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

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1. - E0A01

What is the primary function of an external earth connection or ground rod?

Select	Answer
A	Reduce RF current flow between pieces of equipment
B	Reduce RFI to telephones and home entertainment systems
C	Lightning protection
D	Reduce received noise

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	At the center frequency of the channel
B	At the lowest frequency of the channel
C	On any frequency where the signal's sidebands are within 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	An Environmental Assessment must be submitted to the FCC
B	A proposal must be submitted to the National Park Service
C	A form FSD-15 must be submitted to the Department of the Interior
D	A letter of intent must be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency

4. - E1C07

At what level below a signal's mean power level is its bandwidth determined according to FCC rules?

Select	Answer
A	3 dB
B	6 dB
C	23 dB
D	26 dB

5. - E1D02

Which of the following may transmit special codes intended to obscure the meaning of messages?

Select	Answer
A	Telecommand signals from a space telecommand station
B	Data containing personal information
C	Auxiliary relay links carrying repeater audio
D	Binary control characters

6. - E1E04

Which of the following best describes the Volunteer Examiner accreditation process?

Select	Answer
A	The amateur operator applying must pass a VE examination administered by the FCC Enforcement Bureau
B	The procedure by which a VEC confirms that the VE applicant meets FCC requirements to serve as an examiner
C	The prospective VE obtains accreditation from the FCC
D	Each General, Advanced and Amateur Extra Class operator is automatically accredited as a VE when the license is granted

7. - E1F01

On what frequencies are spread spectrum transmissions permitted?

Select	Answer
A	Only on amateur frequencies above 50 MHz
B	Only on amateur frequencies above 420 MHz
C	Only on amateur frequencies above 222 MHz
D	Only on amateur frequencies above 144 MHz

8. - E2A02

Which of the following occurs when a satellite is using an inverting linear transponder?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	Doppler shift is reduced because the uplink and downlink shifts are in opposite directions
C	Signal position in the band is reversed
D	Upper sideband on the uplink becomes lower sideband on the downlink, and vice versa

9. - E2B07

What is the name of the signal component that carries color information in NTSC video?

Select	Answer
A	Spectral intensity
B	Chroma
C	Luminance
D	Hue

10. - E2C12

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

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

11. - E2D02

Which of the following is a good technique for making meteor scatter contacts?

Select	Answer
A	Short transmissions with rapidly repeated call signs and signal reports
B	All these choices are correct
C	Use of special digital modes
D	15-second timed transmission sequences with stations alternating based on location

12. - E2E13

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

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

13. - E3A01

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

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

14. - E3B03

What is the best time of day for transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Morning
B	Noon
C	Afternoon or early evening
D	Late at night

15. - E3C13

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

Select	Answer
A	Circular
B	Horizontal
C	Vertical
D	Elliptical

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	Connect the analyzer via a high-impedance transformer to the antenna
C	Loosely couple the analyzer near the antenna base
D	Loosely couple the antenna and a dummy load to the analyzer

17. - E4B02

What is the significance of voltmeter sensitivity expressed in ohms per volt?

Select	Answer
A	When used as an ohmmeter, the reading in ohms divided by the ohms per volt rating will determine the voltage applied to the circuit
B	The full scale reading of the voltmeter multiplied by its ohms per volt rating will indicate the input impedance of the voltmeter
C	When used as a galvanometer, the reading in volts multiplied by the ohms per volt rating will determine the power drawn by the device under test
D	When used as an ammeter, the full scale reading in amps divided by ohms per volt rating will determine the size of shunt needed

18. - E4C07

What does the MDS of a receiver represent?

Select	Answer
A	The multiplex distortion stability
B	The meter display sensitivity
C	The maximum detectable spectrum
D	The minimum discernible signal

19. - E4D05

What transmitter frequencies would cause an intermodulation-product signal in a receiver tuned to 146.70 MHz when a nearby station transmits on 146.52 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	146.10 MHz and 147.30 MHz
B	146.34 MHz and 146.61 MHz
C	146.88 MHz and 146.34 MHz
D	173.35 MHz and 139.40 MHz

20. - E4E05

How can radio frequency interference from an AC motor be suppressed?

Select	Answer
A	By installing a bypass capacitor in series with the motor leads
B	By installing a brute-force AC-line filter in series with the motor leads
C	By installing a high-pass filter in series with the motor's power leads
D	By using a ground-fault current interrupter in the circuit used to power the motor

21. - E5A07

What is the magnitude of the current at the input of a parallel RLC circuit at resonance?

Select	Answer
A	Maximum
B	L/R
C	Minimum
D	R/L

22. - E5B01

What is the term for the time required for the capacitor in an RC circuit to be charged to 63.2% of the applied voltage or to discharge to 36.8% of its initial voltage?

Select	Answer
A	One time constant
B	An exponential rate of one
C	One exponential period
D	A time factor of one

23. - E5C05

What is the name of the diagram used to show the phase relationship between impedances at a given frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Phasor diagram
B	Venn diagram
C	Far field diagram
D	Near field diagram

24. - E5D14

What is reactive power?

Select	Answer
A	Power lost because of capacitor leakage
B	Power consumed in wire resistance in an inductor
C	Power consumed in circuit Q
D	Wattless, nonproductive power

25. - E6A12

Why do many MOSFET devices have internally connected Zener diodes on the gates?

Select	Answer
A	To keep the gate voltage within specifications and prevent the device from overheating
B	To protect the substrate from excessive voltages
C	To reduce the chance of static damage to the gate
D	To provide a voltage reference for the correct amount of reverse-bias gate voltage

26. - E6B03

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

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

27. - E6C10

In Figure E6-3, what is the schematic symbol for a NOR gate?

Select	Answer
A	3
B	4
C	2
D	1

28. - E6D05

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

Select	Answer
A	Ferrite toroids generally have lower initial permeability
B	Ferrite toroids generally require fewer turns to produce a given inductance value
C	Ferrite toroids generally have better temperature stability
D	Ferrite toroids are easier to use with surface mount technology

29. - E6E04

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

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

30. - E6F08

Why are optoisolators often used in conjunction with solid-state circuits when switching 120 VAC?

Select	Answer
A	Optoisolators provide impedance matching between the control circuit and power circuit
B	Optoisolators provide a very high degree of electrical isolation between a control circuit and the circuit being switched
C	Optoisolators eliminate the effects of reflected light in the control circuit
D	Optoisolators provide a low impedance link between a control circuit and a power circuit

31. - E7A11

What type of logic defines "1" as a high voltage?

Select	Answer
A	Negative logic
B	Reverse Logic
C	Assertive Logic
D	Positive Logic

32. - E7B01

For what portion of the signal cycle does each active element in a push-pull Class AB amplifier conduct?

Select	Answer
A	Exactly 180 degrees
B	The entire cycle
C	More than 180 degrees but less than 360 degrees
D	Less than 180 degrees

33. - E7C12

What is one advantage of a Pi-matching network over an L-matching network consisting of a single inductor and a single capacitor?

Select	Answer
A	The Q of Pi-networks can be controlled
B	Pi-networks are more stable
C	L-networks cannot perform impedance transformation
D	Pi-networks provide balanced input and output

34. - E7D15

What is the purpose of a step-start circuit in a high-voltage power supply?

Select	Answer
A	To compensate for variations of the incoming line voltage
B	To allow the filter capacitors to charge gradually
C	To provide a dual-voltage output for reduced power applications
D	To allow for remote control of the power supply

35. - E7E07

What is meant by the term "baseband" in radio communications?

Select	Answer
A	The basic oscillator frequency in an FM transmitter that is multiplied to increase the deviation and carrier frequency
B	The unmodulated bandwidth of the transmitted signal
C	The frequency range occupied by a message signal prior to modulation
D	The lowest frequency band that the transmitter or receiver covers

36. - E7F07

What function is performed by a Fast Fourier Transform?

Select	Answer
A	Converting 8-bit data to 16-bit data
B	Converting digital signals to analog form
C	Converting analog signals to digital form
D	Converting digital signals from the time domain to the frequency domain

37. - E7G01

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

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

38. - E7H03

How is positive feedback supplied in a Hartley oscillator?

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

39. - E8A07

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

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

40. - E8B06

What is the deviation ratio of an FM-phone signal having a maximum frequency swing of plus or minus 7.5 kHz when the maximum modulation frequency is 3.5 kHz?

Select	Answer
A	0.47
B	47
C	2.14
D	0.214

41. - E8C11

What is the relationship between symbol rate and baud?

Select	Answer
A	Baud is twice the symbol rate
B	They are the same
C	Symbol rate is only used for packet-based modes
D	Baud is only used for RTTY

42. - E8D11

What is one advantage of using ASCII code for data communications?

Select	Answer
A	It contains fewer information bits per character than any other code
B	It includes built-in error correction features
C	It uses one character as a shift code to send numeric and special characters
D	It is possible to transmit both upper and lower case text

43. - E9A07

What is the effective isotropic radiated power of a repeater station with 200 watts transmitter power output, 2 dB feed line loss, 2.8 dB duplexer loss, 1.2 dB circulator loss, and 7 dBi antenna gain?

Select	Answer
A	63.2 watts
B	159 watts
C	252 watts
D	632 watts

44. - E9B02

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

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

45. - E9C07

What is the approximate feed point impedance at the center of a two-wire folded dipole antenna?

Select	Answer
A	72 ohms
B	300 ohms
C	50 ohms
D	450 ohms

46. - E9D11

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

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

47. - E9E04

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

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

48. - E9F13

What impedance does a 1/4-wavelength transmission line present to a generator when the line is shorted at the far end?

Select	Answer
A	The same as the generator output impedance
B	Very high impedance
C	Very low impedance
D	The same as the characteristic impedance of the transmission line

49. - E9G05

Which of the following is a common use for a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Determine the gain of an antenna given the physical and electrical parameters
B	Determine the impedance of a transmission line, given the physical dimensions
C	Determine the loss/100 feet of a transmission line, given the velocity factor and conductor materials
D	Determine the length and position of an impedance matching stub

50. - E9H06

What is the triangulation method of direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	A fixed receiving station plots three headings to the signal source
B	The geometric angles of sky waves from the source are used to determine its position
C	A fixed receiving station uses three different antennas to plot the location of the signal source
D	Antenna headings from several different receiving locations are used to locate the signal source

Figure E6-3

Figure E9-1