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

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 must have a power supply that is completely independent of the main ship or aircraft power supply
B	The amateur operator must have an FCC Marine or Aircraft endorsement on his or her amateur license
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. - E1B03

Within what distance must an amateur station protect an FCC monitoring facility from harmful interference?

Select	Answer
A	3 miles
B	30 miles
C	10 miles
D	1 mile

4. - E1C08

What is the maximum permissible duration of a remotely controlled station's transmissions if its control link malfunctions?

Select	Answer
A	10 minutes
B	30 seconds
C	3 minutes
D	5 minutes

5. - E1D05

What must be posted at the station location of a station being operated by telecommand on or within 50 km of the earth's surface?

Select	Answer
A	A label with the name, address, and telephone number of the station licensee
B	All these choices are correct
C	A label with the name, address, and telephone number of the control operator
D	A photocopy of the station license

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

7. - E1F03

Under what circumstances may a dealer sell an external RF power amplifier capable of operation below 144 MHz if it has not been granted FCC certification?

Select	Answer
A	It was imported from a manufacturer in a country that does not require certification of RF power amplifiers
B	The equipment dealer assembled it from a kit
C	It was purchased in used condition from an amateur operator and is sold to another amateur operator for use at that operator's station
D	It was imported from a manufacturer in another country and was certificated by that country's government

8. - E2A10

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

Select	Answer
A	Geomagnetic
B	LEO
C	Geostationary
D	HEO

9. - E2B02

How many horizontal lines make up a fast-scan (NTSC) television frame?

Select	Answer
A	30
B	60
C	1080
D	525

10. - E2C10

Why might a DX station state that they are listening on another frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Because the DX station may be transmitting on a frequency that is prohibited to some responding stations
B	All these choices are correct
C	To improve operating efficiency by reducing interference
D	To separate the calling stations from the DX station

11. - E2D01

Which of the following digital modes is designed for meteor scatter communications?

Select	Answer
A	WSPR
B	Hellschreiber
C	APRS
D	MSK144

12. - E2E06

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

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

13. - E3A01

What is the approximate maximum separation measured along the surface of the Earth between two stations communicating by EME?

Select	Answer
A	500 miles, if the moon is at perigee
B	2000 miles, if the moon is at apogee
C	12,000 miles, if the moon is visible by both stations
D	5000 miles, if the moon is at perigee

14. - E3B02

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

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

15. - E3C08

What does the space weather term G5 mean?

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

16. - E4A09

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

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

17. - E4B04

Which S parameter represents input port return loss or reflection coefficient (equivalent to VSWR)?

Select	Answer
A	S12
B	S21
C	S11
D	S22

18. - E4C08

An SDR receiver is overloaded when input signals exceed what level?

Select	Answer
A	One-half the maximum sample rate
B	The reference voltage of the analog-to-digital converter
C	The maximum count value of the analog-to-digital converter
D	One-half the maximum sampling buffer size

19. - E4D06

What is the term for spurious signals generated by the combination of two or more signals in a non-linear device or circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Amplifier desensitization
B	Intermodulation
C	Adjacent channel interference
D	Neutralization

20. - E4E02

Which of the following types of noise can often be reduced with a digital signal processing noise filter?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	Ignition noise
C	Broadband white noise
D	Power line noise

21. - E5A08

What is the phase relationship between the current through and the voltage across a series resonant circuit at resonance?

Select	Answer
A	The current leads the voltage by 90 degrees
B	The voltage leads the current by 90 degrees
C	The voltage and current are 180 degrees out of phase
D	The voltage and current are in phase

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 leading 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 lagging the current

23. - E5C09

When using rectangular coordinates to graph the impedance of a circuit, what do the axes represent?

Select	Answer
A	The X axis represents the magnitude and the Y axis represents the phase angle
B	The X axis represents the reactive component and the Y axis represents the resistive component
C	The X axis represents the resistive component and the Y axis represents the reactive component
D	The X axis represents the phase angle and the Y axis represents the magnitude

24. - E5D03

What is microstrip?

Select	Answer
A	Miniature coax used for low power applications
B	Lightweight transmission line made of common zip cord
C	Short lengths of coax mounted on printed circuit boards to minimize time delay between microwave circuits
D	Precision printed circuit conductors above a ground plane that provide constant impedance interconnects at microwave frequencies

25. - E6A04

What is the name given to an impurity atom that adds holes to a semiconductor crystal structure?

Select	Answer
A	Donor impurity
B	Acceptor impurity
C	Insulator impurity
D	N-type impurity

26. - E6B08

Which of the following is a Schottky barrier diode?

Select	Answer
A	Metal-semiconductor junction
B	Thermionic emission diode
C	PIN junction
D	Electrolytic rectifier

27. - E6C05

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

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

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 inductor windings are over-coupled
D	The ability of the inductor's core to store magnetic energy has been exceeded

29. - E6E08

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

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

30. - E6F06

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

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

31. - E7A01

Which circuit is bistable?

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

32. - E7B06

Which of the following amplifier types reduces even-order harmonics?

Select	Answer
A	Class C
B	Push-push
C	Class AB
D	Push-pull

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

34. - E7D05

Which of the following types of linear voltage regulator places a constant load on the unregulated voltage source?

Select	Answer
A	A constant current source
B	A shunt regulator
C	A shunt current source
D	A series regulator

35. - E7E05

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

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

36. - E7F03

What type of digital signal processing filter is used to generate an SSB signal?

Select	Answer
A	An elliptical filter
B	A notch filter
C	A Hilbert-transform filter
D	An adaptive filter

37. - E7G01

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

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

38. - E7H12

Which of the following must be done to ensure that a crystal oscillator provides the frequency specified by the crystal manufacturer?

Select	Answer
A	Provide the crystal with a specified parallel capacitance
B	Bias the crystal at a specified voltage
C	Provide the crystal with a specified parallel inductance
D	Bias the crystal at a specified current

39. - E8A04

What is "dither" with respect to analog-to-digital converters?

Select	Answer
A	An error caused by irregular quantization step size
B	A small amount of noise added to the input signal to allow more precise representation of a signal over time
C	A method of decimation by randomly skipping samples
D	An abnormal condition where the converter cannot settle on a value to represent the signal

40. - E8B08

What describes Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing?

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

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. - E8D05

What is the most common method of reducing key clicks?

Select	Answer
A	Increase keying waveform rise and fall times
B	High-pass filters at the transmitter output
C	Low-pass filters at the transmitter output
D	Reduce keying waveform rise and fall times

43. - E9A03

What is the radiation resistance of an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	The specific impedance of the antenna
B	The combined losses of the antenna elements and feed line
C	The value of a resistance that would dissipate the same amount of power as that radiated from an antenna
D	The resistance in the atmosphere that an antenna must overcome to be able to radiate a signal

44. - E9B08

What is the far field of an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	The region where the shape of the antenna pattern is independent of distance
B	The region where radiated field strengths are constant
C	The region where radiated power dissipates over a specified time period
D	The region of the ionosphere where radiated power is not refracted

45. - E9C12

Which of the following describes an Extended Double Zepp antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A portable antenna erected using two push support poles
B	A center-fed 1.25-wavelength antenna (two 5/8-wave elements in phase)
C	A wideband vertical antenna constructed from precisely tapered aluminum tubing
D	An end-fed folded dipole antenna

46. - E9D03

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

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

47. - E9E10

Which of these choices is an effective way to match an antenna with a 100-ohm feed point impedance to a 50-ohm coaxial cable feed line?

Select	Answer
A	Connect a 1/2 wavelength shorted stub of 75-ohm cable in parallel with the 50-ohm cable where it attaches to the antenna
B	Insert a 1/2 wavelength piece of 300-ohm twinlead in series between the antenna terminals and the 50-ohm feed cable
C	Insert a 1/4-wavelength piece of 75-ohm coaxial cable transmission line in series between the antenna terminals and the 50-ohm feed cable
D	Connect a 1/4-wavelength open stub of 300-ohm twinlead in parallel with the coaxial feed line where it connects to the antenna

48. - E9F12

What impedance does a 1/4-wavelength transmission line present to a generator when the line is open at the far end?

Select	Answer
A	The same as the input impedance to the generator
B	Very high impedance
C	The same as the characteristic impedance of the line
D	Very low impedance

49. - E9G01

Which of the following can be calculated using a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Antenna radiation pattern
B	Radio propagation
C	Impedance along transmission lines
D	Radiation resistance

50. - E9H02

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

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