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

Logging in (or registering) will help the system to select questions that you need to focus on.

1. - E0A11

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

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

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 station operator must agree not to transmit when the main radio of the ship or aircraft is in use
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 operator must have an FCC Marine or Aircraft endorsement on his or her amateur license

3. - E1B09

Which amateur stations may be operated under RACES rules?

Select	Answer
A	Only those club stations licensed to Amateur Extra Class operators
B	Any FCC-licensed amateur station certified by the responsible civil defense organization for the area served
C	Any FCC-licensed amateur station except a Technician Class
D	Any FCC-licensed amateur station participating in the Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS)

4. - E1C05

When may an automatically controlled station originate third party communications?

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

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

6. - E1E12

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

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

7. - E1F02

What privileges are authorized in the U.S. to persons holding an amateur service license granted by the government of Canada?

Select	Answer
A	The operating terms and conditions of the Canadian amateur service license, not to exceed U.S. Amateur Extra Class license privileges
B	All privileges of the Amateur Extra Class license
C	Full privileges, up to and including those of the Amateur Extra Class license, on the 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter bands
D	None, they must obtain a U.S. license

8. - E2A02

Which of the following occurs when a satellite is using an inverting linear transponder?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	Signal position in the band is reversed
C	Doppler shift is reduced because the uplink and downlink shifts are in opposite directions
D	Upper sideband on the uplink becomes lower sideband on the downlink, and vice versa

9. - E2B06

What is vestigial sideband modulation?

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

10. - E2C04

Which of the following frequencies are sometimes used for amateur radio mesh networks?

Select	Answer
A	Frequencies shared with various unlicensed wireless data services
B	HF frequencies where digital communications are permitted
C	Cable TV channels 41 through 43
D	The 60 meter band channel centered on 5373 kHz

11. - E2D04

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

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

12. - E2E07

Which of the following is a possible reason that attempts to initiate contact with a digital station on a clear frequency are unsuccessful?

Select	Answer
A	The protocol version you are using is not supported by the digital station
B	Another station you are unable to hear is using the frequency
C	All these choices are correct
D	Your transmit frequency is incorrect

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 apogee
C	When the moon is at perigee
D	When the MUF is above 30 MHz

14. - E3B11

At what time of day can sporadic E propagation occur?

Select	Answer
A	Only in hours of darkness
B	Any time
C	Only around sunset and sunrise
D	Only around sunset

15. - E3C08

What does the space weather term G5 mean?

Select	Answer
A	Very low solar activity
B	Moderate solar wind
C	Waning sunspot numbers
D	An extreme geomagnetic storm

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 time-domain reflectometer
C	A logic analyzer
D	A wattmeter

17. - E4B10

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

Select	Answer
A	Modulate the transmitter using two AF 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 RF signals having non-harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a spectrum analyzer

18. - E4C05

What does a receiver noise floor of -174 dBm represent?

Select	Answer
A	The noise figure of a 1 Hz bandwidth receiver
B	The galactic noise contribution to minimum detectable signal
C	The theoretical noise in a 1 Hz bandwidth at the input of a perfect receiver at room temperature
D	The minimum detectable signal as a function of receive frequency

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	Cross-modulation interference
C	Quieting
D	Squelch gain rollback

20. - E4E05

How can radio frequency interference from an AC motor be suppressed?

Select	Answer
A	By installing a high-pass filter in series with the motor's power leads
B	By installing a bypass capacitor in series with the motor leads
C	By installing a brute-force AC-line filter in series with the motor leads
D	By using a ground-fault current interrupter in the circuit used to power the motor

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	3.56 MHz
B	22.36 MHz
C	1.78 MHz
D	44.72 MHz

22. - E5B08

What is the phase angle between the voltage across and the current through a series RLC circuit if XC is 100 ohms, R is 100 ohms, and XL is 75 ohms?

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

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	Maidenhead grid
B	Faraday grid
C	Polar coordinates
D	Elliptical coordinates

24. - E5D14

What is reactive power?

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

25. - E6A08

What term indicates the frequency at which the grounded-base current gain of a transistor has decreased to 0.7 of the gain obtainable at 1 kHz?

Select	Answer
A	Corner frequency
B	Alpha cutoff frequency
C	Beta cutoff frequency
D	Alpha rejection frequency

26. - E6B04

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

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

27. - E6C08

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

Select	Answer
A	4
B	1
C	2
D	3

28. - E6D09

What devices are commonly used as VHF and UHF parasitic suppressors at the input and output terminals of a transistor HF amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	Steel-core toroids
B	Electrolytic capacitors
C	Butterworth filters
D	Ferrite beads

29. - E6E12

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

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

30. - E6F08

Why are optoisolators often used in conjunction with solid-state circuits when switching 120 VAC?

Select	Answer
A	Optoisolators eliminate the effects of reflected light in the control circuit
B	Optoisolators provide impedance matching between the control circuit and power circuit
C	Optoisolators provide a low impedance link between a control circuit and a power circuit
D	Optoisolators provide a very high degree of electrical isolation between a control circuit and the circuit being switched

31. - E7A11

What type of logic defines "1" as a high voltage?

Select	Answer
A	Reverse Logic
B	Positive Logic
C	Assertive Logic
D	Negative logic

32. - E7B16

What is the effect of intermodulation products in a linear power amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	Transmission of spurious signals
B	Creation of parasitic oscillations
C	All these choices are correct
D	Low efficiency

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 inductors are in series between the input and output, and a capacitor is connected between the two inductors and ground
C	Two capacitors are in series between the input and output, and an inductor is connected between the two capacitors 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. - 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. - E7E08

What are the principal frequencies that appear at the output of a mixer circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Two and four times the original frequency
B	The square root of the product of input frequencies
C	1.414 and 0.707 times the input frequency
D	The two input frequencies along with their sum and difference frequencies

36. - E7F13

What is the function of taps in a digital signal processing filter?

Select	Answer
A	Select the point at which baseband signals are generated
B	To reduce excess signal pressure levels
C	Provide access for debugging software
D	Provide incremental signal delays for filter algorithms

37. - E7G05

How can unwanted ringing and audio instability be prevented in an op-amp RC audio filter circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Restrict gain but increase Q
B	Increase both gain and Q
C	Restrict Q but increase gain
D	Restrict both gain and Q

38. - E7H04

How is positive feedback supplied in a Colpitts oscillator?

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

39. - E8A10

What is the purpose of a low-pass filter used in conjunction with a digital-to-analog converter?

Select	Answer
A	Lower the input bandwidth to increase the effective resolution
B	Remove harmonics from the output caused by the discrete analog levels generated
C	Improve accuracy by removing out-of-sequence codes from the input
D	All these choices are correct

40. - E8B01

What is the modulation index of an FM signal?

Select	Answer
A	The bandwidth of the transmitted signal divided by the modulating signal frequency
B	The type of modulation used by the transmitter
C	The ratio of frequency deviation to modulating signal frequency
D	The ratio of modulating signal amplitude to frequency deviation

41. - E8C06

What is the bandwidth of a 170-hertz shift, 300-baud ASCII transmission?

Select	Answer
A	0.5 kHz
B	0.3 kHz
C	0.1 Hz
D	1.0 kHz

42. - E8D11

What is one advantage of using ASCII code for data communications?

Select	Answer
A	It includes built-in error correction features
B	It is possible to transmit both upper and lower case text
C	It contains fewer information bits per character than any other code
D	It uses one character as a shift code to send numeric and special characters

43. - E9A01

What is an isotropic antenna?

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

44. - E9B10

What is the principle of a Method of Moments analysis?

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

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

46. - E9D08

What happens as the Q of an antenna increases?

Select	Answer
A	More common-mode current is present on the feed line
B	SWR bandwidth increases
C	SWR bandwidth decreases
D	Gain is reduced

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 stub matching system
B	The delta matching system
C	The gamma matching system
D	The omega matching system

48. - E9F02

Which of the following has the biggest effect on the velocity factor of a transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	The center conductor resistivity
B	Dielectric materials used in the line
C	The line length
D	The termination impedance

49. - E9G04

What are the two families of circles and arcs that make up a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Reactance and voltage
B	Voltage and impedance
C	Resistance and reactance
D	Resistance and voltage

50. - E9H08

What is the function of a sense antenna?

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

Figure E6-3

Figure E7-2