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

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1. - E0A02

When evaluating RF exposure levels from your station at a neighbor's home, what must you do?

Select	Answer
A	Ensure signals from your station are less than the uncontrolled Maximum Permitted Exposure (MPE) limits
B	Ensure signals from your station are less than the controlled Maximum Permitted Exposure (MPE) limits
C	Ensure signals from your station are less than the uncontrolled Maximum Permitted Emission (MPE) limits
D	Ensure signals from your station are less than the controlled Maximum Permitted Emission (MPE) limits

2. - E1A14

Except in some parts of Alaska, what is the maximum power permitted on the 630 meter band?

Select	Answer
A	100 watts PEP
B	5 watts EIRP
C	1 watt EIRP
D	50 watts PEP

3. - E1B01

Which of the following constitutes a spurious emission?

Select	Answer
A	A signal transmitted to prevent its detection by any station other than the intended recipient
B	An amateur station transmission made without the proper call sign identification
C	An emission outside the signal's necessary bandwidth that can be reduced or eliminated without affecting the information transmitted
D	Any transmitted signal that unintentionally interferes with another licensed radio station

4. - E1C11

Which of the following operating arrangements allows an FCC-licensed U.S. citizen to operate in many European countries, and alien amateurs from many European countries to operate in the U.S.?

Select	Answer
A	ITU reciprocal license
B	CEPT agreement
C	IARP agreement
D	All these choices are correct

5. - E1D08

Which VHF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

Select	Answer
A	6 meters, 2 meters, and 1.25 meters
B	6 meters and 2 meters
C	2 meters
D	2 meters and 1.25 meters

6. - E1E11

What must the VE team do if an examinee scores a passing grade on all examination elements needed for an upgrade or new license?

Select	Answer
A	Issue the examinee the new or upgrade license
B	All these choices are correct
C	Three VEs must certify that the examinee is qualified for the license grant and that they have complied with the administering VE requirements
D	Photocopy all examination documents and forward them to the FCC for processing

7. - E1F04

Which of the following geographic descriptions approximately describes "Line A"?

Select	Answer
A	A line roughly parallel to and west of the U.S. Atlantic coastline
B	A line roughly parallel to and north of the border between the U.S. and Mexico
C	A line roughly parallel to and south of the border between the U.S. and Canada
D	A line roughly parallel to and east of the U.S. Pacific coastline

8. - E2A10

What type of satellite appears to stay in one position in the sky?

Select	Answer
A	LEO
B	Geomagnetic
C	Geostationary
D	HEO

9. - E2B05

Which of the following describes the use of vestigial sideband in analog fast-scan TV transmissions?

Select	Answer
A	The vestigial sideband carries the audio information
B	Vestigial sideband reduces bandwidth while allowing for simple video detector circuitry
C	The vestigial sideband contains chroma information
D	Vestigial sideband provides high frequency emphasis to sharpen the picture

10. - E2C12

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

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

11. - E2D05

What is one advantage of the JT65 mode?

Select	Answer
A	Uses only a 65 Hz bandwidth
B	The ability to decode signals which have a very low signal-to-noise ratio
C	Permits fast-scan TV transmissions over narrow bandwidth
D	Easily copied by ear if necessary

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 receiver has drifted 5 kHz from the desired receive frequency
C	The mark and space signal have been inverted
D	One of the signal filters is saturated

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	Wait 90 minutes or so for the signal degradation to pass
D	Switch to a lower frequency HF band

14. - E3B02

What is the approximate maximum range for signals using transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	2500 miles
B	1000 miles
C	5000 miles
D	7500 miles

15. - E3C07

Which of the following descriptors indicates the greatest solar flare intensity?

Select	Answer
A	Class A
B	Class M
C	Class B
D	Class X

16. - E4A03

Which of the following test instruments is used to display spurious signals and/or intermodulation distortion products generated by an SSB transmitter?

Select	Answer
A	A logic analyzer
B	A time-domain reflectometer
C	A wattmeter
D	A spectrum analyzer

17. - E4B07

What do the subscripts of S parameters represent?

Select	Answer
A	The relative time between measurements
B	The port or ports at which measurements are made
C	Relative quality of the data
D	Frequency order of the measurements

18. - E4C04

What is the noise figure of a receiver?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of atmospheric noise to phase noise
B	The ratio of the noise bandwidth in hertz to the theoretical bandwidth of a resistive network
C	The ratio in dB of the noise generated by the receiver to the theoretical minimum noise
D	The ratio of thermal noise to atmospheric noise

19. - E4D04

Which of the following may reduce or eliminate intermodulation interference in a repeater caused by another transmitter operating in close proximity?

Select	Answer
A	A properly terminated circulator at the output of the repeater's transmitter
B	A band-pass filter in the feed line between the transmitter and receiver
C	Utilizing a Class D final amplifier
D	Utilizing a Class C final amplifier

20. - E4E03

Which of the following signals might a receiver noise blanker be able to remove from desired signals?

Select	Answer
A	Signals that have a sharply peaked frequency distribution
B	Signals that appear across a wide bandwidth
C	Signals that are constant at all IF levels
D	Signals that appear at one IF but not another

21. - E5A13

What is an effect of increasing Q in a series resonant circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Internal voltages increase
B	Phase shift can become uncontrolled
C	Fewer components are needed for the same performance
D	Parasitic effects are minimized

22. - E5B09

What is the relationship between the AC current through a capacitor and the voltage across a capacitor?

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

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	Rectangular coordinates
C	Elliptical coordinates
D	Faraday grid

24. - E5D02

Why is it important to keep lead lengths short for components used in circuits for VHF and above?

Select	Answer
A	To maintain component lifetime
B	To avoid unwanted inductive reactance
C	To increase the thermal time constant
D	All these choices are correct

25. - E6A03

Why does a PN-junction diode not conduct current when reverse biased?

Select	Answer
A	Only P-type semiconductor material can conduct current
B	Excess holes in P-type material combine with the electrons in N-type material, converting the entire diode into an insulator
C	Only N-type semiconductor material can conduct current
D	Holes in P-type material and electrons in the N-type material are separated by the applied voltage, widening the depletion region

26. - E6B06

Which of the following is a common use of a Schottky diode?

Select	Answer
A	As a constant voltage reference in a power supply
B	As a VHF/UHF mixer or detector
C	As a rectifier in high current power supplies
D	As a variable capacitance in an automatic frequency control circuit

27. - E6C03

What is tri-state logic?

Select	Answer
A	Logic devices that utilize ternary math
B	Low-power logic devices designed to operate at 3 volts
C	Logic devices with 0, 1, and high-impedance output states
D	Proprietary logic devices manufactured by Tri-State Devices

28. - E6D04

Which materials are commonly used as a core in an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Teflon and Delrin
B	Cobalt and aluminum
C	Ferrite and brass
D	Polystyrene and polyethylene

29. - E6E06

What characteristics of the MMIC make it a popular choice for VHF through microwave circuits?

Select	Answer
A	Controlled gain, low noise figure, and constant input and output impedance over the specified frequency range
B	The ability to retrieve information from a single signal even in the presence of other strong signals
C	Nearly infinite gain, very high input impedance, and very low output impedance
D	Plate current that is controlled by a control grid

30. - E6F02

What happens to the conductivity of a photoconductive material when light shines on it?

Select	Answer
A	It stays the same
B	It increases
C	It decreases
D	It becomes unstable

31. - E7A01

Which circuit is bistable?

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

32. - E7B05

What can be done to prevent unwanted oscillations in an RF power amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	Use a phase inverter in the output filter
B	Tune the stage for maximum SWR
C	Tune both the input and output for maximum power
D	Install parasitic suppressors and/or neutralize the stage

33. - E7C03

What advantage does a series-L Pi-L-network have over a series-L Pi-network for impedance matching between the final amplifier of a vacuum-tube transmitter and an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	Greater harmonic suppression
B	Does not require a capacitor
C	Higher efficiency
D	Greater transformation range

34. - E7D07

What is the purpose of C2 in the circuit shown in Figure E7-2?

Select	Answer
A	It bypasses rectifier output ripple around D1
B	It is a brute force filter for the output
C	To self-resonate at the hum frequency
D	To provide fixed DC bias for Q1

35. - E7E06

Why is de-emphasis commonly used in FM communications receivers?

Select	Answer
A	To reduce impulse noise reception
B	For higher efficiency
C	To remove third-order distortion products
D	For compatibility with transmitters using phase modulation

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	Sample clock phase noise
C	Reference voltage level and sample width in bits
D	Data storage transfer rate

37. - E7G03

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

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

38. - E7H04

How is positive feedback supplied in a Colpitts 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	Speech characteristics
B	The degree of carrier suppression
C	The frequency of the modulating signal
D	Amplifier gain

40. - E8B01

What is the modulation index of an FM signal?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of frequency deviation to modulating signal frequency
B	The bandwidth of the transmitted signal divided by the modulating signal frequency
C	The type of modulation used by the transmitter
D	The ratio of modulating signal amplitude to frequency deviation

41. - E8C04

What technique minimizes the bandwidth of a PSK31 signal?

Select	Answer
A	Zero-sum character encoding
B	Use of sinusoidal data pulses
C	Reed-Solomon character encoding
D	Use of trapezoidal data pulses

42. - E8D04

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

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

43. - E9A05

What is included in the total resistance of an antenna system?

Select	Answer
A	Transmission-line resistance plus radiation resistance
B	Radiation resistance plus transmission resistance
C	Radiation resistance plus loss resistance
D	Radiation resistance plus space impedance

44. - E9B01

In the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-1, what is the beamwidth?

Select	Answer
A	30 degrees
B	75 degrees
C	25 degrees
D	50 degrees

45. - E9C02

What is the radiation pattern of two 1/4-wavelength vertical antennas spaced 1/4 wavelength apart and fed 90 degrees out of phase?

Select	Answer
A	A figure-8 broadside to the axis of the array
B	A figure-8 end-fire along the axis of the array
C	Cardioid
D	Omni-directional

46. - E9D12

Which of the following would provide the best RF ground for your station?

Select	Answer
A	An electrically short connection to 3 or 4 interconnected ground rods via a series RF choke
B	An electrically short connection to a metal water pipe
C	A 50-ohm resistor connected to ground
D	An electrically short connection to 3 or 4 interconnected ground rods driven into the Earth

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	62 ohms
B	75 ohms
C	50 ohms
D	450 ohms

48. - E9F09

What is the approximate physical length of a foam polyethylene dielectric coaxial transmission line that is electrically 1/4 wavelength long at 7.2 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	10.4 meters
B	6.9 meters
C	8.3 meters
D	5.2 meters

49. - E9G01

Which of the following can be calculated using a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Impedance along transmission lines
B	Antenna radiation pattern
C	Radiation resistance
D	Radio propagation

50. - E9H06

What is the triangulation method of direction finding?

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

Figure E7-2

Figure E9-1