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

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1. - E0A03

Over what range of frequencies are the FCC human body RF exposure limits most restrictive?

Select	Answer
A	3 to 30 MHz
B	30 to 300 MHz
C	300 to 3000 MHz
D	300 kHz to 3 MHz

2. - E1A12

What special operating frequency restrictions are imposed on slow scan TV transmissions?

Select	Answer
A	They are not permitted above 54 MHz
B	They are restricted to phone band segments
C	None; they are allowed on all amateur frequencies
D	They are restricted to 7.245 MHz, 14.245 MHz, 21.345 MHz, and 28.945 MHz

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

4. - E1C05

When may an automatically controlled station originate third party communications?

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

5. - E1D03

What is a space telecommand station?

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

6. - E1E04

Which of the following best describes the Volunteer Examiner accreditation process?

Select	Answer
A	Each General, Advanced and Amateur Extra Class operator is automatically accredited as a VE when the license is granted
B	The procedure by which a VEC confirms that the VE applicant meets FCC requirements to serve as an examiner
C	The prospective VE obtains accreditation from the FCC
D	The amateur operator applying must pass a VE examination administered by the FCC Enforcement Bureau

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

8. - E2A01

What is the direction of an ascending pass for an amateur satellite?

Select	Answer
A	From west to east
B	From east to west
C	From north to south
D	From south to north

9. - E2B07

What is the name of the signal component that carries color information in NTSC video?

Select	Answer
A	Spectral intensity
B	Luminance
C	Chroma
D	Hue

10. - E2C11

How should you generally identify your station when attempting to contact a DX station during a contest or in a pileup?

Select	Answer
A	Send your full call sign once or twice
B	Send only the last two letters of your call sign until you make contact
C	Send the call sign of the DX station three times, the words this is,then your call sign three times
D	Send your full call sign and grid square

11. - E2D08

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

Select	Answer
A	Connect
B	Disconnect
C	Acknowledgement
D	Unnumbered Information

12. - E2E11

What is the difference between direct FSK and audio FSK?

Select	Answer
A	Direct FSK can transmit faster baud rates
B	Direct FSK applies the data signal to the transmitter VFO, while AFSK transmits tones via phone
C	Direct FSK occupies less bandwidth
D	Only direct FSK can be decoded by computer

13. - E3A06

What might help to restore contact when DX signals become too weak to copy across an entire HF band a few hours after sunset?

Select	Answer
A	Wait 24 hours before attempting another communication on the band
B	Switch to a higher frequency HF band
C	Wait 90 minutes or so for the signal degradation to pass
D	Switch to a lower frequency HF band

14. - E3B12

What is the primary characteristic of chordal hop propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Successive ionospheric refractions without an intermediate reflection from the ground
B	Propagation away from the great circle bearing between stations
C	Propagation across the geomagnetic equator
D	Signals reflected back toward the transmitting station

15. - E3C02

What is indicated by a rising A or K index?

Select	Answer
A	An increase in the critical frequency
B	Decreasing disruption of the geomagnetic field
C	Increasing disruption of the geomagnetic field
D	Higher levels of solar UV radiation

16. - E4A07

Which of the following is an advantage of using an antenna analyzer compared to an SWR bridge to measure antenna SWR?

Select	Answer
A	Antenna analyzers display a time-varying representation of the modulation envelope
B	Antenna analyzers automatically tune your antenna for resonance
C	Antenna analyzers do not need an external RF source
D	All these choices are correct

17. - E4B08

Which of the following can be used to measure the Q of a series-tuned circuit?

Select	Answer
A	The resonant frequency of the circuit
B	The inductance to capacitance ratio
C	The bandwidth of the circuit's frequency response
D	The frequency shift

18. - E4C13

How does a narrow-band roofing filter affect receiver performance?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	It improves sensitivity by reducing front end noise
C	It improves dynamic range by attenuating strong signals near the receive frequency
D	It improves intelligibility by using low Q circuitry to reduce ringing

19. - E4D01

What is meant by the blocking dynamic range of a receiver?

Select	Answer
A	The difference in dB between the noise floor and the third-order intercept point
B	The minimum difference in dB between the levels of two FM signals that will cause one signal to block the other
C	The difference in dB between the noise floor and the level of an incoming signal that will cause 1 dB of gain compression
D	The minimum difference in dB between two signals which produce third-order intermodulation products greater than the noise floor

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

21. - E5A13

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

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

22. - E5B04

What is the time constant of a circuit having two 220-microfarad capacitors and two 1-megohm resistors, all in parallel?

Select	Answer
A	220 seconds
B	55 seconds
C	110 seconds
D	440 seconds

23. - E5C10

Which point on Figure E5-1 best represents the impedance of a series circuit consisting of a 400-ohm resistor and a 38-picofarad capacitor at 14 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	Point 6
B	Point 5
C	Point 4
D	Point 2

24. - E5D04

Why are short connections used at microwave frequencies?

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

25. - E6A11

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

Select	Answer
A	2
B	1
C	6
D	3

26. - E6B04

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

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

27. - E6C10

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

Select	Answer
A	2
B	3
C	4
D	1

28. - E6D03

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

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

29. - E6E03

Which of the following materials is likely to provide the highest frequency of operation when used in MMICs?

Select	Answer
A	Silicon
B	Silicon nitride
C	Silicon dioxide
D	Gallium nitride

30. - E6F07

What is a solid-state relay?

Select	Answer
A	A mechanical relay that latches in the on or off state each time it is pulsed
B	A relay using transistors to drive the relay coil
C	A device that uses semiconductors to implement the functions of an electromechanical relay
D	A semiconductor passive delay line

31. - E7A06

What is a characteristic of a monostable multivibrator?

Select	Answer
A	It maintains a constant output voltage, regardless of variations in the input voltage
B	It stores one bit of data in either a 0 or 1 state
C	It switches momentarily to the opposite binary state and then returns to its original state after a set time
D	It produces a continuous square wave oscillating between 1 and 0

32. - E7B13

Which of the following describes an emitter follower (or common collector) amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	A two-transistor amplifier with the emitters sharing a common bias resistor
B	An OR circuit with only one emitter used for output
C	A differential amplifier with both inputs fed to the emitter of the input transistor
D	An amplifier with a low impedance output that follows the base input voltage

33. - E7C06

What are the distinguishing features of an elliptical filter?

Select	Answer
A	Gradual passband rolloff with extreme stop band ripple
B	Extremely flat response over its pass band with gradually rounded stop band corners
C	Extremely sharp cutoff with one or more notches in the stop band
D	Gradual passband rolloff with minimal stop band ripple

34. - E7D09

What is the main reason to use a charge controller with a solar power system?

Select	Answer
A	Prevention of battery damage due to overcharge
B	Prevention of battery undercharge
C	Control of electrolyte levels during battery discharge
D	Matching of day and night charge rates

35. - E7E07

What is meant by the term "baseband" in radio communications?

Select	Answer
A	The lowest frequency band that the transmitter or receiver covers
B	The basic oscillator frequency in an FM transmitter that is multiplied to increase the deviation and carrier frequency
C	The unmodulated bandwidth of the transmitted signal
D	The frequency range occupied by a message signal prior to modulation

36. - E7F02

What kind of digital signal processing audio filter is used to remove unwanted noise from a received SSB signal?

Select	Answer
A	An adaptive filter
B	A phase-inverting filter
C	A crystal-lattice filter
D	A Hilbert-transform filter

37. - E7G02

What is ringing in a filter?

Select	Answer
A	Undesired oscillations added to the desired signal
B	A reduction in high frequency response
C	Partial cancellation of the signal over a range of frequencies
D	An echo caused by a long time delay

38. - E7H05

How is positive feedback supplied in a Pierce oscillator?

Select	Answer
A	Through a neutralizing capacitor
B	Through a tapped coil
C	Through link coupling
D	Through a quartz crystal

39. - E8A09

How many different input levels can be encoded by an analog-to-digital converter with 8-bit resolution?

Select	Answer
A	8
B	256
C	8 multiplied by the gain of the input amplifier
D	256 divided by the gain of the input amplifier

40. - E8B10

What is frequency division multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	The transmitted signal is divided into packets of information
B	Two or more information streams are merged into a baseband, which then modulates the transmitter
C	Two or more information streams are merged into a digital combiner, which then pulse position modulates the transmitter
D	The transmitted signal jumps from band to band at a predetermined rate

41. - E8C11

What is the relationship between symbol rate and baud?

Select	Answer
A	Symbol rate is only used for packet-based modes
B	Baud is only used for RTTY
C	Baud is twice the symbol rate
D	They are the same

42. - E8D04

What is the primary effect of extremely short rise or fall time on a CW signal?

Select	Answer
A	The generation of key clicks
B	The generation of RF harmonics
C	Limits data speed
D	More difficult to copy

43. - E9A04

Which of the following factors affect the feed point impedance of an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	The settings of an antenna tuner at the transmitter
B	Transmission line length
C	Antenna height
D	The input power level

44. - E9B07

How does the total amount of radiation emitted by a directional gain antenna compare with the total amount of radiation emitted from a theoretical isotropic antenna, assuming each is driven by the same amount of power?

Select	Answer
A	The radiation from the isotropic antenna is 2.15 dB stronger than that from the directional antenna
B	The total amount of radiation from the directional antenna is stronger by its front-to-back ratio
C	They are the same
D	The total amount of radiation from the directional antenna is increased by the gain of the antenna

45. - E9C05

Which of the following is a type of OCFD antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A remotely tunable dipole antenna using orthogonally controlled frequency diversity
B	A dipole fed approximately 1/3 the way from one end with a 4:1 balun to provide multiband operation
C	A multiband dipole antenna using one-way circular polarization for frequency diversity
D	A folded dipole center-fed with 300-ohm transmission line

46. - E9D01

How much does the gain of an ideal parabolic dish antenna change when the operating frequency is doubled?

Select	Answer
A	3 dB
B	4 dB
C	2 dB
D	6 dB

47. - E9E11

What is the primary purpose of phasing lines when used with an antenna having multiple driven elements?

Select	Answer
A	It prevents reflected power from traveling back down the feed line and causing harmonic radiation from the transmitter
B	It ensures that each driven element operates in concert with the others to create the desired antenna pattern
C	It creates a low-angle radiation pattern
D	It allows single-band antennas to operate on other bands

48. - E9F03

Why is the physical length of a coaxial cable transmission line shorter than its electrical length?

Select	Answer
A	Skin effect is less pronounced in the coaxial cable
B	The surge impedance is higher in a parallel feed line
C	The characteristic impedance is higher in a parallel feed line
D	Electrical signals move more slowly in a coaxial cable than in air

49. - E9G04

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

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

50. - E9H05

What is the main drawback of a small wire-loop antenna for direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	It has no clearly defined null
B	It has a bidirectional pattern
C	All these choices are correct
D	It is practical for use only on VHF and higher bands

Figure E5-1

Figure E6-1

Figure E6-3