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

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1. - E0A04

When evaluating a site with multiple transmitters operating at the same time, the operators and licensees of which transmitters are responsible for mitigating over-exposure situations?

Select	Answer
A	Only commercial transmitters
B	Only the most powerful transmitter
C	Each transmitter operating with a duty cycle greater than 50 percent
D	Each transmitter that produces 5 percent or more of its MPE limit in areas where the total MPE limit is exceeded.

2. - E1A14

Except in some parts of Alaska, what is the maximum power permitted on the 630 meter band?

Select	Answer
A	100 watts PEP
B	1 watt EIRP
C	5 watts EIRP
D	50 watts PEP

3. - E1B12

What must the control operator of a repeater operating in the 70 cm band do if a radiolocation system experiences interference from that repeater?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	Cease operation or make changes to the repeater to mitigate the interference
C	File an FAA NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) with the repeater system's ERP, call sign, and six-character grid locator
D	Reduce the repeater antenna HAAT (Height Above Average Terrain)

4. - E1C13

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

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

5. - E1D06

What is the maximum permitted transmitter output power when operating a model craft by telecommand?

Select	Answer
A	100 watts
B	1 watt
C	2 watts
D	5 watts

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	Send the application form to the FCC and inform the FCC of the grade
D	Return the application document to the examinee

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	Full privileges, up to and including those of the Amateur Extra Class license, on the 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter bands
C	All privileges of the Amateur Extra Class license
D	None, they must obtain a U.S. license

8. - E2A09

What do the terms L band and S band specify regarding satellite communications?

Select	Answer
A	FM and Digital Store-and-Forward systems
B	The 2 meter and 70 centimeter bands
C	The 23 centimeter and 13 centimeter bands
D	Which sideband to use

9. - E2B11

What is the function of the Vertical Interval Signaling (VIS) code sent as part of an SSTV transmission?

Select	Answer
A	To identify the SSTV mode being used
B	To provide vertical synchronization
C	To lock the color burst oscillator in color SSTV images
D	To identify the call sign of the station transmitting

10. - E2C12

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

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

11. - E2D03

Which of the following digital modes is especially useful for EME communications?

Select	Answer
A	JT65
B	Olivia
C	PACTOR III
D	MSK144

12. - E2E10

Which of these digital modes has the narrowest bandwidth?

Select	Answer
A	MFSK16
B	PSK31
C	300-baud packet
D	170 Hz shift, 45-baud RTTY

13. - E3A10

Which type of atmospheric structure can create a path for microwave propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Dust devil
B	Temperature inversion
C	The jet stream
D	Wind shear

14. - E3B06

Which of the following amateur bands most frequently provides long-path propagation?

Select	Answer
A	80 meters
B	10 meters
C	20 meters
D	6 meters

15. - E3C12

How does the maximum range of ground-wave propagation change when the signal frequency is increased?

Select	Answer
A	It decreases
B	It peaks at roughly 14 MHz
C	It increases
D	It stays the same

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 wattmeter
C	A logic analyzer
D	A time-domain reflectometer

17. - E4B04

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

Select	Answer
A	S22
B	S12
C	S21
D	S11

18. - E4C13

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

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

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 minimum difference in dB between two signals which produce third-order intermodulation products greater than the noise floor
D	The difference in dB between the noise floor and the level of an incoming signal that will cause 1 dB of gain compression

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

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	44.72 MHz
D	1.78 MHz

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

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	Polar coordinates
B	Maidenhead grid
C	Faraday grid
D	Elliptical coordinates

24. - E5D11

What is the power factor of an RL circuit having a 60-degree phase angle between the voltage and the current?

Select	Answer
A	0.866
B	1.73
C	0.5
D	1.414

25. - E6A05

How does DC input impedance at the gate of a field-effect transistor compare with the DC input impedance of a bipolar transistor?

Select	Answer
A	They are both low impedance
B	An FET has higher input impedance
C	An FET has lower input impedance
D	They are both high impedance

26. - E6B03

What type of bias is required for an LED to emit light?

Select	Answer
A	Inductive bias
B	Reverse bias
C	Forward bias
D	Zero bias

27. - E6C03

What is tri-state logic?

Select	Answer
A	Proprietary logic devices manufactured by Tri-State Devices
B	Low-power logic devices designed to operate at 3 volts
C	Logic devices that utilize ternary math
D	Logic devices with 0, 1, and high-impedance output states

28. - E6D10

What is a primary advantage of using a toroidal core instead of a solenoidal core in an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Toroidal cores exhibit greater hysteresis
B	Toroidal cores confine most of the magnetic field within the core material
C	Toroidal cores make it easier to couple the magnetic energy into other components
D	Toroidal cores have lower Q characteristics

29. - E6E12

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

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

30. - E6F06

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

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

31. - E7A04

How many flip-flops are required to divide a signal frequency by 4?

Select	Answer
A	1
B	4
C	8
D	2

32. - E7B06

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

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

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. - E7D01

How does a linear electronic voltage regulator work?

Select	Answer
A	It eliminates the need for a pass transistor
B	The control element duty cycle is proportional to the line or load conditions
C	The conduction of a control element is varied to maintain a constant output voltage
D	It has a ramp voltage as its output

35. - E7E01

Which of the following can be used to generate FM phone emissions?

Select	Answer
A	A reactance modulator on the oscillator
B	A balanced modulator on the oscillator
C	A reactance modulator on the final amplifier
D	A balanced modulator on the audio amplifier

36. - E7F08

What is the function of decimation?

Select	Answer
A	Attenuating the signal
B	Removing unnecessary significant digits
C	Converting data to binary code decimal form
D	Reducing the effective sample rate by removing samples

37. - E7G01

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

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

38. - E7H07

How can an oscillator's microphonic responses be reduced?

Select	Answer
A	Mechanically isolate the oscillator circuitry from its enclosure
B	Increase the bias voltage
C	Reduce noise on the oscillator's power supply
D	Use NP0 capacitors

39. - E8A07

What determines the PEP-to-average power ratio of a single-sideband phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	The degree of carrier suppression
B	Amplifier gain
C	The frequency of the modulating signal
D	Speech characteristics

40. - E8B05

What is the deviation ratio of an FM-phone signal having a maximum frequency swing of plus-or-minus 5 kHz when the maximum modulation frequency is 3 kHz?

Select	Answer
A	1.67
B	0.167
C	0.6
D	60

41. - E8C09

Which digital code allows only one bit to change between sequential code values?

Select	Answer
A	Gray code
B	Binary Coded Decimal Code
C	Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code
D	Excess 3 code

42. - E8D09

What is considered an acceptable maximum IMD level for an idling PSK signal?

Select	Answer
A	-20 dB
B	+15 dB
C	+10 dB
D	-30 dB

43. - E9A13

What term describes station output, taking into account all gains and losses?

Select	Answer
A	Apparent power
B	Half-power bandwidth
C	Effective radiated power
D	Power factor

44. - E9B10

What is the principle of a Method of Moments analysis?

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

45. - E9C13

How does the radiation pattern of a horizontally polarized 3-element beam antenna vary with increasing height above ground?

Select	Answer
A	The horizontal beamwidth increases
B	The takeoff angle of the lowest elevation lobe increases
C	The horizontal beamwidth decreases
D	The takeoff angle of the lowest elevation lobe decreases

46. - E9D11

Which of the following conductors would be best for minimizing losses in a station's RF ground system?

Select	Answer
A	Solid wire
B	Stranded wire
C	Wide flat copper strap
D	Resistive wire, such as spark plug wire

47. - E9E04

What is the purpose of the series capacitor in a gamma-type antenna matching network?

Select	Answer
A	To cancel the inductive reactance of the matching network
B	To transform the antenna impedance to a higher value
C	To provide DC isolation between the feed line and the antenna
D	To provide a rejection notch that prevents the radiation of harmonics

48. - E9F10

What impedance does a 1/8-wavelength transmission line present to a generator when the line is shorted at the far end?

Select	Answer
A	A capacitive reactance
B	Zero
C	An inductive reactance
D	The same as the characteristic impedance of the line

49. - E9G08

What is the process of normalization with regard to a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Reassigning resistance values with regard to the reactance axis
B	Reassigning prime center with regard to the reactance axis
C	Reassigning impedance values with regard to the prime center
D	Reassigning reactance values with regard to the resistance axis

50. - E9H07

Why is RF attenuation used when direction-finding?

Select	Answer
A	To narrow the receiver bandwidth
B	To compensate for isotropic directivity and the antenna effect of feed lines
C	To increase receiver sensitivity
D	To prevent receiver overload which reduces pattern nulls