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

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1. - E0A04

When evaluating a site with multiple transmitters operating at the same time, the operators and licensees of which transmitters are responsible for mitigating over-exposure situations?

Select	Answer
A	Each transmitter that produces 5 percent or more of its MPE limit in areas where the total MPE limit is exceeded.
B	Only commercial transmitters
C	Only the most powerful transmitter
D	Each transmitter operating with a duty cycle greater than 50 percent

2. - E1A11

Which of the following describes authorization or licensing required when operating an amateur station aboard a U.S.-registered vessel in international waters?

Select	Answer
A	Any amateur license with an FCC Marine or Aircraft endorsement
B	Any FCC-issued amateur license
C	An unrestricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit
D	Only General Class or higher amateur licenses

3. - E1B03

Within what distance must an amateur station protect an FCC monitoring facility from harmful interference?

Select	Answer
A	1 mile
B	10 miles
C	3 miles
D	30 miles

4. - E1C04

What is meant by IARP?

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

5. - E1D09

Which UHF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

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

6. - E1E12

What must the VE team do with the application form if the examinee does not pass the exam?

Select	Answer
A	Maintain the application form with the VEC's records
B	Return the application document to the examinee
C	Destroy the application form
D	Send the application form to the FCC and inform the FCC of the grade

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. - E2A09

What do the terms L band and S band specify regarding satellite communications?

Select	Answer
A	The 23 centimeter and 13 centimeter bands
B	FM and Digital Store-and-Forward systems
C	Which sideband to use
D	The 2 meter and 70 centimeter bands

9. - E2B07

What is the name of the signal component that carries color information in NTSC video?

Select	Answer
A	Hue
B	Spectral intensity
C	Chroma
D	Luminance

10. - E2C07

What is the Cabrillo format?

Select	Answer
A	The rules of order for meetings between contest sponsors
B	The most common set of contest rules
C	A method of exchanging information during a contest QSO
D	A standard for submission of electronic contest logs

11. - E2D01

Which of the following digital modes is designed for meteor scatter communications?

Select	Answer
A	MSK144
B	Hellschreiber
C	APRS
D	WSPR

12. - E2E04

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

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

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

14. - E3B11

At what time of day can sporadic E propagation occur?

Select	Answer
A	Only around sunset and sunrise
B	Only in hours of darkness
C	Only around sunset
D	Any time

15. - E3C08

What does the space weather term G5 mean?

Select	Answer
A	Waning sunspot numbers
B	An extreme geomagnetic storm
C	Moderate solar wind
D	Very low solar activity

16. - E4A05

What is the purpose of the prescaler function on a frequency counter?

Select	Answer
A	It divides a higher frequency signal so a low-frequency counter can display the input frequency
B	It prevents oscillation in a low-frequency counter circuit
C	It amplifies low-level signals for more accurate counting
D	It multiplies a higher frequency signal so a low-frequency counter can display the operating frequency

17. - E4B10

Which of the following methods measures intermodulation distortion in an SSB transmitter?

Select	Answer
A	Modulate the transmitter using two RF signals having non-harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a spectrum analyzer
B	Modulate the transmitter using two AF signals having harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a peak reading wattmeter
C	Modulate the transmitter using two RF signals having harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a logic analyzer
D	Modulate the transmitter using two AF signals having non-harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a spectrum analyzer

18. - E4C12

Which of the following has the largest effect on an SDR receiver's dynamic range?

Select	Answer
A	RAM speed used for data storage
B	Anti-aliasing input filter bandwidth
C	CPU register width in bits
D	Analog-to-digital converter sample width in bits

19. - E4D09

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

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

20. - E4E01

What problem can occur when using an automatic notch filter (ANF) to remove interfering carriers while receiving CW signals?

Select	Answer
A	Ringing in the DSP filter will completely remove the spaces between the CW characters
B	Received CW signals will appear to be modulated at the DSP clock frequency
C	Removal of the CW signal as well as the interfering carrier
D	Any nearby signal passing through the DSP system will overwhelm the desired signal

21. - E5A04

What is the magnitude of the impedance of a parallel RLC circuit at resonance?

Select	Answer
A	Low compared to the circuit resistance
B	High compared to the circuit resistance
C	Approximately equal to circuit resistance
D	Approximately equal to inductive reactance

22. - E5B04

What is the time constant of a circuit having two 220-microfarad capacitors and two 1-megohm resistors, all in parallel?

Select	Answer
A	55 seconds
B	220 seconds
C	440 seconds
D	110 seconds

23. - E5C02

How are impedances described in polar coordinates?

Select	Answer
A	By Y and G values
B	By real and imaginary parts
C	By phase angle and magnitude
D	By X and R values

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	All these choices are correct
C	To increase the thermal time constant
D	To avoid unwanted inductive reactance

25. - E6A11

In Figure E6-1, what is the schematic symbol for a P-channel junction FET?

Select	Answer
A	1
B	6
C	2
D	3

26. - E6B04

What type of semiconductor device is designed for use as a voltage-controlled capacitor?

Select	Answer
A	Tunnel diode
B	Varactor diode
C	Zener diode
D	Silicon-controlled rectifier

27. - E6C04

Which of the following is an advantage of BiCMOS logic?

Select	Answer
A	It has the high input impedance of CMOS and the low output impedance of bipolar transistors
B	All these choices are correct
C	It is immune to electrostatic damage
D	Its simplicity results in much less expensive devices than standard CMOS

28. - E6D01

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

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

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	Plate current that is controlled by a control grid
C	Nearly infinite gain, very high input impedance, and very low output impedance
D	The ability to retrieve information from a single signal even in the presence of other strong signals

30. - E6F05

Which describes an optical shaft encoder?

Select	Answer
A	A device for generating RTTY signals by means of a rotating light source
B	A device that measures the strength of a beam of light using analog to digital conversion
C	A device that detects rotation of a control by interrupting a light source with a patterned wheel
D	A digital encryption device often used to encrypt spacecraft control signals

31. - E7A10

What is a truth table?

Select	Answer
A	A diagram showing logic states when the digital device output is true
B	A list of inputs and corresponding outputs for a digital device
C	A table of logic symbols that indicate the high logic states of an op-amp
D	A table of logic symbols that indicate the logic states of an op-amp

32. - E7B05

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

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

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

34. - E7D04

Which of the following types of linear voltage regulator usually make the most efficient use of the primary power source?

Select	Answer
A	A shunt current source
B	A series current source
C	A shunt regulator
D	A series regulator

35. - E7E03

What is a frequency discriminator stage in a FM receiver?

Select	Answer
A	An automatic band-switching circuit
B	A circuit for filtering two closely adjacent signals
C	An FM generator circuit
D	A circuit for detecting FM signals

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	10 bits
B	6 bits
C	8 bits
D	4 bits

37. - E7G03

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

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

38. - E7H05

How is positive feedback supplied in a Pierce oscillator?

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

39. - E8A08

Why would a direct or flash conversion analog-to-digital converter be useful for a software defined radio?

Select	Answer
A	Very high speed allows digitizing high frequencies
B	Very low power consumption decreases frequency drift
C	Immunity to out-of-sequence coding reduces spurious responses
D	All these choices are correct

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	1/3
B	6000
C	3
D	2000

41. - E8C10

How may data rate be increased without increasing bandwidth?

Select	Answer
A	Using forward error correction
B	It is impossible
C	Increasing analog-to-digital conversion resolution
D	Using a more efficient digital code

42. - E8D03

How does the spread spectrum technique of frequency hopping work?

Select	Answer
A	If interference is detected by the receiver it will signal the transmitter to change frequencies
B	The frequency of the transmitted signal is changed very rapidly according to a pseudorandom sequence also used by the receiving station
C	If interference is detected by the receiver it will signal the transmitter to wait until the frequency is clear
D	A binary bit stream is used to shift the phase of an RF carrier very rapidly in a pseudorandom sequence

43. - E9A04

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

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

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	18 dB
C	24 dB
D	12 dB

45. - E9C06

What is the effect of adding a terminating resistor to a rhombic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It reflects the standing waves on the antenna elements back to the transmitter
B	It changes the radiation pattern from horizontal to vertical polarization
C	It decreases the ground loss
D	It changes the radiation pattern from bidirectional to unidirectional

46. - E9D02

How can linearly polarized Yagi antennas be used to produce circular polarization?

Select	Answer
A	Arrange two Yagis perpendicular to each other with the driven elements at the same point on the boom fed 90 degrees out of phase
B	Stack two Yagis fed in phase to form an array with the respective elements in parallel planes
C	Arrange two Yagis collinear to each other with the driven elements fed 180 degrees out of phase
D	Stack two Yagis fed 90 degrees out of phase to form an array with the respective elements in parallel planes

47. - E9E03

What is the name of the matching system that uses a section of transmission line connected in parallel with the feed line at or near the feed point?

Select	Answer
A	The stub match
B	The omega match
C	The delta match
D	The gamma match

48. - E9F03

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

Select	Answer
A	The characteristic impedance is higher in a parallel feed line
B	Skin effect is less pronounced in the coaxial cable
C	The surge 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	Prime axis
D	Impedance axis

50. - E9H01

When constructing a Beverage antenna, which of the following factors should be included in the design to achieve good performance at the desired frequency?

Select	Answer
A	It should be configured as a four-sided loop
B	It must be mounted more than 1 wavelength above ground
C	Its overall length must not exceed 1/4 wavelength
D	It should be one or more wavelengths long

Figure E6-1

Figure E9-1

Figure E9-3