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

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1. - E0A10

What toxic material may be present in some electronic components such as high voltage capacitors and transformers?

Select	Answer
A	Polymorphic silicon
B	Polychlorinated biphenyls
C	Polytetrafluoroethylene
D	Polyethylene

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

3. - E1B02

Which of the following is an acceptable bandwidth for Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) based voice or SSTV digital transmissions made on the HF amateur bands?

Select	Answer
A	10 kHz
B	20 kHz
C	3 kHz
D	15 kHz

4. - E1C14

How long must an operator wait after filing a notification with the Utilities Technology Council (UTC) before operating on the 2200 meter or 630 meter band?

Select	Answer
A	Operators may operate after 30 days, providing they have not been told that their station is within 1 km of PLC systems using those frequencies
B	Operators may not operate until a test signal has been transmitted in coordination with the local power company
C	Operations may commence immediately, and may continue unless interference is reported by the UTC
D	Operators must not operate until approval is received

5. - E1D02

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

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

6. - E1E08

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

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

7. - E1F10

Who may be the control operator of an auxiliary station?

Select	Answer
A	Only Technician, General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators
B	Any licensed amateur operator
C	Only Amateur Extra Class operators
D	Only General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators

8. - E2A08

Why should effective radiated power to a satellite that uses a linear transponder be limited?

Select	Answer
A	To avoid reducing the downlink power to all other users
B	To prevent the satellite from emitting out-of-band signals
C	To avoid interfering with terrestrial QSOs
D	To prevent creating errors in the satellite telemetry

9. - E2B10

What aspect of an analog slow-scan television signal encodes the brightness of the picture?

Select	Answer
A	Sync frequency
B	Tone amplitude
C	Tone frequency
D	Sync amplitude

10. - E2C04

Which of the following frequencies are sometimes used for amateur radio mesh networks?

Select	Answer
A	The 60 meter band channel centered on 5373 kHz
B	Cable TV channels 41 through 43
C	Frequencies shared with various unlicensed wireless data services
D	HF frequencies where digital communications are permitted

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	Ultrasonics
D	Bandwidth compressed LORAN

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 radios send a constant tone code to establish a frequency for future use
C	ALE constantly scans a list of frequencies, activating the radio when the designated call sign is received
D	ALE radios activate when they hear their signal echoed by back scatter

13. - E3A06

What might help to restore contact when DX signals become too weak to copy across an entire HF band a few hours after sunset?

Select	Answer
A	Wait 24 hours before attempting another communication on the band
B	Switch to a higher frequency HF band
C	Switch to a lower frequency HF band
D	Wait 90 minutes or so for the signal degradation to pass

14. - E3B06

Which of the following amateur bands most frequently provides long-path propagation?

Select	Answer
A	10 meters
B	80 meters
C	20 meters
D	6 meters

15. - E3C06

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

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

16. - E4A11

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

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

17. - E4B11

Which of the following can be measured with a vector network analyzer?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	Output impedance
C	Reflection coefficient
D	Input impedance

18. - E4C10

What is an advantage of having a variety of receiver IF bandwidths from which to select?

Select	Answer
A	Receiver power consumption can be reduced when wider bandwidth is not required
B	Multiple frequencies can be received simultaneously if desired
C	Receive bandwidth can be set to match the modulation bandwidth, maximizing signal-to-noise ratio and minimizing interference
D	The noise figure of the RF amplifier can be adjusted to match the modulation type, thus increasing receiver sensitivity

19. - E4D09

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

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

20. - E4E02

Which of the following types of noise can often be reduced with a digital signal processing noise filter?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	Power line noise
C	Ignition noise
D	Broadband white noise

21. - E5A09

How is the Q of an RLC parallel resonant circuit calculated?

Select	Answer
A	Reactance of either the inductance or capacitance multiplied by the resistance
B	Reactance of the inductance multiplied by the reactance of the capacitance
C	Reactance of either the inductance or capacitance divided by the resistance
D	Resistance divided by the reactance of either the inductance or capacitance

22. - E5B11

What is the phase angle between the voltage across and the current through a series RLC circuit if XC is 25 ohms, R is 100 ohms, and XL is 50 ohms?

Select	Answer
A	76 degrees with the voltage leading the current
B	14 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
C	14 degrees with the voltage leading the current
D	76 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 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. - E5D01

What is the result of skin effect?

Select	Answer
A	As frequency decreases, RF current flows in a thinner layer of the conductor, closer to the surface
B	Thermal effects on the surface of the conductor decrease the impedance
C	Thermal effects on the surface of the conductor increase the impedance
D	As frequency increases, RF current flows in a thinner layer of the conductor, closer to the surface

25. - E6A11

In Figure E6-1, what is the schematic symbol for a P-channel junction FET?

Select	Answer
A	6
B	1
C	2
D	3

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

27. - E6C06

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

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

28. - E6D03

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

Select	Answer
A	Generation of electrical energy 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	Increased conductivity in the presence of light

29. - E6E04

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

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

30. - E6F10

What is the most common type of photovoltaic cell used for electrical power generation?

Select	Answer
A	Silicon
B	Cadmium Sulfide
C	Copper oxide
D	Selenium

31. - E7A06

What is a characteristic of a monostable multivibrator?

Select	Answer
A	It produces a continuous square wave oscillating between 1 and 0
B	It switches momentarily to the opposite binary state and then returns to its original state after a set time
C	It stores one bit of data in either a 0 or 1 state
D	It maintains a constant output voltage, regardless of variations in the input voltage

32. - E7B07

Which of the following is a likely result when a Class C amplifier is used to amplify a single-sideband phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	Reduced intermodulation products
B	Increased overall intelligibility
C	Signal inversion
D	Signal distortion and excessive bandwidth

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

34. - E7D11

What is the function of the pass transistor in a linear voltage regulator circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Permits a wide range of output voltage settings
B	Maintains nearly constant output impedance over a wide range of load current
C	Maintains nearly constant output voltage over a wide range of load current
D	Provides a stable input impedance over a wide range of source voltage

35. - E7E03

What is a frequency discriminator stage in a FM receiver?

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

36. - E7F11

What sets the minimum detectable signal level for a direct-sampling SDR receiver in the absence of atmospheric or thermal noise?

Select	Answer
A	Missing codes and jitter
B	Reference voltage level and sample width in bits
C	Data storage transfer 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	Increase both gain and Q
B	Restrict Q but increase gain
C	Restrict both gain and Q
D	Restrict gain but increase Q

38. - E7H03

How is positive feedback supplied in a Hartley oscillator?

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

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	256
C	8
D	8 multiplied by the gain of the input amplifier

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

41. - E8C05

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

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

42. - E8D09

What is considered an acceptable maximum IMD level for an idling PSK signal?

Select	Answer
A	-30 dB
B	+10 dB
C	+15 dB
D	-20 dB

43. - E9A10

Which of the following improves the efficiency of a ground-mounted quarter-wave vertical antenna?

Select	Answer
A	Installing a radial system
B	Shortening the radiating element
C	Isolating the coax shield from ground
D	All these choices are correct

44. - E9B03

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

Select	Answer
A	12 dB
B	18 dB
C	24 dB
D	14 dB

45. - E9C12

Which of the following describes an Extended Double Zepp antenna?

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

46. - E9D09

What is the function of a loading coil used as part of an HF mobile antenna?

Select	Answer
A	To lower the losses
B	To cancel capacitive reactance
C	To increase the SWR bandwidth
D	To lower the Q

47. - E9E03

What is the name of the matching system that uses a section of transmission line connected in parallel with the feed line at or near the feed point?

Select	Answer
A	The delta match
B	The omega match
C	The stub match
D	The gamma match

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

49. - E9G02

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

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

50. - E9H03

What is Receiving Directivity Factor (RDF)?

Select	Answer
A	Relative directivity compared to a dipole
B	Forward gain compared to the gain in the reverse direction
C	Forward gain compared to average gain over the entire hemisphere
D	Relative directivity compared to isotropic

Figure E6-1

Figure E9-1