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	Polytetrafluoroethylene
C	Polyethylene
D	Polymorphic silicon

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 center frequency of the channel
C	At the highest frequency of the channel
D	At the lowest frequency of the channel

3. - E1B12

What must the control operator of a repeater operating in the 70 cm band do if a radiolocation system experiences interference from that repeater?

Select	Answer
A	Cease operation or make changes to the repeater to mitigate the interference
B	File an FAA NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) with the repeater system's ERP, call sign, and six-character grid locator
C	All these choices are correct
D	Reduce the repeater antenna HAAT (Height Above Average Terrain)

4. - E1C06

Which of the following is required in order to operate in accordance with CEPT rules in foreign countries where permitted?

Select	Answer
A	You must append "/CEPT" to your call sign
B	You must bring a copy of FCC Public Notice DA 16-1048
C	The U.S. embassy must approve of your operation
D	You must identify in the official language of the country in which you are operating

5. - E1D01

What is the definition of telemetry?

Select	Answer
A	Two-way transmissions of data
B	One-way transmission of measurements at a distance from the measuring instrument
C	Two-way transmissions in excess of 1000 feet
D	One-way transmission that initiates, modifies, or terminates the functions of a device at a distance

6. - E1E04

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

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

7. - E1F06

Under what circumstances might the FCC issue a Special Temporary Authority (STA) to an amateur station?

Select	Answer
A	To provide for experimental amateur communications
B	To provide temporary operation while awaiting normal licensing
C	To allow regular operation on Land Mobile channels
D	To provide additional spectrum for personal use

8. - E2A07

Which of the following types of signals can be relayed through a linear transponder?

Select	Answer
A	SSB and SSTV
B	FM and CW
C	All these choices are correct
D	PSK and packet

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

10. - E2C01

What indicator is required to be used by U.S.-licensed operators when operating a station via remote control and the remote transmitter is located in the U.S.?

Select	Answer
A	/ followed by the ARRL Section of the remote station
B	/R# where # is the district of the remote station
C	No additional indicator is required
D	/ followed by the USPS two-letter abbreviation for the state in which the remote station is located

11. - E2D08

What type of packet frame is used to transmit APRS beacon data?

Select	Answer
A	Connect
B	Acknowledgement
C	Unnumbered Information
D	Disconnect

12. - E2E01

Which of the following types of modulation is common for data emissions below 30 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	Pulse modulation
B	Spread spectrum
C	FSK
D	DTMF tones modulating an FM signal

13. - E3A04

What do Hepburn maps predict?

Select	Answer
A	Likelihood of rain scatter along cold or warm fronts
B	Locations of auroral reflecting zones
C	Probability of tropospheric propagation
D	Sporadic E propagation

14. - E3B07

What happens to linearly polarized radio waves that split into ordinary and extraordinary waves in the ionosphere?

Select	Answer
A	They become elliptically polarized
B	They become phase locked
C	They become depolarized
D	They are bent toward the magnetic poles

15. - E3C03

Which of the following signal paths is most likely to experience high levels of absorption when the A index or K index is elevated?

Select	Answer
A	Transequatorial
B	NVIS
C	Sporadic E
D	Polar

16. - E4A02

Which of the following parameters does a spectrum analyzer display on the vertical and horizontal axes?

Select	Answer
A	SWR and frequency
B	SWR and time
C	RF amplitude and frequency
D	RF amplitude and time

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

18. - E4C05

What does a receiver noise floor of -174 dBm represent?

Select	Answer
A	The galactic noise contribution to minimum detectable signal
B	The theoretical noise in a 1 Hz bandwidth at the input of a perfect receiver at room temperature
C	The noise figure of a 1 Hz bandwidth receiver
D	The minimum detectable signal as a function of receive frequency

19. - E4D03

How can intermodulation interference between two repeaters occur?

Select	Answer
A	When the repeaters are in close proximity and the signals cause feedback in the final amplifier of one or both transmitters
B	When the signals from the transmitters are reflected in phase from airplanes passing overhead
C	When the signals from the transmitters are reflected out of phase from airplanes passing overhead
D	When the repeaters are in close proximity and the signals mix in the final amplifier of one or both transmitters

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	Power line noise
C	All these choices are correct
D	Ignition noise

21. - E5A15

Which of the following increases Q for inductors and capacitors?

Select	Answer
A	Lower losses
B	Lower reactance
C	Higher self-resonant frequency
D	Lower self-resonant frequency

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. - E5C04

What coordinate system is often used to display the resistive, inductive, and/or capacitive reactance components of impedance?

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

24. - E5D03

What is microstrip?

Select	Answer
A	Lightweight transmission line made of common zip cord
B	Precision printed circuit conductors above a ground plane that provide constant impedance interconnects at microwave frequencies
C	Miniature coax used for low power applications
D	Short lengths of coax mounted on printed circuit boards to minimize time delay between microwave circuits

25. - E6A05

How does DC input impedance at the gate of a field-effect transistor compare with the DC input impedance of a bipolar transistor?

Select	Answer
A	An FET has higher input impedance
B	An FET has lower input impedance
C	They are both high impedance
D	They are both low impedance

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	Much higher reverse voltage breakdown
C	More constant reverse avalanche voltage
D	Longer carrier retention time

27. - E6C07

What best describes a pull-up or pull-down resistor?

Select	Answer
A	A resistor in a keying circuit used to reduce key clicks
B	A resistor connected to an op-amp output that prevents signals from exceeding the power supply voltage
C	A resistor connected to the positive or negative supply line used to establish a voltage when an input or output is an open circuit
D	A resistor that ensures that an oscillator frequency does not drift

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 magnetic field
C	Increased conductivity in the presence of light
D	Mechanical deformation of material by the application of a voltage

29. - E6E04

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

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

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	Cost per kilowatt-hour generated
C	The output RF power divided by the input DC power
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	Astable multivibrator
B	T flip-flop
C	J-K flip-flop
D	Monostable multivibrator

32. - E7B17

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

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

33. - E7C04

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

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

34. - E7D08

What type of circuit is shown in Figure E7-2?

Select	Answer
A	Monostable multivibrator
B	Switching voltage regulator
C	Linear voltage regulator
D	Grounded emitter amplifier

35. - E7E09

What occurs when an excessive amount of signal energy reaches a mixer circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Automatic limiting occurs
B	Spurious mixer products are generated
C	Mixer blanking occurs
D	A beat frequency is generated

36. - E7F04

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

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

37. - E7G12

What is an operational amplifier?

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

38. - E7H11

What are the major spectral impurity components of direct digital synthesizers?

Select	Answer
A	Nyquist limit noise
B	Spurious signals at discrete frequencies
C	Digital conversion noise
D	Broadband noise

39. - E8A07

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

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

40. - E8B10

What is frequency division multiplexing?

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

41. - E8C03

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

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

42. - E8D01

Why are received spread spectrum signals resistant to interference?

Select	Answer
A	The high power used by a spread spectrum transmitter keeps its signal from being easily overpowered
B	Signals not using the spread spectrum algorithm are suppressed in the receiver
C	If interference is detected by the receiver it will signal the transmitter to change frequencies
D	The receiver is always equipped with a digital blanker

43. - E9A04

Which of the following factors affect the feed point impedance of an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	The input power level
B	Antenna height
C	The settings of an antenna tuner at the transmitter
D	Transmission line length

44. - E9B03

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

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

45. - E9C07

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

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

46. - E9D09

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

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

47. - E9E06

Which of these feed line impedances would be suitable for constructing a quarter-wave Q-section for matching a 100-ohm loop to 50-ohm feed line?

Select	Answer
A	50 ohms
B	450 ohms
C	62 ohms
D	75 ohms

48. - E9F06

What is the approximate physical length of an air-insulated, parallel conductor transmission line that is electrically 1/2 wavelength long at 14.10 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	10.6 meters
B	7.0 meters
C	13.3 meters
D	8.5 meters

49. - E9G02

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

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

50. - E9H04

What is an advantage of placing a grounded electrostatic shield around a small loop direction-finding antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It eliminates unbalanced capacitive coupling to the surroundings, improving the nulls
B	It adds capacitive loading, increasing the bandwidth of the antenna
C	It eliminates tracking errors caused by strong out-of-band signals
D	It increases signal strength by providing a better match to the feed line

Figure E7-2

Figure E9-1