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

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1. - E0A07

How may dangerous levels of carbon monoxide from an emergency generator be detected?

Select	Answer
A	Any ordinary smoke detector can be used
B	By the odor
C	Only with a carbon monoxide detector
D	By the yellowish appearance of the gas

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

3. - E1B10

What frequencies are authorized to an amateur station operating under RACES rules?

Select	Answer
A	Specific local government channels
B	Specific segments in the amateur service MF, HF, VHF and UHF bands
C	Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) channels
D	All amateur service frequencies authorized to the control operator

4. - E1C04

What is meant by IARP?

Select	Answer
A	A forecast of intermittent aurora radio propagation
B	An indication of increased antenna reflected power
C	The internal amateur radio practices policy of the FCC
D	An international amateur radio permit that allows U.S. amateurs to operate in certain countries of the Americas

5. - E1D04

Which of the following is required in the identification transmissions from a balloon-borne telemetry station?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	The station's six-character Maidenhead grid locator
C	Call sign
D	The output power of the balloon transmitter

6. - E1E01

For which types of out-of-pocket expenses do the Part 97 rules state that VEs and VECs may be reimbursed?

Select	Answer
A	No expenses are authorized for reimbursement
B	Providing amateur operator license examination preparation training materials
C	Teaching an amateur operator license examination preparation course
D	Preparing, processing, administering, and coordinating an examination for an amateur radio operator license

7. - E1F06

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

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

8. - E2A02

Which of the following occurs when a satellite is using an inverting linear transponder?

Select	Answer
A	Signal position in the band is reversed
B	All these choices are correct
C	Upper sideband on the uplink becomes lower sideband on the downlink, and vice versa
D	Doppler shift is reduced because the uplink and downlink shifts are in opposite directions

9. - E2B12

What signals SSTV receiving software to begin a new picture line?

Select	Answer
A	Specific tone amplitudes
B	Elapsed time
C	Specific tone frequencies
D	A two-tone signal

10. - E2C02

Which of the following best describes the term self-spotting? in connection with HF contest operating?

Select	Answer
A	An automatic method for rapidly zero beating or tuning to a station's frequency before calling that station
B	A manual technique for rapidly zero beating or tuning to a station's frequency before calling that station
C	The acceptable practice of manually posting the call signs of stations on a spotting network
D	The often-prohibited practice of posting one's own call sign and frequency on a spotting network

11. - E2D10

How can an APRS station be used to help support a public service communications activity?

Select	Answer
A	An APRS station with an emergency medical technician can automatically transmit medical data to the nearest hospital
B	APRS stations with General Personnel Scanners can automatically relay the participant numbers and time as they pass the check points
C	An APRS station with a Global Positioning System unit can automatically transmit information to show a mobile station's position during the event
D	All these choices are correct

12. - E2E08

Which of the following HF digital modes can be used to transfer binary files?

Select	Answer
A	PACTOR
B	AMTOR
C	Hellschreiber
D	RTTY

13. - E3A07

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

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

14. - E3B01

What is transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Propagation between points at the same latitude
B	Propagation between points located on the magnetic equator
C	Propagation between a point on the equator and its antipodal point
D	Propagation between two mid-latitude points at approximately the same distance north and south of the magnetic equator

15. - E3C02

What is indicated by a rising A or K index?

Select	Answer
A	An increase in the critical frequency
B	Higher levels of solar UV radiation
C	Increasing disruption of the geomagnetic field
D	Decreasing disruption of the geomagnetic field

16. - E4A08

Which of the following measures SWR?

Select	Answer
A	A Q meter
B	A spectrum analyzer
C	An antenna analyzer
D	An ohmmeter

17. - E4B02

What is the significance of voltmeter sensitivity expressed in ohms per volt?

Select	Answer
A	When used as an ohmmeter, the reading in ohms divided by the ohms per volt rating will determine the voltage applied to the circuit
B	When used as a galvanometer, the reading in volts multiplied by the ohms per volt rating will determine the power drawn by the device under test
C	When used as an ammeter, the full scale reading in amps divided by ohms per volt rating will determine the size of shunt needed
D	The full scale reading of the voltmeter multiplied by its ohms per volt rating will indicate the input impedance of the voltmeter

18. - E4C05

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

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

19. - E4D09

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

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

20. - E4E04

How can conducted and radiated noise caused by an automobile alternator be suppressed?

Select	Answer
A	By installing a noise suppression resistor and a blocking capacitor in both leads
B	By installing a high-pass filter in series with the radio's power lead and a low-pass filter in parallel with the field lead
C	By installing filter capacitors in series with the DC power lead and a blocking capacitor in the field lead
D	By connecting the radio's power leads directly to the battery and by installing coaxial capacitors in line with the alternator leads

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 voltage and current are in phase
C	The voltage leads the current by 90 degrees
D	The current leads the voltage by 90 degrees

22. - E5B12

What is admittance?

Select	Answer
A	The inverse of impedance
B	The inverse of Q factor
C	The term for the gain of a field effect transistor
D	The turns ratio of a transformer

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. - 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	1.73
B	0.866
C	0.5
D	0.577

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	Only N-type semiconductor material can conduct current
C	Excess holes in P-type material combine with the electrons in N-type material, converting the entire diode into an insulator
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 variable capacitance in an automatic frequency control circuit
C	As a VHF/UHF mixer or detector
D	As a rectifier in high current power supplies

27. - E6C01

What is the function of hysteresis in a comparator?

Select	Answer
A	To cause the output to change states continually
B	To allow the comparator to be used with AC input signals
C	To prevent input noise from causing unstable output signals
D	To increase the sensitivity

28. - E6D01

Why should core saturation of an impedance matching transformer be avoided?

Select	Answer
A	RF susceptance would increase
B	Magnetic flux would increase with frequency
C	Harmonics and distortion could result
D	Temporary changes of the core permeability could result

29. - E6E07

What type of transmission line is used for connections to MMICs?

Select	Answer
A	Parallel wire
B	Microstrip
C	Miniature coax
D	Circular waveguide

30. - E6F03

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

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

31. - E7A06

What is a characteristic of a monostable multivibrator?

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

32. - E7B15

What is one way to prevent thermal runaway in a bipolar transistor amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	Use a resistor in series with the emitter
C	Neutralization
D	Select transistors with high beta

33. - E7C02

Which of the following is a property of a T-network with series capacitors and a parallel shunt inductor?

Select	Answer
A	It is a band-pass filter
B	It is a low-pass filter
C	It is a notch filter
D	It is a high-pass filter

34. - E7D15

What is the purpose of a step-start circuit in a high-voltage power supply?

Select	Answer
A	To allow the filter capacitors to charge gradually
B	To compensate for variations of the incoming line voltage
C	To provide a dual-voltage output for reduced power applications
D	To allow for remote control of the power supply

35. - E7E04

What is one way a single-sideband phone signal can be generated?

Select	Answer
A	By using a loop modulator followed by a mixer
B	By using a balanced modulator followed by a filter
C	By using a reactance modulator followed by a mixer
D	By driving a product detector with a DSB signal

36. - E7F10

What aspect of receiver analog-to-digital conversion determines the maximum receive bandwidth of a Direct Digital Conversion SDR?

Select	Answer
A	Sample width in bits
B	Sample rate
C	Processor latency
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	Restrict Q but increase gain
B	Restrict both gain and Q
C	Increase both gain and Q
D	Restrict gain but increase Q

38. - E7H12

Which of the following must be done to ensure that a crystal oscillator provides the frequency specified by the crystal manufacturer?

Select	Answer
A	Provide the crystal with a specified parallel capacitance
B	Bias the crystal at a specified voltage
C	Provide the crystal with a specified parallel inductance
D	Bias the crystal at a specified current

39. - E8A02

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

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

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

41. - E8C05

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

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

42. - E8D06

What is the advantage of including parity bits in ASCII characters?

Select	Answer
A	Foreign language characters can be sent
B	Some types of errors can be detected
C	Faster transmission rate
D	The signal can overpower interfering signals

43. - E9A08

What is antenna bandwidth?

Select	Answer
A	The angle between the half-power radiation points
B	Antenna length divided by the number of elements
C	The frequency range over which an antenna satisfies a performance requirement
D	The angle formed between two imaginary lines drawn through the element ends

44. - E9B07

How does the total amount of radiation emitted by a directional gain antenna compare with the total amount of radiation emitted from a theoretical isotropic antenna, assuming each is driven by the same amount of power?

Select	Answer
A	The total amount of radiation from the directional antenna is increased by the gain of the antenna
B	The radiation from the isotropic antenna is 2.15 dB stronger than that from the directional antenna
C	They are the same
D	The total amount of radiation from the directional antenna is stronger by its front-to-back ratio

45. - E9C09

Which of the following describes a G5RV antenna?

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

46. - E9D08

What happens as the Q of an antenna increases?

Select	Answer
A	SWR bandwidth increases
B	SWR bandwidth decreases
C	Gain is reduced
D	More common-mode current is present on the feed line

47. - E9E05

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

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

48. - E9F03

Why is the physical length of a coaxial cable transmission line shorter than its electrical length?

Select	Answer
A	The surge impedance is higher in a parallel feed line
B	Skin effect is less pronounced in the coaxial cable
C	The characteristic impedance is higher in a parallel feed line
D	Electrical signals move more slowly in a coaxial cable than in air

49. - E9G06

On the Smith chart shown in Figure E9-3, what is the name for the large outer circle on which the reactance arcs terminate?

Select	Answer
A	Reactance axis
B	Polar axis
C	Impedance axis
D	Prime axis

50. - E9H03

What is Receiving Directivity Factor (RDF)?

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

Figure E9-3