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

2. - E1A05

What is the maximum power output permitted on the 60 meter band?

Select	Answer
A	100 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to the gain of a half-wave dipole
B	100 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to an isotropic radiator
C	50 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to a dipole
D	50 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to an isotropic radiator

3. - E1B02

Which of the following is an acceptable bandwidth for Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) based voice or SSTV digital transmissions made on the HF amateur bands?

Select	Answer
A	10 kHz
B	20 kHz
C	15 kHz
D	3 kHz

4. - E1C07

At what level below a signal's mean power level is its bandwidth determined according to FCC rules?

Select	Answer
A	3 dB
B	26 dB
C	6 dB
D	23 dB

5. - E1D03

What is a space telecommand station?

Select	Answer
A	An amateur station that receives telemetry from a satellite or balloon more than 50 kilometers above the surface of the Earth
B	An amateur station that transmits communications to initiate, modify or terminate functions of a space station
C	An amateur station located on the surface of the Earth for communication with other Earth stations by means of Earth satellites
D	An amateur station located in a satellite or a balloon more than 50 kilometers above the surface of the Earth

6. - E1E02

Who does Part 97 task with maintaining the pools of questions for all U.S. amateur license examinations?

Select	Answer
A	The FCC
B	The VECs
C	The VEs
D	The ARRL

7. - E1F01

On what frequencies are spread spectrum transmissions permitted?

Select	Answer
A	Only on amateur frequencies above 222 MHz
B	Only on amateur frequencies above 50 MHz
C	Only on amateur frequencies above 420 MHz
D	Only on amateur frequencies above 144 MHz

8. - E2A11

What type of antenna can be used to minimize the effects of spin modulation and Faraday rotation?

Select	Answer
A	A linearly polarized antenna
B	A log-periodic dipole array
C	A circularly polarized antenna
D	An isotropic antenna

9. - E2B10

What aspect of an analog slow-scan television signal encodes the brightness of the picture?

Select	Answer
A	Tone amplitude
B	Sync frequency
C	Tone frequency
D	Sync amplitude

10. - E2C12

What technique do individual nodes use to form a mesh network?

Select	Answer
A	Custom code plugs for the local trunking systems
B	Discovery and link establishment protocols
C	Forward error correction and Viterbi codes
D	Acting as store-and-forward digipeaters

11. - E2D08

What type of packet frame is used to transmit APRS beacon data?

Select	Answer
A	Unnumbered Information
B	Connect
C	Acknowledgement
D	Disconnect

12. - E2E12

How do ALE stations establish contact?

Select	Answer
A	ALE constantly scans a list of frequencies, activating the radio when the designated call sign is received
B	ALE radios monitor an internet site for the frequency they are being paged on
C	ALE radios send a constant tone code to establish a frequency for future use
D	ALE radios activate when they hear their signal echoed by back scatter

13. - E3A03

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

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

14. - E3B01

What is transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Propagation between points located on the magnetic equator
B	Propagation between a point on the equator and its antipodal point
C	Propagation between two mid-latitude points at approximately the same distance north and south of the magnetic equator
D	Propagation between points at the same latitude

15. - E3C11

What does VOACAP software model?

Select	Answer
A	AC voltage and impedance
B	AC current and impedance
C	HF propagation
D	VHF radio propagation

16. - E4A06

What is the effect of aliasing on a digital oscilloscope caused by setting the time base too slow?

Select	Answer
A	All signals will have a DC offset
B	Calibration of the vertical scale is no longer valid
C	Excessive blanking occurs, which prevents display of the signal
D	A false, jittery low-frequency version of the signal is displayed

17. - E4B11

Which of the following can be measured with a vector network analyzer?

Select	Answer
A	Reflection coefficient
B	All these choices are correct
C	Input impedance
D	Output impedance

18. - E4C10

What is an advantage of having a variety of receiver IF bandwidths from which to select?

Select	Answer
A	Receiver power consumption can be reduced when wider bandwidth is not required
B	Multiple frequencies can be received simultaneously if desired
C	The noise figure of the RF amplifier can be adjusted to match the modulation type, thus increasing receiver sensitivity
D	Receive bandwidth can be set to match the modulation bandwidth, maximizing signal-to-noise ratio and minimizing interference

19. - E4D07

Which of the following reduces the likelihood of receiver desensitization?

Select	Answer
A	Switch from fast AGC to slow AGC
B	Raise the receiver IF frequency
C	Decrease the RF bandwidth of the receiver
D	Increase the receiver front end gain

20. - E4E06

What is one type of electrical interference that might be caused by a nearby personal computer?

Select	Answer
A	The appearance of unstable modulated or unmodulated signals at specific frequencies
B	A whining type noise that continually pulses off and on
C	A loud AC hum in the audio output of your station receiver
D	A clicking noise at intervals of a few seconds

21. - E5A13

What is an effect of increasing Q in a series resonant circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Parasitic effects are minimized
B	Internal voltages increase
C	Fewer components are needed for the same performance
D	Phase shift can become uncontrolled

22. - E5B10

What is the relationship between the AC current through an inductor and the voltage across an inductor?

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

23. - E5C07

Where is the impedance of a pure resistance plotted on rectangular coordinates?

Select	Answer
A	On a line through the origin, slanted at 45 degrees
B	On the horizontal axis
C	On a horizontal line, offset vertically above the horizontal axis
D	On the vertical axis

24. - E5D03

What is microstrip?

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

25. - E6A11

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

Select	Answer
A	2
B	1
C	3
D	6

26. - E6B11

What is used to control the attenuation of RF signals by a PIN diode?

Select	Answer
A	A sub-harmonic pump signal
B	Forward DC bias current
C	Capacitance of an RF coupling capacitor
D	Reverse voltage larger than the RF signal

27. - E6C01

What is the function of hysteresis in a comparator?

Select	Answer
A	To increase the sensitivity
B	To allow the comparator to be used with AC input signals
C	To cause the output to change states continually
D	To prevent input noise from causing unstable output signals

28. - E6D01

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

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

29. - E6E01

Why is gallium arsenide (GaAs) useful for semiconductor devices operating at UHF and higher frequencies?

Select	Answer
A	Higher electron mobility
B	Higher noise figures
C	Lower transconductance
D	Lower junction voltage drop

30. - E6F09

What is the efficiency of a photovoltaic cell?

Select	Answer
A	The relative fraction of light that is converted to current
B	The open-circuit voltage divided by the short-circuit current under full illumination
C	The output RF power divided by the input DC power
D	Cost per kilowatt-hour generated

31. - E7A09

What logical operation is performed by an exclusive NOR gate?

Select	Answer
A	It produces logic 1 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 0 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. - E7B10

In Figure E7-1, what is the purpose of R1 and R2?

Select	Answer
A	Self bias
B	Load resistors
C	Feedback
D	Voltage divider bias

33. - E7C05

Which filter type is described as having ripple in the passband and a sharp cutoff?

Select	Answer
A	A Butterworth filter
B	A passive op-amp filter
C	A Chebyshev filter
D	An active LC filter

34. - E7D08

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

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

35. - E7E02

What is the function of a reactance modulator?

Select	Answer
A	To produce AM signals by using an electrically variable inductance or capacitance
B	To produce AM signals by using an electrically variable resistance
C	To produce PM or FM signals by using an electrically variable inductance or capacitance
D	To produce PM signals by using an electrically variable resistance

36. - E7F12

Which of the following is an advantage of a Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter vs an Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) digital filter?

Select	Answer
A	FIR filters can respond faster to impulses
B	FIR filters can delay all frequency components of the signal by the same amount
C	FIR filters are easier to implement for a given set of passband rolloff requirements
D	All these choices are correct

37. - E7G09

What will be the output voltage of the circuit shown in Figure E7-3 if R1 is 1000 ohms, RF is 10,000 ohms, and 0.23 volts DC is applied to the input?

Select	Answer
A	0.23 volts
B	2.3 volts
C	-0.23 volts
D	-2.3 volts

38. - E7H15

Which of these functions can be performed by a phase-locked loop?

Select	Answer
A	Frequency synthesis, FM demodulation
B	Photovoltaic conversion, optical coupling
C	Comparison of two digital input signals, digital pulse counter
D	Wide-band AF and RF power amplification

39. - E8A01

What is the name of the process that shows that a square wave is made up of a sine wave plus all its odd harmonics?

Select	Answer
A	Numerical analysis
B	Fourier analysis
C	Differential analysis
D	Vector analysis

40. - E8B01

What is the modulation index of an FM signal?

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

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 transmitting a special algorithm to the receiving station along with the data characters
C	By the receiving station repeating each block of three data characters
D	By varying the frequency shift of the transmitted signal according to a predefined algorithm

42. - E8D10

What are some of the differences between the Baudot digital code and ASCII?

Select	Answer
A	Baudot uses 6 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot has no letters/figures shift code, ASCII uses 2 letters/figures shift codes
B	Baudot uses 5 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot uses 2 characters as letters/figures shift codes, ASCII has no letters/figures shift code
C	Baudot uses 4 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot uses 1 character as a letters/figures shift code, ASCII has no letters/figures code
D	Baudot uses 7 data bits per character, ASCII uses 8; Baudot has no letters/figures shift code, ASCII uses 2 letters/figures shift codes

43. - E9A05

What is included in the total resistance of an antenna system?

Select	Answer
A	Radiation resistance plus space impedance
B	Transmission-line resistance plus radiation resistance
C	Radiation resistance plus loss resistance
D	Radiation resistance plus transmission resistance

44. - E9B03

In the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-1, what is the front-to-side ratio?

Select	Answer
A	24 dB
B	14 dB
C	12 dB
D	18 dB

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	50 ohms
C	300 ohms
D	450 ohms

46. - E9D04

Why should an HF mobile antenna loading coil have a high ratio of reactance to resistance?

Select	Answer
A	To swamp out harmonics
B	To lower the radiation angle
C	To minimize losses
D	To minimize the Q

47. - E9E09

Which of the following is used to shunt-feed a grounded tower at its base?

Select	Answer
A	Gamma match
B	All these choices are correct
C	Hairpin match
D	Double-bazooka match

48. - E9F09

What is the approximate physical length of a foam polyethylene dielectric coaxial transmission line that is electrically 1/4 wavelength long at 7.2 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	10.4 meters
B	5.2 meters
C	8.3 meters
D	6.9 meters

49. - E9G06

On the Smith chart shown in Figure E9-3, what is the name for the large outer circle on which the reactance arcs terminate?

Select	Answer
A	Prime axis
B	Polar axis
C	Impedance axis
D	Reactance axis

50. - E9H10

How can the output voltage of a multiple-turn receiving loop antenna be increased?

Select	Answer
A	By utilizing high impedance wire for the coupling loop
B	By increasing the number of turns and/or the area
C	By winding adjacent turns in opposing directions
D	By reducing the permeability of the loop shield

Figure E6-1

Figure E7-1

Figure E7-2

Figure E7-3

Figure E9-1

Figure E9-3