7F10

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

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

37. - E7G07

What magnitude of voltage gain can be expected from the circuit in Figure E73 when R1 is 10 ohms and RF is 470 ohms?

Select	Answer
A	24
B	94
C	0.21
D	47

38. - E7H10

What information is contained in the lookup table of a direct digital synthesizer (DDS)?

Select	Answer
A	Amplitude values that represent the desired waveform
B	The phase relationship between a voltage-controlled oscillator and the output waveform
C	Frequently used receiver and transmitter frequencies
D	The phase relationship between a reference oscillator and the output waveform

39. - E8A02

Which of the following is a type of analog-to-digital conversion?

Select	Answer
A	Harmonic regeneration
B	Successive approximation
C	Level shifting
D	Phase reversal

40. - E8B06

What is the deviation ratio of an FM-phone signal having a maximum frequency swing of plus or minus 7.5 kHz when the maximum modulation frequency is 3.5 kHz?

Select	Answer
A	47
B	0.47
C	2.14
D	0.214

41. - E8C03

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

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

42. - E8D07

What is a common cause of overmodulation of AFSK signals?

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

43. - E9A09

What is antenna efficiency?

Select	Answer
A	Effective radiated power divided by transmitter output
B	Total resistance divided by radiation resistance
C	Radiation resistance divided by total resistance
D	Radiation resistance divided by transmission resistance

44. - E9B06

What is the elevation angle of peak response in the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-2?

Select	Answer
A	7.5 degrees
B	75 degrees
C	25 degrees
D	45 degrees

45. - E9C10

Which of the following describes a Zepp antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A dipole constructed from zip cord
B	A vertical array capable of quickly changing the direction of maximum radiation by changing phasing lines
C	An omni-directional antenna commonly used for satellite communications
D	An end-fed dipole antenna

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 increases
C	The radiation resistance increases and the capacitive reactance decreases
D	The radiation resistance decreases and the capacitive reactance decreases

47. - E9E06

Which of these feed line impedances would be suitable for constructing a quarter-wave Q-section for matching a 100-ohm loop to 50-ohm feed line?

Select	Answer
A	75 ohms
B	50 ohms
C	450 ohms
D	62 ohms

48. - E9F11

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

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

49. - E9G11

How are the wavelength scales on a Smith chart calibrated?

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

50. - E9H02

Which is generally true for low band (160 meter and 80 meter) receiving antennas?

Select	Answer
A	Low loss coax transmission line is essential for good performance
B	All these choices are correct
C	They must be erected at least 1/2 wavelength above the ground to attain good directivity
D	Atmospheric noise is so high that gain over a dipole is not important

Figure E5-1

Figure E6-3

Figure E9-2