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

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1. - E0A08

What does SAR measure?

Select	Answer
A	The rate of RF energy reflected from stationary terrain
B	The rate at which RF energy is absorbed by the body
C	Signal Amplification Rating
D	Synthetic Aperture Ratio of the human body

2. - E1A04

With your transceiver displaying the carrier frequency of phone signals, you hear a DX station calling CQ on 3.601 MHz LSB. Is it legal to return the call using lower sideband on the same frequency?

Select	Answer
A	No, U.S. stations are not permitted to use phone emissions below 3.610 MHz
B	Yes, because the displayed frequency is within the 75 meter phone band segment
C	Yes, because the DX station initiated the contact
D	No, the sideband will extend beyond the edge of the phone band segment

3. - E1B08

What limitations may the FCC place on an amateur station if its signal causes interference to domestic broadcast reception, assuming that the receivers involved are of good engineering design?

Select	Answer
A	The amateur station must cease operation on all frequencies above 30 MHz
B	The amateur station must avoid transmitting during certain hours on frequencies that cause the interference
C	The amateur station must cease operation on all frequencies below 30 MHz
D	The amateur station must cease operation

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. - E1D07

Which HF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

Select	Answer
A	All HF bands
B	Only the 40, 20, 17, 15, and 10 meter bands
C	Only the 40, 30, 20, 15, 12, and 10 meter bands
D	Only the 40, 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10 meter bands

6. - E1E03

What is a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator?

Select	Answer
A	An organization that has entered into an agreement with the FCC to coordinate, prepare, and administer amateur operator license examinations
B	A person who has volunteered to prepare amateur operator license examinations
C	The person who has entered into an agreement with the FCC to be the VE session manager
D	A person who has volunteered to administer amateur operator license examinations

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

8. - E2A07

Which of the following types of signals can be relayed through a linear transponder?

Select	Answer
A	PSK and packet
B	FM and CW
C	SSB and SSTV
D	All these choices are correct

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	Sync amplitude
D	Tone frequency

10. - E2C08

Which of the following contacts may be confirmed through the U.S. QSL bureau system?

Select	Answer
A	Repeater contacts between U.S. club members
B	Special event contacts between stations in the U.S.
C	Contacts using tactical call signs
D	Contacts between a U.S. station and a non-U.S. station

11. - E2D09

What type of modulation is used for JT65 contacts?

Select	Answer
A	PSK
B	RTTY
C	IEEE 802.11
D	Multi-tone AFSK

12. - E2E12

How do ALE stations establish contact?

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

13. - E3A12

What is the cause of auroral activity?

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

14. - E3B04

What is meant by the terms "extraordinary" and "ordinary" waves?

Select	Answer
A	Long-path and short-path waves
B	Extraordinary waves describe rare long-skip propagation compared to ordinary waves, which travel shorter distances
C	Refracted rays and reflected waves
D	Independent waves created in the ionosphere that are elliptically polarized

15. - E3C06

By how much does the VHF/UHF radio horizon distance exceed the geometric horizon?

Select	Answer
A	By approximately 15 percent of the distance
B	By approximately 50 percent of the distance
C	By approximately four times the distance
D	By approximately twice the distance

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 multiplies a higher frequency signal so a low-frequency counter can display the operating frequency
D	It prevents oscillation in a low-frequency counter circuit

17. - E4B05

What three test loads are used to calibrate an RF vector network analyzer?

Select	Answer
A	50 ohms through 1/8 wavelength, 1/4 wavelength, and 1/2 wavelength of coaxial cable
B	Short circuit, open circuit, and 50 ohms
C	50 ohms, 75 ohms, and 90 ohms
D	Short circuit, open circuit, and resonant circuit

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	Fewer components in the receiver
B	Easier for front-end circuitry to eliminate image responses
C	Improved receiver noise figure
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 store often-used frequencies
C	To provide a range of AGC time constants
D	To increase rejection of signals outside the desired band

20. - E4E01

What problem can occur when using an automatic notch filter (ANF) to remove interfering carriers while receiving CW signals?

Select	Answer
A	Ringing in the DSP filter will completely remove the spaces between the CW characters
B	Any nearby signal passing through the DSP system will overwhelm the desired signal
C	Removal of the CW signal as well as the interfering carrier
D	Received CW signals will appear to be modulated at the DSP clock frequency

21. - E5A16

What is the resonant frequency of an RLC circuit if R is 33 ohms, L is 50 microhenries and C is 10 picofarads?

Select	Answer
A	23.5 MHz
B	23.5 kHz
C	7.12 kHz
D	7.12 MHz

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	440 seconds
B	220 seconds
C	110 seconds
D	55 seconds

23. - E5C06

What does the impedance 50-j25 represent?

Select	Answer
A	25 ohms resistance in series with 50 ohms inductive reactance
B	25 ohms resistance in series with 50 ohms capacitive reactance
C	50 ohms resistance in series with 25 ohms capacitive reactance
D	50 ohms resistance in series with 25 ohms inductive reactance

24. - E5D10

How can the true power be determined in an AC circuit where the voltage and current are out of phase?

Select	Answer
A	By multiplying the apparent power by the power factor
B	By multiplying the reactive power by the power factor
C	By dividing the reactive power by the power factor
D	By dividing the apparent power by the power factor

25. - E6A07

Which of the following indicates that a silicon NPN junction transistor is biased on?

Select	Answer
A	Base-to-emitter voltage of approximately 6 to 7 volts
B	Base-to-emitter resistance of approximately 0.6 to 0.7 ohms
C	Base-to-emitter voltage of approximately 0.6 to 0.7 volts
D	Base-to-emitter resistance of approximately 6 to 7 ohms

26. - E6B04

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

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

27. - E6C03

What is tri-state logic?

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

28. - E6D07

What is current in the primary winding of a transformer called if no load is attached to the secondary?

Select	Answer
A	Excitation current
B	Magnetizing current
C	Stabilizing current
D	Direct current

29. - E6E04

Which is the most common input and output impedance of circuits that use MMICs?

Select	Answer
A	450 ohms
B	10 ohms
C	50 ohms
D	300 ohms

30. - E6F05

Which describes an optical shaft encoder?

Select	Answer
A	A device for generating RTTY signals by means of a rotating light source
B	A device that measures the strength of a beam of light using analog to digital conversion
C	A device that detects rotation of a control by interrupting a light source with a patterned wheel
D	A digital encryption device often used to encrypt spacecraft control signals

31. - E7A10

What is a truth table?

Select	Answer
A	A table of logic symbols that indicate the high logic states of an op-amp
B	A list of inputs and corresponding outputs for a digital device
C	A diagram showing logic states when the digital device output is true
D	A table of logic symbols that indicate the logic states of an op-amp

32. - E7B10

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

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

33. - E7C08

Which of the following factors has the greatest effect on the bandwidth and response shape of a crystal ladder filter?

Select	Answer
A	The amplitude of the signals passing through the filter
B	The gain of the RF stage preceding the filter
C	The DC voltage applied to the quartz crystal
D	The relative frequencies of the individual crystals

34. - E7D03

What device is typically used as a stable voltage reference in a linear voltage regulator?

Select	Answer
A	An SCR
B	A varactor diode
C	A Zener diode
D	A tunnel diode

35. - E7E03

What is a frequency discriminator stage in a FM receiver?

Select	Answer
A	An automatic band-switching circuit
B	A circuit for filtering two closely adjacent signals
C	A circuit for detecting FM signals
D	An FM generator circuit

36. - E7F08

What is the function of decimation?

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

37. - E7G06

What is the gain-bandwidth of an operational amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	The frequency at which the open-loop gain of the amplifier equals one
B	The gain of the amplifier at a filter's cutoff frequency
C	The maximum frequency for a filter circuit using that type of amplifier
D	The frequency at which the amplifier's offset voltage is zero

38. - E7H13

Which of the following is a technique for providing highly accurate and stable oscillators needed for microwave transmission and reception?

Select	Answer
A	Use a rubidium stabilized reference oscillator
B	Use a GPS signal reference
C	Use a temperature-controlled high Q dielectric resonator
D	All these choices are correct

39. - E8A11

Which of the following is a measure of the quality of an analog-to-digital converter?

Select	Answer
A	Total harmonic distortion
B	Power factor
C	Reciprocal mixing
D	Peak envelope power

40. - E8B10

What is frequency division multiplexing?

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

41. - E8C08

How does ARQ accomplish error correction?

Select	Answer
A	If errors are detected, a retransmission is requested
B	Special binary codes provide automatic correction
C	Special polynomial codes provide automatic correction
D	If errors are detected, redundant data is substituted

42. - E8D08

What parameter evaluates distortion of an AFSK signal caused by excessive input audio levels?

Select	Answer
A	Baud rate
B	Repeat Request Rate (RRR)
C	Signal-to-noise ratio
D	Intermodulation Distortion (IMD)

43. - E9A01

What is an isotropic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A grounded antenna used to measure Earth conductivity
B	A spacecraft antenna used to direct signals toward Earth
C	A theoretical, omnidirectional antenna used as a reference for antenna gain
D	A horizontally polarized antenna used to compare Yagi antennas

44. - E9B02

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

Select	Answer
A	14 dB
B	36 dB
C	18 dB
D	24 dB

45. - E9C14

How does the performance of a horizontally polarized antenna mounted on the side of a hill compare with the same antenna mounted on flat ground?

Select	Answer
A	The main lobe takeoff angle decreases in the downhill direction
B	The horizontal beamwidth increases in the uphill direction
C	The horizontal beamwidth decreases in the downhill direction
D	The main lobe takeoff angle increases in the downhill direction

46. - E9D08

What happens as the Q of an antenna increases?

Select	Answer
A	SWR bandwidth decreases
B	Gain is reduced
C	SWR bandwidth increases
D	More common-mode current is present on the feed line

47. - E9E06

Which of these feed line impedances would be suitable for constructing a quarter-wave Q-section for matching a 100-ohm loop to 50-ohm feed line?

Select	Answer
A	50 ohms
B	62 ohms
C	450 ohms
D	75 ohms

48. - E9F11

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

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

49. - E9G02

What type of coordinate system is used in a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Resistance circles and reactance arcs
B	Resistance lines and reactance chords
C	Voltage lines and current chords
D	Voltage circles and current arcs

50. - E9H11

What feature of a cardioid pattern antenna makes it useful for direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	A very sharp single null
B	A very sharp peak
C	Broadband response
D	High radiation angle

Figure E7-1

Figure E9-1