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

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1. - E0A08

What does SAR measure?

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

2. - E1A06

Where must the carrier frequency of a CW signal be set to comply with FCC rules for 60 meter operation?

Select	Answer
A	On any frequency where the signal's sidebands are within the channel
B	At the lowest frequency of the channel
C	At the center frequency of the channel
D	At the highest frequency of the channel

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

4. - E1C05

When may an automatically controlled station originate third party communications?

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

5. - E1D09

Which UHF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

Select	Answer
A	70 cm and 33 cm
B	70 cm and 13 cm
C	70 cm only
D	33 cm and 13 cm

6. - E1E07

What should a VE do if a candidate fails to comply with the examiner's instructions during an amateur operator license examination?

Select	Answer
A	Immediately terminate everyone's examination and close the session
B	Warn the candidate that continued failure to comply will result in termination of the examination
C	Immediately terminate the candidate's examination
D	Allow the candidate to complete the examination, but invalidate the results

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	None, they must obtain a U.S. license
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	The operating terms and conditions of the Canadian amateur service license, not to exceed U.S. Amateur Extra Class license privileges

8. - E2A12

What is the purpose of digital store-and-forward functions on an amateur radio satellite?

Select	Answer
A	To relay messages between satellites
B	To delay download of telemetry between satellites
C	To store digital messages in the satellite for later download by other stations
D	To upload operational software for the transponder

9. - E2B09

What hardware, other than a receiver with SSB capability and a suitable computer, is needed to decode SSTV using Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM)?

Select	Answer
A	A special IF converter
B	No other hardware is needed
C	A special notch filter to remove synchronization pulses
D	A special front end limiter

10. - E2C03

From which of the following bands is amateur radio contesting generally excluded?

Select	Answer
A	2 meters
B	6 meters
C	30 meters
D	33 centimeters

11. - E2D01

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

Select	Answer
A	WSPR
B	MSK144
C	Hellschreiber
D	APRS

12. - E2E12

How do ALE stations establish contact?

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

13. - E3A01

What is the approximate maximum separation measured along the surface of the Earth between two stations communicating by EME?

Select	Answer
A	500 miles, if the moon is at perigee
B	5000 miles, if the moon is at perigee
C	12,000 miles, if the moon is visible by both stations
D	2000 miles, if the moon is at apogee

14. - E3B12

What is the primary characteristic of chordal hop propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Propagation away from the great circle bearing between stations
B	Propagation across the geomagnetic equator
C	Successive ionospheric refractions without an intermediate reflection from the ground
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. - E4A11

How should an antenna analyzer be connected when measuring antenna resonance and feed point impedance?

Select	Answer
A	Connect the antenna feed line directly to the analyzer's connector
B	Loosely couple the analyzer near the antenna base
C	Connect the analyzer via a high-impedance transformer to the antenna
D	Loosely couple the antenna and a dummy load to the analyzer

17. - E4B05

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

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

18. - E4C14

What transmit frequency might generate an image response signal in a receiver tuned to 14.300 MHz and that uses a 455 kHz IF frequency?

Select	Answer
A	14.445 MHz
B	15.210 MHz
C	14.755 MHz
D	13.845 MHz

19. - E4D11

Why are odd-order intermodulation products, created within a receiver, of particular interest compared to other products?

Select	Answer
A	Odd-order products of two signals in the band of interest are also likely to be within the band
B	Odd-order products are an indication of poor image rejection
C	Odd-order intermodulation produces three products for every input signal within the band of interest
D	Odd-order products overload the IF filters

20. - E4E01

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

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

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	7.12 kHz
B	23.5 MHz
C	23.5 kHz
D	7.12 MHz

22. - E5B06

What is susceptance?

Select	Answer
A	The imaginary part of admittance
B	The magnetic impedance of a circuit
C	A measure of the efficiency of a transformer
D	The ratio of magnetic field to electric field

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 magnitude and the Y axis represents the phase angle
D	The X axis represents the phase angle and the Y axis represents the magnitude

24. - E5D13

How many watts are consumed in a circuit consisting of a 100-ohm resistor in series with a 100-ohm inductive reactance drawing 1 ampere?

Select	Answer
A	70.7 watts
B	141.4 watts
C	100 watts
D	200 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	Corner frequency
B	Beta cutoff frequency
C	Alpha cutoff frequency
D	Alpha rejection frequency

26. - E6B02

What is an important characteristic of a Schottky diode as compared to an ordinary silicon diode when used as a power supply rectifier?

Select	Answer
A	Longer carrier retention time
B	Less forward voltage drop
C	More constant reverse avalanche voltage
D	Much higher reverse voltage breakdown

27. - E6C08

In Figure E6-3, what is the schematic symbol for a NAND gate?

Select	Answer
A	1
B	4
C	2
D	3

28. - E6D08

What is one reason for using powdered-iron cores rather than ferrite cores in an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Powdered-iron cores generally require fewer turns to produce a given inductance
B	Powdered-iron cores generally maintain their characteristics at higher currents
C	Powdered-iron cores use smaller diameter wire for the same inductance
D	Powdered-iron cores generally have greater initial permeability

29. - E6E07

What type of transmission line is used for connections to MMICs?

Select	Answer
A	Miniature coax
B	Circular waveguide
C	Parallel wire
D	Microstrip

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	The output RF power divided by the input DC power
C	Cost per kilowatt-hour generated
D	The relative fraction of light that is converted to current

31. - E7A05

Which of the following is a circuit that continuously alternates between two states without an external clock?

Select	Answer
A	T flip-flop
B	Monostable multivibrator
C	Astable multivibrator
D	J-K flip-flop

32. - E7B17

Why are odd-order rather than even-order intermodulation distortion products of concern in linear power amplifiers?

Select	Answer
A	Because they maintain the sidebands, thus causing multiple duplicate signals
B	Because they are relatively far in frequency from the desired signal
C	Because they are relatively close in frequency to the desired signal
D	Because they invert the sidebands causing distortion

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

34. - E7D06

What is the purpose of Q1 in the circuit shown in Figure E7-2?

Select	Answer
A	It controls the current supplied to the load
B	It provides negative feedback to improve regulation
C	It provides D1 with current
D	It provides a constant load for the voltage source

35. - E7E11

Which type of detector circuit is used for demodulating SSB signals?

Select	Answer
A	Phase detector
B	Product detector
C	Phase comparator
D	Discriminator

36. - E7F04

What is a common method of generating an SSB signal using digital signal processing?

Select	Answer
A	Signals are combined in quadrature phase relationship
B	A frequency synthesizer removes the unwanted sidebands
C	Mixing products are converted to voltages and subtracted by adder circuits
D	Varying quartz crystal characteristics emulated in digital form

37. - E7G08

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

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

38. - E7H03

How is positive feedback supplied in a Hartley oscillator?

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

39. - E8A05

What of the following instruments would be the most accurate for measuring the RMS voltage of a complex waveform?

Select	Answer
A	A D'Arsonval meter
B	A grid dip meter
C	A true-RMS calculating meter
D	An absorption wave meter

40. - E8B02

How does the modulation index of a phase-modulated emission vary with RF carrier frequency?

Select	Answer
A	It varies with the square root of the RF carrier frequency
B	It increases as the RF carrier frequency increases
C	It does not depend on the RF carrier frequency
D	It decreases as the RF carrier frequency increases

41. - E8C03

Why should phase-shifting of a PSK signal be done at the zero crossing of the RF signal?

Select	Answer
A	To improve carrier suppression
B	All these choices are correct
C	To minimize bandwidth
D	To simplify modulation

42. - E8D08

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

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

43. - E9A05

What is included in the total resistance of an antenna system?

Select	Answer
A	Radiation resistance plus transmission resistance
B	Radiation resistance plus loss resistance
C	Transmission-line resistance plus radiation resistance
D	Radiation resistance plus space impedance

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

45. - E9C04

What happens to the radiation pattern of an unterminated long wire antenna as the wire length is increased?

Select	Answer
A	The vertical angle increases
B	The front-to-back ratio decreases
C	The lobes align more in the direction of the wire
D	The lobes become more perpendicular to the wire

46. - E9D06

What happens to the SWR bandwidth when one or more loading coils are used to resonate an electrically short antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It is decreased
B	It is increased
C	It is unchanged if the loading coil is located at the feed point
D	It is unchanged if the loading coil is located at a voltage maximum point

47. - E9E11

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

Select	Answer
A	It allows single-band antennas to operate on other bands
B	It ensures that each driven element operates in concert with the others to create the desired antenna pattern
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. - 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	Electrical signals move more slowly in a coaxial cable than in air
C	The surge impedance is higher in a parallel feed line
D	The characteristic impedance is higher in a parallel feed line

49. - E9G11

How are the wavelength scales on a Smith chart calibrated?

Select	Answer
A	In fractions of transmission line electrical wavelength
B	In fractions of antenna electrical frequency
C	In fractions of antenna electrical wavelength
D	In fractions of transmission line electrical frequency

50. - E9H09

What is a Pennant antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A small, vertically oriented receiving antenna consisting of a triangular loop terminated in approximately 900 ohms
B	A form of rhombic antenna terminated in a variable capacitor to provide frequency diversity
C	A four-element, high-gain vertical array invented by George Pennant
D	A stealth antenna built to look like a flagpole

Figure E6-3

Figure E7-2