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. - E0A02

When evaluating RF exposure levels from your station at a neighbor's home, what must you do?

Select	Answer
A	Ensure signals from your station are less than the controlled Maximum Permitted Exposure (MPE) limits
B	Ensure signals from your station are less than the uncontrolled Maximum Permitted Emission (MPE) limits
C	Ensure signals from your station are less than the controlled Maximum Permitted Emission (MPE) limits
D	Ensure signals from your station are less than the uncontrolled Maximum Permitted Exposure (MPE) limits

2. - E1A08

If a station in a message forwarding system inadvertently forwards a message that is in violation of FCC rules, who is primarily accountable for the rules violation?

Select	Answer
A	The control operator of the packet bulletin board station
B	The control operators of all the stations in the system not authenticating the source from which they accept communications
C	The control operators of all the stations in the system
D	The control operator of the originating station

3. - E1B05

What is the National Radio Quiet Zone?

Select	Answer
A	An area in New Mexico surrounding the White Sands Test Area
B	An area surrounding the National Radio Astronomy Observatory
C	An area in Puerto Rico surrounding the Arecibo Radio Telescope
D	An area in Florida surrounding Cape Canaveral

4. - E1C01

What is the maximum bandwidth for a data emission on 60 meters?

Select	Answer
A	2.8 kHz
B	1.5 kHz
C	60 Hz
D	170 Hz

5. - E1D03

What is a space telecommand station?

Select	Answer
A	An amateur station located in a satellite or a balloon more than 50 kilometers above the surface of the Earth
B	An amateur station that receives telemetry from a satellite or balloon more than 50 kilometers above the surface of the Earth
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 that transmits communications to initiate, modify or terminate functions of a space station

6. - E1E12

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

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

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	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	The equipment dealer assembled it from a kit

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 23 centimeter and 13 centimeter bands
C	Which sideband to use
D	The 2 meter and 70 centimeter bands

9. - E2B01

How many times per second is a new frame transmitted in a fast-scan (NTSC) television system?

Select	Answer
A	30
B	120
C	90
D	60

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 only the last two letters of your call sign until you make contact
B	Send your full call sign and grid square
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 once or twice

11. - E2D01

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

Select	Answer
A	Hellschreiber
B	WSPR
C	MSK144
D	APRS

12. - E2E13

Which of these digital modes has the fastest data throughput under clear communication conditions?

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

13. - E3A12

What is the cause of auroral activity?

Select	Answer
A	The interaction in the F2 layer between the solar wind and the Van Allen belt
B	An extreme low-pressure area in the polar regions
C	Meteor showers concentrated in the extreme northern and southern latitudes
D	The interaction in the E layer of charged particles from the Sun with the Earth's magnetic field

14. - E3B01

What is transequatorial propagation?

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

15. - E3C03

Which of the following signal paths is most likely to experience high levels of absorption when the A index or K index is elevated?

Select	Answer
A	NVIS
B	Polar
C	Sporadic E
D	Transequatorial

16. - E4A05

What is the purpose of the prescaler function on a frequency counter?

Select	Answer
A	It divides a higher frequency signal so a low-frequency counter can display the input frequency
B	It amplifies low-level signals for more accurate counting
C	It prevents oscillation in a low-frequency counter circuit
D	It multiplies a higher frequency signal so a low-frequency counter can display the operating frequency

17. - E4B07

What do the subscripts of S parameters represent?

Select	Answer
A	The relative time between measurements
B	Frequency order of the measurements
C	Relative quality of the data
D	The port or ports at which measurements are made

18. - E4C09

Which of the following choices is a good reason for selecting a high frequency for the design of the IF in a superheterodyne HF or VHF communications receiver?

Select	Answer
A	Improved receiver noise figure
B	Easier for front-end circuitry to eliminate image responses
C	Fewer components in the receiver
D	Reduced drift

19. - E4D09

What is the purpose of the preselector in a communications receiver?

Select	Answer
A	To allow selection of the optimum RF amplifier device
B	To provide a range of AGC time constants
C	To increase rejection of signals outside the desired band
D	To store often-used frequencies

20. - E4E08

What current flows equally on all conductors of an unshielded multi-conductor cable?

Select	Answer
A	Return current
B	Differential-mode current
C	Reactive current only
D	Common-mode current

21. - E5A11

What is the half-power bandwidth of a resonant circuit that has a resonant frequency of 7.1 MHz and a Q of 150?

Select	Answer
A	157.8 Hz
B	47.3 kHz
C	23.67 kHz
D	315.6 Hz

22. - E5B07

What is the phase angle between the voltage across and the current through a series RLC circuit if XC is 500 ohms, R is 1 kilohm, and XL is 250 ohms?

Select	Answer
A	14.0 degrees with the voltage leading the current
B	68.2 degrees with the voltage leading the current
C	14.0 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
D	68.2 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 reactive component and the Y axis represents the resistive component
B	The X axis represents the resistive component and the Y axis represents the reactive component
C	The X axis represents the phase angle and the Y axis represents the magnitude
D	The X axis represents the magnitude and the Y axis represents the phase angle

24. - E5D08

How many watts are consumed in a circuit having a power factor of 0.6 if the input is 200VAC at 5 amperes?

Select	Answer
A	1600 watts
B	200 watts
C	1000 watts
D	600 watts

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	Alpha cutoff frequency
B	Corner frequency
C	Beta cutoff frequency
D	Alpha rejection frequency

26. - E6B09

What is a common use for point-contact diodes?

Select	Answer
A	As a constant voltage source
B	As a high-voltage rectifier
C	As an RF detector
D	As a constant current source

27. - E6C06

Why do CMOS digital integrated circuits have high immunity to noise on the input signal or power supply?

Select	Answer
A	The input switching threshold is about one-half the power supply voltage
B	The input switching threshold is about two times the power supply voltage
C	Bandwidth is very limited
D	Large bypass capacitance is inherent

28. - E6D03

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

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

29. - E6E06

What characteristics of the MMIC make it a popular choice for VHF through microwave circuits?

Select	Answer
A	The ability to retrieve information from a single signal even in the presence of other strong signals
B	Nearly infinite gain, very high input impedance, and very low output impedance
C	Controlled gain, low noise figure, and constant input and output impedance over the specified frequency range
D	Plate current that is controlled by a control grid

30. - E6F07

What is a solid-state relay?

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

31. - E7A09

What logical operation is performed by an exclusive NOR gate?

Select	Answer
A	It produces logic 0 at its output only if all inputs are logic 0
B	It produces logic 0 at its output if only one input is logic 1
C	It produces logic 1 at its output only if all inputs are logic 1
D	It produces logic 1 at its output if only one input is logic 1

32. - E7B04

Where on the load line of a Class A common emitter amplifier would bias normally be set?

Select	Answer
A	Approximately halfway between saturation and cutoff
B	Where the load line intersects the voltage axis
C	At a point where the bias resistor equals the load resistor
D	At a point where the load line intersects the zero bias current curve

33. - E7C09

What is a crystal lattice filter?

Select	Answer
A	A filter with narrow bandwidth and steep skirts made using quartz crystals
B	A power supply filter made with interlaced quartz crystals
C	A filter using lattice-shaped quartz crystals for high-Q performance
D	An audio filter made with four quartz crystals that resonate at 1 kHz intervals

34. - E7D01

How does a linear electronic voltage regulator work?

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

35. - E7E06

Why is de-emphasis commonly used in FM communications receivers?

Select	Answer
A	To reduce impulse noise reception
B	For compatibility with transmitters using phase modulation
C	To remove third-order distortion products
D	For higher efficiency

36. - E7F10

What aspect of receiver analog-to-digital conversion determines the maximum receive bandwidth of a Direct Digital Conversion SDR?

Select	Answer
A	Processor latency
B	Sample width in bits
C	Sample rate
D	Sample clock phase noise

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. - E7H03

How is positive feedback supplied in a Hartley oscillator?

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

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	Vector analysis
B	Fourier analysis
C	Numerical analysis
D	Differential analysis

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	0.6
B	0.167
C	60
D	1.67

41. - E8C05

What is the approximate bandwidth of a 13-WPM International Morse Code transmission?

Select	Answer
A	104 Hz
B	52 Hz
C	13 Hz
D	26 Hz

42. - E8D03

How does the spread spectrum technique of frequency hopping work?

Select	Answer
A	If interference is detected by the receiver it will signal the transmitter to wait until the frequency is clear
B	A binary bit stream is used to shift the phase of an RF carrier very rapidly in a pseudorandom sequence
C	If interference is detected by the receiver it will signal the transmitter to change frequencies
D	The frequency of the transmitted signal is changed very rapidly according to a pseudorandom sequence also used by the receiving station

43. - E9A01

What is an isotropic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A horizontally polarized antenna used to compare Yagi antennas
B	A theoretical, omnidirectional antenna used as a reference for antenna gain
C	A grounded antenna used to measure Earth conductivity
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 series of segments, each having a distinct value of voltage across it
B	A wire is modeled as a single sine-wave current generator
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 uniform value of current

45. - E9C05

Which of the following is a type of OCFD antenna?

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

46. - E9D05

What usually occurs if a Yagi antenna is designed solely for maximum forward gain?

Select	Answer
A	The front-to-back ratio increases
B	The frequency response is widened over the whole frequency band
C	The SWR is reduced
D	The front-to-back ratio decreases

47. - E9E11

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

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

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. - E9G10

What do the arcs on a Smith chart represent?

Select	Answer
A	Frequency
B	SWR
C	Points with constant reactance
D	Points with constant resistance

50. - E9H02

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

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