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

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1. - E0A09

Which insulating material commonly used as a thermal conductor for some types of electronic devices is extremely toxic if broken or crushed and the particles are accidentally inhaled?

Select	Answer
A	Beryllium Oxide
B	Mica
C	Uranium Hexafluoride
D	Zinc oxide

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

3. - E1B07

To what type of regulations does PRB-1 apply?

Select	Answer
A	Use of wireless devices in vehicles
B	State and local zoning
C	FAA tower height limits
D	Homeowners associations

4. - E1C05

When may an automatically controlled station originate third party communications?

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

5. - E1D10

Which amateur stations are eligible to be telecommand stations of space stations (subject to the privileges of the class of operator license held by the control operator of the station)?

Select	Answer
A	Any amateur station so designated by the space station licensee
B	Any amateur station so designated by the ITU
C	Any amateur station designated by NASA
D	All these choices are correct

6. - E1E02

Who does Part 97 task with maintaining the pools of questions for all U.S. amateur license examinations?

Select	Answer
A	The VEs
B	The ARRL
C	The FCC
D	The VECs

7. - E1F08

Which of the following types of amateur station communications are prohibited?

Select	Answer
A	Communications transmitted for hire or material compensation, except as otherwise provided in the rules
B	Communications that have religious content
C	Communications that have political content, except as allowed by the Fairness Doctrine
D	Communications in a language other than English

8. - E2A01

What is the direction of an ascending pass for an amateur satellite?

Select	Answer
A	From east to west
B	From west to east
C	From south to north
D	From north to south

9. - E2B01

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

Select	Answer
A	90
B	120
C	60
D	30

10. - E2C10

Why might a DX station state that they are listening on another frequency?

Select	Answer
A	To separate the calling stations from the DX station
B	All these choices are correct
C	To improve operating efficiency by reducing interference
D	Because the DX station may be transmitting on a frequency that is prohibited to some responding stations

11. - E2D02

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

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

12. - E2E04

What is indicated when one of the ellipses in an FSK crossed-ellipse display suddenly disappears?

Select	Answer
A	Selective fading has occurred
B	The mark and space signal have been inverted
C	The receiver has drifted 5 kHz from the desired receive frequency
D	One of the signal filters is saturated

13. - E3A07

Atmospheric ducts capable of propagating microwave signals often form over what geographic feature?

Select	Answer
A	Forests
B	Mountain ranges
C	Bodies of water
D	Urban areas

14. - E3B12

What is the primary characteristic of chordal hop propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Signals reflected back toward the transmitting station
B	Successive ionospheric refractions without an intermediate reflection from the ground
C	Propagation across the geomagnetic equator
D	Propagation away from the great circle bearing between stations

15. - E3C09

How does the intensity of an X3 flare compare to that of an X2 flare?

Select	Answer
A	10 percent greater
B	50 percent greater
C	Twice as great
D	Four times as great

16. - E4A07

Which of the following is an advantage of using an antenna analyzer compared to an SWR bridge to measure antenna SWR?

Select	Answer
A	Antenna analyzers do not need an external RF source
B	All these choices are correct
C	Antenna analyzers automatically tune your antenna for resonance
D	Antenna analyzers display a time-varying representation of the modulation envelope

17. - E4B01

Which of the following factors most affects the accuracy of a frequency counter?

Select	Answer
A	Time base accuracy
B	Input attenuator accuracy
C	Temperature coefficient of the logic
D	Decade divider accuracy

18. - E4C13

How does a narrow-band roofing filter affect receiver performance?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	It improves intelligibility by using low Q circuitry to reduce ringing
C	It improves sensitivity by reducing front end noise
D	It improves dynamic range by attenuating strong signals near the receive frequency

19. - E4D09

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

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

20. - E4E07

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

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

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	Resistance divided by the reactance of either the inductance or capacitance
D	Reactance of either the inductance or capacitance divided by the resistance

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

23. - E5C08

What coordinate system is often used to display the phase angle of a circuit containing resistance, inductive and/or capacitive reactance?

Select	Answer
A	Elliptical coordinates
B	Maidenhead grid
C	Polar coordinates
D	Faraday grid

24. - E5D05

What is the power factor of an RL circuit having a 30-degree phase angle between the voltage and the current?

Select	Answer
A	0.5
B	0.577
C	1.73
D	0.866

25. - E6A06

What is the beta of a bipolar junction transistor?

Select	Answer
A	The switching speed
B	The breakdown voltage of the base to collector junction
C	The change in collector current with respect to base current
D	The frequency at which the current gain is reduced to 0.707

26. - E6B10

In Figure E6-2, what is the schematic symbol for a light-emitting diode?

Select	Answer
A	1
B	5
C	7
D	6

27. - E6C02

What happens when the level of a comparator's input signal crosses the threshold?

Select	Answer
A	The comparator changes its output state
B	The feedback loop becomes unstable
C	The comparator enters latch-up
D	The IC input can be damaged

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 use smaller diameter wire for the same inductance
C	Powdered-iron cores generally maintain their characteristics at higher currents
D	Powdered-iron cores generally have greater initial permeability

29. - E6E04

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

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

30. - E6F03

What is the most common configuration of an optoisolator or optocoupler?

Select	Answer
A	An amplitude modulated helium-neon laser
B	A lens and a photomultiplier
C	An LED and a phototransistor
D	A frequency modulated helium-neon laser

31. - E7A01

Which circuit is bistable?

Select	Answer
A	An AND gate
B	A flip-flop
C	An OR gate
D	A bipolar amplifier

32. - E7B03

Which of the following components form the output of a class D amplifier circuit?

Select	Answer
A	A high-pass filter to compensate for low gain at low frequencies
B	A low-pass filter to remove switching signal components
C	A temperature compensating load resistor to improve linearity
D	A matched load resistor to prevent damage by switching transients

33. - E7C04

How does an impedance-matching circuit transform a complex impedance to a resistive impedance?

Select	Answer
A	It cancels the reactive part of the impedance and changes the resistive part to a desired value
B	Reactive currents are dissipated in matched resistances
C	It introduces transconductance to cancel the reactive part of impedance
D	It introduces negative resistance to cancel the resistive part of impedance

34. - E7D12

What is the dropout voltage of an analog voltage regulator?

Select	Answer
A	Maximum that the output voltage may decrease at rated load
B	Maximum output voltage drops when the input voltage is varied over its specified range
C	Minimum input voltage for rated power dissipation
D	Minimum input-to-output voltage required to maintain regulation

35. - E7E08

What are the principal frequencies that appear at the output of a mixer circuit?

Select	Answer
A	The two input frequencies along with their sum and difference frequencies
B	The square root of the product of input frequencies
C	Two and four times the original frequency
D	1.414 and 0.707 times the input frequency

36. - E7F14

Which of the following would allow a digital signal processing filter to create a sharper filter response?

Select	Answer
A	Complex phasor representations
B	Higher data rate
C	Double-precision math routines
D	More taps

37. - E7G04

What is meant by the "op-amp input offset voltage"?

Select	Answer
A	The differential input voltage needed to bring the open loop output voltage to zero
B	The output voltage of the op-amp minus its input voltage
C	The potential between the amplifier input terminals of the op-amp in an open loop condition
D	The difference between the output voltage of the op-amp and the input voltage required in the immediately following stage

38. - E7H01

What are three oscillator circuits used in amateur radio equipment?

Select	Answer
A	Colpitts, Hartley and Pierce
B	Pierce, Fenner and Beane
C	Taft, Pierce and negative feedback
D	Taft, Hartley and Pierce

39. - E8A02

Which of the following is a type of analog-to-digital conversion?

Select	Answer
A	Successive approximation
B	Phase reversal
C	Harmonic regeneration
D	Level shifting

40. - E8B04

What is the modulation index of an FM-phone signal having a maximum carrier deviation of plus or minus 6 kHz when modulated with a 2 kHz modulating frequency?

Select	Answer
A	6000
B	1/3
C	2000
D	3

41. - E8C11

What is the relationship between symbol rate and baud?

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

42. - E8D08

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

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

43. - E9A11

Which of the following factors determines ground losses for a ground-mounted vertical antenna operating in the 3 MHz to 30 MHz range?

Select	Answer
A	Soil conductivity
B	Take-off angle
C	The standing wave ratio
D	Distance from the transmitter

44. - E9B10

What is the principle of a Method of Moments analysis?

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

45. - E9C09

Which of the following describes a G5RV antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A wide band dipole using shorted coaxial cable for the radiating elements and fed with a�4:1 balun
B	A multi-band dipole antenna fed with coax and a balun through a selected length of open wire transmission line
C	A multi-band trap antenna
D	A phased array antenna consisting of multiple loops

46. - E9D11

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

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

47. - E9E05

How must an antenna's driven element be tuned to use a hairpin matching system?

Select	Answer
A	The driven element radiation resistance must be higher than the characteristic impedance of the transmission line
B	The driven element reactance must be capacitive
C	The driven element reactance must be inductive
D	The driven element resonance must be lower than the operating frequency

48. - E9F10

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

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

49. - E9G08

What is the process of normalization with regard to a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Reassigning impedance values with regard to the prime center
B	Reassigning reactance values with regard to the resistance axis
C	Reassigning prime center with regard to the reactance axis
D	Reassigning resistance values with regard to the reactance axis

50. - E9H07

Why is RF attenuation used when direction-finding?

Select	Answer
A	To compensate for isotropic directivity and the antenna effect of feed lines
B	To narrow the receiver bandwidth
C	To prevent receiver overload which reduces pattern nulls
D	To increase receiver sensitivity

Figure E6-2