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	Polychlorinated biphenyls
B	Polyethylene
C	Polytetrafluoroethylene
D	Polymorphic silicon

2. - E1A02

When using a transceiver that displays the carrier frequency of phone signals, which of the following displayed frequencies represents the lowest frequency at which a properly adjusted LSB emission will be totally within the band?

Select	Answer
A	300 Hz above the lower band edge
B	3 kHz above the lower band edge
C	1 kHz above the lower band edge
D	The exact lower band edge

3. - E1B06

Which of the following additional rules apply if you are installing an amateur station antenna at a site at or near a public use airport?

Select	Answer
A	You may have to notify the Federal Aviation Administration and register it with the FCC as required by Part 17 of the FCC rules
B	You must submit engineering drawings to the FAA
C	You must obtain a construction permit from the airport zoning authority
D	You must file an Environmental Impact Statement with the EPA before construction begins

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 not operate until a test signal has been transmitted in coordination with the local power company
B	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
C	Operators must not operate until approval is received
D	Operations may commence immediately, and may continue unless interference is reported by the UTC

5. - E1D09

Which UHF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

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

6. - E1E09

What may be the penalty for a VE who fraudulently administers or certifies an examination?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	Revocation of the VE's amateur station license grant and the suspension of the VE's amateur operator license grant
C	A fine of up to $1000 per occurrence
D	A sentence of up to one year in prison

7. - E1F10

Who may be the control operator of an auxiliary station?

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

8. - E2A04

What is meant by the term mode? as applied to an amateur radio satellite?

Select	Answer
A	Whether the satellite is in a polar or equatorial orbit
B	Whether the satellite is in a low earth or geostationary orbit
C	The satellite's uplink and downlink frequency bands
D	The satellite's orientation with respect to the Earth

9. - E2B01

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

Select	Answer
A	90
B	30
C	120
D	60

10. - E2C09

What type of equipment is commonly used to implement an amateur radio mesh network?

Select	Answer
A	A 2 meter VHF transceiver with a 1200 baud modem
B	An optical cable connection between the USB ports of 2 separate computers
C	A wireless router running custom firmware
D	A 440 MHz transceiver with a 9600 baud modem

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	15-second timed transmission sequences with stations alternating based on location
D	Use of special digital modes

12. - E2E07

Which of the following is a possible reason that attempts to initiate contact with a digital station on a clear frequency are unsuccessful?

Select	Answer
A	Another station you are unable to hear is using the frequency
B	Your transmit frequency is incorrect
C	All these choices are correct
D	The protocol version you are using is not supported by the digital station

13. - E3A09

Which of the following frequency ranges is most suited for meteor scatter communications?

Select	Answer
A	1.8 MHz - 1.9 MHz
B	220 MHz - 450 MHz
C	28 MHz - 148 MHz
D	10 MHz - 14 MHz

14. - E3B04

What is meant by the terms "extraordinary" and "ordinary" waves?

Select	Answer
A	Long-path and short-path waves
B	Refracted rays and reflected waves
C	Extraordinary waves describe rare long-skip propagation compared to ordinary waves, which travel shorter distances
D	Independent waves created in the ionosphere that are elliptically polarized

15. - E3C06

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

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

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

17. - E4B09

What is indicated if the current reading on an RF ammeter placed in series with the antenna feed line of a transmitter increases as the transmitter is tuned to resonance?

Select	Answer
A	The transmitter is not properly neutralized
B	There is more power going into the antenna
C	There is an impedance mismatch between the antenna and feed line
D	There is possibly a short to ground in the feed line

18. - E4C09

Which of the following choices is a good reason for selecting a high frequency for the design of the IF in a superheterodyne HF or VHF communications receiver?

Select	Answer
A	Fewer components in the receiver
B	Reduced drift
C	Improved receiver noise figure
D	Easier for front-end circuitry to eliminate image responses

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

20. - E4E02

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

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

21. - E5A08

What is the phase relationship between the current through and the voltage across a series resonant circuit at resonance?

Select	Answer
A	The voltage and current are 180 degrees out of phase
B	The current leads the voltage by 90 degrees
C	The voltage and current are in phase
D	The voltage leads the current by 90 degrees

22. - E5B02

What letter is commonly used to represent susceptance?

Select	Answer
A	G
B	Y
C	X
D	B

23. - E5C01

Which of the following represents capacitive reactance in rectangular notation?

Select	Answer
A	Delta
B	-jX
C	Omega
D	+jX

24. - E5D11

What is the power factor of an RL circuit having a 60-degree phase angle between the voltage and the current?

Select	Answer
A	1.414
B	0.5
C	0.866
D	1.73

25. - E6A06

What is the beta of a bipolar junction transistor?

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

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	More constant reverse avalanche voltage
D	Much higher reverse voltage breakdown

27. - E6C06

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

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

28. - E6D09

What devices are commonly used as VHF and UHF parasitic suppressors at the input and output terminals of a transistor HF amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	Electrolytic capacitors
B	Steel-core toroids
C	Ferrite beads
D	Butterworth filters

29. - E6E01

Why is gallium arsenide (GaAs) useful for semiconductor devices operating at UHF and higher frequencies?

Select	Answer
A	Higher electron mobility
B	Lower junction voltage drop
C	Higher noise figures
D	Lower transconductance

30. - E6F03

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

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

31. - E7A01

Which circuit is bistable?

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

32. - E7B18

What is a characteristic of a grounded-grid amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	Low bandwidth
B	High filament voltage
C	Low input impedance
D	High power gain

33. - E7C07

Which describes a Pi-L-network used for matching a vacuum tube final amplifier to a 50-ohm unbalanced output?

Select	Answer
A	A Phase Inverter Load network
B	A network with only three discrete parts
C	A Pi-network with an additional series inductor on the output
D	A matching network in which all components are isolated from ground

34. - E7D14

What is the purpose of connecting equal-value resistors across power supply filter capacitors connected in series?

Select	Answer
A	Provide a minimum load on the supply
B	Equalize the voltage across each capacitor
C	Discharge the capacitors when voltage is removed
D	All these choices are correct

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. - E7F06

What is the minimum number of bits required for an analog-to-digital converter to sample a signal with a range of 1 volt at a resolution of 1 millivolt?

Select	Answer
A	4 bits
B	10 bits
C	6 bits
D	8 bits

37. - E7G12

What is an operational amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	An amplifier used to increase the average output of frequency modulated amateur signals to the legal limit
B	A digital audio amplifier whose characteristics are determined by components external to the amplifier
C	A RF amplifier used in the UHF and microwave regions
D	A high-gain, direct-coupled differential amplifier with very high input impedance and very low output impedance

38. - E7H05

How is positive feedback supplied in a Pierce oscillator?

Select	Answer
A	Through link coupling
B	Through a quartz crystal
C	Through a neutralizing capacitor
D	Through a tapped coil

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

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	3
B	1/3
C	6000
D	2000

41. - E8C01

How is Forward Error Correction implemented?

Select	Answer
A	By transmitting extra data that may be used to detect and correct transmission errors
B	By varying the frequency shift of the transmitted signal according to a predefined algorithm
C	By the receiving station repeating each block of three data characters
D	By transmitting a special algorithm to the receiving station along with the data characters

42. - E8D04

What is the primary effect of extremely short rise or fall time on a CW signal?

Select	Answer
A	The generation of RF harmonics
B	More difficult to copy
C	The generation of key clicks
D	Limits data speed

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	632 watts
B	63.2 watts
C	159 watts
D	252 watts

44. - E9B11

What is a disadvantage of decreasing the number of wire segments in an antenna model below 10 segments per half-wavelength?

Select	Answer
A	The computed feed point impedance may be incorrect
B	The resulting design will favor radiation of harmonic energy
C	Ground conductivity will not be accurately modeled
D	The antenna will become mechanically unstable

45. - E9C05

Which of the following is a type of OCFD antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A remotely tunable dipole antenna using orthogonally controlled frequency diversity
B	A folded dipole center-fed with 300-ohm transmission line
C	A dipole fed approximately 1/3 the way from one end with a 4:1 balun to provide multiband operation
D	A multiband dipole antenna using one-way circular polarization for frequency diversity

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

47. - E9E08

What is a use for a Wilkinson divider?

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

48. - E9F01

What is the velocity factor of a transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of the characteristic impedance of the line to the terminating impedance
B	The index of shielding for coaxial cable
C	The velocity of the wave in the transmission line divided by the velocity of light in a vacuum
D	The velocity of the wave in the transmission line multiplied by the velocity of light in a vacuum

49. - E9G05

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

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

50. - E9H08

What is the function of a sense antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It allows DF antennas to receive signals at different vertical angles
B	It provides diversity reception that cancels multipath signals
C	It increases the sensitivity of a DF antenna array
D	It modifies the pattern of a DF antenna array to provide a null in one direction