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

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1. - E0A06

Why are there separate electric (E) and magnetic (H) field MPE limits?

Select	Answer
A	E field and H field radiation intensity peaks can occur at different locations
B	All these choices are correct
C	The body reacts to electromagnetic radiation from both the E and H fields
D	Ground reflections and scattering make the field strength vary with location

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	At the lowest frequency of the channel
C	On any frequency where the signal's sidebands are within the channel
D	At the center frequency of the channel

3. - E1B04

What must be done before placing an amateur station within an officially designated wilderness area or wildlife preserve, or an area listed in the National Register of Historic Places?

Select	Answer
A	A form FSD-15 must be submitted to the Department of the Interior
B	A letter of intent must be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency
C	A proposal must be submitted to the National Park Service
D	An Environmental Assessment must be submitted to the FCC

4. - E1C13

What notifications must be given before transmitting on the 630 meter or 2200 meter bands?

Select	Answer
A	An environmental impact statement must be filed with the Department of the Interior
B	Operators must inform the Utilities Technology Council (UTC) of their call sign and coordinates of the station
C	Operators must inform the FAA of their intent to operate, giving their call sign and distance to the nearest runway
D	A special endorsement must be requested from the FCC

5. - E1D11

Which amateur stations are eligible to operate as Earth stations?

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

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

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

8. - E2A05

What do the letters in a satellite's mode designator specify?

Select	Answer
A	The location of the ground control station
B	The uplink and downlink frequency ranges
C	The polarization of uplink and downlink signals
D	Power limits for uplink and downlink transmissions

9. - E2B09

What hardware, other than a receiver with SSB capability and a suitable computer, is needed to decode SSTV using Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM)?

Select	Answer
A	A special notch filter to remove synchronization pulses
B	A special IF converter
C	A special front end limiter
D	No other hardware is needed

10. - E2C02

Which of the following best describes the term self-spotting? in connection with HF contest operating?

Select	Answer
A	The acceptable practice of manually posting the call signs of stations on a spotting network
B	The often-prohibited practice of posting one's own call sign and frequency on a spotting network
C	A manual technique for rapidly zero beating or tuning to a station's frequency before calling that station
D	An automatic method for rapidly zero beating or tuning to a station's frequency before calling that station

11. - E2D05

What is one advantage of the JT65 mode?

Select	Answer
A	Easily copied by ear if necessary
B	Uses only a 65 Hz bandwidth
C	Permits fast-scan TV transmissions over narrow bandwidth
D	The ability to decode signals which have a very low signal-to-noise ratio

12. - E2E04

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

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

13. - E3A11

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

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

14. - E3B02

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

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

15. - E3C06

By how much does the VHF/UHF radio horizon distance exceed the geometric horizon?

Select	Answer
A	By approximately 15 percent of the distance
B	By approximately four times the distance
C	By approximately 50 percent of the distance
D	By approximately twice the distance

16. - E4A05

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

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

17. - E4B02

What is the significance of voltmeter sensitivity expressed in ohms per volt?

Select	Answer
A	When used as a galvanometer, the reading in volts multiplied by the ohms per volt rating will determine the power drawn by the device under test
B	The full scale reading of the voltmeter multiplied by its ohms per volt rating will indicate the input impedance of the voltmeter
C	When used as an ohmmeter, the reading in ohms divided by the ohms per volt rating will determine the voltage applied to the circuit
D	When used as an ammeter, the full scale reading in amps divided by ohms per volt rating will determine the size of shunt needed

18. - E4C06

A CW receiver with the AGC off has an equivalent input noise power density of -174 dBm/Hz. What would be the level of an unmodulated carrier input to this receiver that would yield an audio output SNR of 0 dB in a 400 Hz noise bandwidth?

Select	Answer
A	-148 dBm
B	-164 dBm
C	-155 dBm
D	-174 dBm

19. - E4D11

Why are odd-order intermodulation products, created within a receiver, of particular interest compared to other products?

Select	Answer
A	Odd-order products are an indication of poor image rejection
B	Odd-order products of two signals in the band of interest are also likely to be within the band
C	Odd-order intermodulation produces three products for every input signal within the band of interest
D	Odd-order products overload the IF filters

20. - E4E08

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

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

21. - E5A05

What is the result of increasing the Q of an impedance-matching circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Matching bandwidth is decreased
B	Matching range is increased
C	Matching bandwidth is increased
D	It has no effect on impedance matching

22. - E5B11

What is the phase angle between the voltage across and the current through a series RLC circuit if XC is 25 ohms, R is 100 ohms, and XL is 50 ohms?

Select	Answer
A	14 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
B	76 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
C	76 degrees with the voltage leading the current
D	14 degrees with the voltage leading the current

23. - E5C05

What is the name of the diagram used to show the phase relationship between impedances at a given frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Far field diagram
B	Venn diagram
C	Phasor diagram
D	Near field diagram

24. - E5D04

Why are short connections used at microwave frequencies?

Select	Answer
A	To increase neutralizing resistance
B	To reduce noise figure
C	To increase compensating capacitance
D	To reduce phase shift along the connection

25. - E6A11

In Figure E6-1, what is the schematic symbol for a P-channel junction FET?

Select	Answer
A	3
B	1
C	2
D	6

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	Extremely high reverse breakdown voltage
C	Low junction capacitance
D	Ability to dissipate large amounts of power

27. - E6C08

In Figure E6-3, what is the schematic symbol for a NAND gate?

Select	Answer
A	2
B	3
C	4
D	1

28. - E6D01

Why should core saturation of an impedance matching transformer be avoided?

Select	Answer
A	Magnetic flux would increase with frequency
B	RF susceptance would increase
C	Temporary changes of the core permeability could result
D	Harmonics and distortion could result

29. - E6E08

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

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

30. - E6F06

Which of these materials is most commonly used to create photoconductive devices?

Select	Answer
A	A crystalline semiconductor
B	A heavy metal
C	A liquid semiconductor
D	An ordinary metal

31. - E7A01

Which circuit is bistable?

Select	Answer
A	A flip-flop
B	An OR gate
C	A bipolar amplifier
D	An AND gate

32. - E7B05

What can be done to prevent unwanted oscillations in an RF power amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	Use a phase inverter in the output filter
B	Tune both the input and output for maximum power
C	Install parasitic suppressors and/or neutralize the stage
D	Tune the stage for maximum SWR

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

34. - E7D08

What type of circuit is shown in Figure E7-2?

Select	Answer
A	Linear voltage regulator
B	Switching voltage regulator
C	Monostable multivibrator
D	Grounded emitter amplifier

35. - E7E11

Which type of detector circuit is used for demodulating SSB signals?

Select	Answer
A	Product detector
B	Discriminator
C	Phase detector
D	Phase comparator

36. - E7F04

What is a common method of generating an SSB signal using digital signal processing?

Select	Answer
A	A frequency synthesizer removes the unwanted sidebands
B	Varying quartz crystal characteristics emulated in digital form
C	Signals are combined in quadrature phase relationship
D	Mixing products are converted to voltages and subtracted by adder circuits

37. - E7G12

What is an operational amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	A digital audio amplifier whose characteristics are determined by components external to the amplifier
B	A RF amplifier used in the UHF and microwave regions
C	An amplifier used to increase the average output of frequency modulated amateur signals to the legal limit
D	A high-gain, direct-coupled differential amplifier with very high input impedance and very low output impedance

38. - E7H03

How is positive feedback supplied in a Hartley oscillator?

Select	Answer
A	Through a tapped coil
B	Through a neutralizing capacitor
C	Through link coupling
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	Total harmonic distortion
B	Power factor
C	Reciprocal mixing
D	Peak envelope power

40. - E8B08

What describes Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	A digital mode for narrow-band, slow-speed transmissions
B	A bandwidth compression technique using Fourier transforms
C	A digital modulation technique using subcarriers at frequencies chosen to avoid intersymbol interference
D	A frequency modulation technique that uses non-harmonically related frequencies

41. - E8C04

What technique minimizes the bandwidth of a PSK31 signal?

Select	Answer
A	Use of sinusoidal data pulses
B	Reed-Solomon character encoding
C	Zero-sum character encoding
D	Use of trapezoidal data pulses

42. - E8D01

Why are received spread spectrum signals resistant to interference?

Select	Answer
A	Signals not using the spread spectrum algorithm are suppressed in the receiver
B	The high power used by a spread spectrum transmitter keeps its signal from being easily overpowered
C	If interference is detected by the receiver it will signal the transmitter to change frequencies
D	The receiver is always equipped with a digital blanker

43. - E9A01

What is an isotropic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A grounded antenna used to measure Earth conductivity
B	A horizontally polarized antenna used to compare Yagi antennas
C	A spacecraft antenna used to direct signals toward Earth
D	A theoretical, omnidirectional antenna used as a reference for antenna gain

44. - E9B09

What type of computer program technique is commonly used for modeling antennas?

Select	Answer
A	Calculus differentiation with respect to physical properties
B	Method of Moments
C	Graphical analysis
D	Mutual impedance analysis

45. - E9C07

What is the approximate feed point impedance at the center of a two-wire folded dipole antenna?

Select	Answer
A	72 ohms
B	450 ohms
C	300 ohms
D	50 ohms

46. - E9D03

Where should a high Q loading coil be placed to minimize losses in a shortened vertical antenna?

Select	Answer
A	Near the center of the vertical radiator
B	As low as possible on the vertical radiator
C	As close to the transmitter as possible
D	At a voltage node

47. - E9E08

What is a use for a Wilkinson divider?

Select	Answer
A	It divides the operating frequency of a transmitter signal so it can be used on a lower frequency band
B	It is used to divide power equally between two 50-ohm loads while maintaining 50-ohm input impedance
C	It is used to feed high-impedance antennas from a low-impedance source
D	It is used to feed low-impedance loads from a high-impedance source

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

49. - E9G09

What third family of circles is often added to a Smith chart during the process of solving problems?

Select	Answer
A	Coaxial-length circles
B	Standing wave ratio circles
C	Radiation-pattern circles
D	Antenna-length circles

50. - E9H09

What is a Pennant antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A form of rhombic antenna terminated in a variable capacitor to provide frequency diversity
B	A stealth antenna built to look like a flagpole
C	A four-element, high-gain vertical array invented by George Pennant
D	A small, vertically oriented receiving antenna consisting of a triangular loop terminated in approximately 900 ohms

Figure E6-1

Figure E6-3

Figure E7-2