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. - E0A06

Why are there separate electric (E) and magnetic (H) field MPE limits?

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

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

3. - E1B10

What frequencies are authorized to an amateur station operating under RACES rules?

Select	Answer
A	Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) channels
B	Specific segments in the amateur service MF, HF, VHF and UHF bands
C	All amateur service frequencies authorized to the control operator
D	Specific local government channels

4. - E1C12

On what portion of the 630 meter band are phone emissions permitted?

Select	Answer
A	The entire band
B	None
C	Only the top 3 kHz
D	Only the bottom 3 kHz

5. - E1D11

Which amateur stations are eligible to operate as Earth stations?

Select	Answer
A	Any amateur station whose licensee has filed a pre-space notification with the FCC's International Bureau
B	Any amateur station, subject to the privileges of the class of operator license held by the control operator
C	Only those of Amateur Extra Class operators
D	Only those of General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators

6. - E1E08

To which of the following examinees may a VE not administer an examination?

Select	Answer
A	Employees of the VE
B	Friends of the VE
C	All these choices are correct
D	Relatives of the VE as listed in the FCC rules

7. - E1F11

Which of the following best describes one of the standards that must be met by an external RF power amplifier if it is to qualify for a grant of FCC certification?

Select	Answer
A	It must satisfy the FCC's spurious emission standards when operated at the lesser of 1500 watts or its full output power
B	It must be capable of external RF switching between its input and output networks
C	It must exhibit a gain of 0 dB or less over its full output range
D	It must produce full legal output when driven by not more than 5 watts of mean RF input power

8. - E2A07

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

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

9. - E2B01

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

Select	Answer
A	120
B	30
C	60
D	90

10. - E2C08

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

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

11. - E2D04

What technology is used to track, in real time, balloons carrying amateur radio transmitters?

Select	Answer
A	APRS
B	Doppler shift of beacon signals
C	Bandwidth compressed LORAN
D	Ultrasonics

12. - E2E03

How is the timing of FT4 contacts organized?

Select	Answer
A	By exchanging ACK/NAK packets
B	It depends on the lunar phase
C	Alternating transmissions at 7.5 second intervals
D	Stations take turns on alternate days

13. - E3A04

What do Hepburn maps predict?

Select	Answer
A	Likelihood of rain scatter along cold or warm fronts
B	Probability of tropospheric propagation
C	Sporadic E propagation
D	Locations of auroral reflecting zones

14. - E3B10

Why is chordal hop propagation desirable?

Select	Answer
A	Atmospheric noise is lower in the direction of chordal hop propagation
B	The MUF for chordal hop propagation is much lower than for normal skip propagation
C	Signals travel faster along ionospheric chords
D	The signal experiences less loss compared to multi-hop using Earth as a reflector

15. - E3C13

What type of polarization is best for ground-wave propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Circular
B	Horizontal
C	Elliptical
D	Vertical

16. - E4A06

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

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

17. - E4B05

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

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

18. - E4C06

A CW receiver with the AGC off has an equivalent input noise power density of -174 dBm/Hz. What would be the level of an unmodulated carrier input to this receiver that would yield an audio output SNR of 0 dB in a 400 Hz noise bandwidth?

Select	Answer
A	-164 dBm
B	-148 dBm
C	-174 dBm
D	-155 dBm

19. - E4D04

Which of the following may reduce or eliminate intermodulation interference in a repeater caused by another transmitter operating in close proximity?

Select	Answer
A	Utilizing a Class C final amplifier
B	Utilizing a Class D final amplifier
C	A properly terminated circulator at the output of the repeater's transmitter
D	A band-pass filter in the feed line between the transmitter and receiver

20. - E4E07

Which of the following can cause shielded cables to radiate or receive interference?

Select	Answer
A	Tying all ground connections to a common point resulting in differential-mode currents in the shield
B	Use of braided shielding material
C	Common-mode currents on the shield and conductors
D	Low inductance ground connections at both ends of the shield

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. - 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. - 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 magnitude and the Y axis represents the phase angle
C	The X axis represents the phase angle and the Y axis represents the magnitude
D	The X axis represents the resistive component and the Y axis represents the reactive component

24. - E5D09

What happens to reactive power in an AC circuit that has both ideal inductors and ideal capacitors?

Select	Answer
A	It is dissipated in the formation of inductive and capacitive fields
B	It is dissipated as kinetic energy in the circuit
C	It is dissipated as heat in the circuit
D	It is repeatedly exchanged between the associated magnetic and electric fields, but is not dissipated

25. - E6A03

Why does a PN-junction diode not conduct current when reverse biased?

Select	Answer
A	Only N-type semiconductor material can conduct current
B	Holes in P-type material and electrons in the N-type material are separated by the applied voltage, widening the depletion region
C	Only P-type semiconductor material can conduct current
D	Excess holes in P-type material combine with the electrons in N-type material, converting the entire diode into an insulator

26. - E6B11

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

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

27. - E6C07

What best describes a pull-up or pull-down resistor?

Select	Answer
A	A resistor connected to the positive or negative supply line used to establish a voltage when an input or output is an open circuit
B	A resistor connected to an op-amp output that prevents signals from exceeding the power supply voltage
C	A resistor in a keying circuit used to reduce key clicks
D	A resistor that ensures that an oscillator frequency does not drift

28. - E6D01

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

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

29. - E6E02

Which of the following device packages is a through-hole type?

Select	Answer
A	PLCC
B	SOT
C	DIP
D	Ball grid array

30. - E6F09

What is the efficiency of a photovoltaic cell?

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

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. - E7B15

What is one way to prevent thermal runaway in a bipolar transistor amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	Use a resistor in series with the emitter
B	All these choices are correct
C	Neutralization
D	Select transistors with high beta

33. - E7C03

What advantage does a series-L Pi-L-network have over a series-L Pi-network for impedance matching between the final amplifier of a vacuum-tube transmitter and an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	Higher efficiency
B	Greater transformation range
C	Does not require a capacitor
D	Greater harmonic suppression

34. - E7D10

What is the primary reason that a high-frequency switching type high-voltage power supply can be both less expensive and lighter in weight than a conventional power supply?

Select	Answer
A	It uses a diode bridge rectifier for increased output
B	It uses a large power factor compensation capacitor to recover power from the unused portion of the AC cycle
C	The high frequency inverter design uses much smaller transformers and filter components for an equivalent power output
D	The inverter design does not require any output filtering

35. - E7E06

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

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

36. - E7F13

What is the function of taps in a digital signal processing filter?

Select	Answer
A	Provide incremental signal delays for filter algorithms
B	Provide access for debugging software
C	Select the point at which baseband signals are generated
D	To reduce excess signal pressure levels

37. - E7G08

How does the gain of an ideal operational amplifier vary with frequency?

Select	Answer
A	It does not vary with frequency
B	It increases linearly with increasing frequency
C	It decreases logarithmically with increasing frequency
D	It decreases linearly with increasing frequency

38. - E7H15

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

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

39. - E8A09

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

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

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

41. - E8C02

What is the definition of symbol rate in a digital transmission?

Select	Answer
A	The rate at which the waveform changes to convey information
B	The duration of each bit in a message sent over the air
C	The number of control characters in a message packet
D	The number of characters carried per second by the station-to-station link

42. - E8D10

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

Select	Answer
A	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
B	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
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. - E9A08

What is antenna bandwidth?

Select	Answer
A	The angle formed between two imaginary lines drawn through the element ends
B	The angle between the half-power radiation points
C	The frequency range over which an antenna satisfies a performance requirement
D	Antenna length divided by the number of elements

44. - E9B01

In the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-1, what is the beamwidth?

Select	Answer
A	50 degrees
B	25 degrees
C	30 degrees
D	75 degrees

45. - E9C12

Which of the following describes an Extended Double Zepp antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A center-fed 1.25-wavelength antenna (two 5/8-wave elements in phase)
B	A portable antenna erected using two push support poles
C	A wideband vertical antenna constructed from precisely tapered aluminum tubing
D	An end-fed folded dipole antenna

46. - E9D01

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

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

47. - E9E08

What is a use for a Wilkinson divider?

Select	Answer
A	It is used to feed low-impedance loads from a high-impedance source
B	It is used to divide power equally between two 50-ohm loads while maintaining 50-ohm input impedance
C	It divides the operating frequency of a transmitter signal so it can be used on a lower frequency band
D	It is used to feed high-impedance antennas from a low-impedance source

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	8.3 meters
B	5.2 meters
C	6.9 meters
D	10.4 meters

49. - E9G04

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

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

50. - E9H01

When constructing a Beverage antenna, which of the following factors should be included in the design to achieve good performance at the desired frequency?

Select	Answer
A	It should be one or more wavelengths long
B	Its overall length must not exceed 1/4 wavelength
C	It should be configured as a four-sided loop
D	It must be mounted more than 1 wavelength above ground

Figure E9-1