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

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1. - E0A06

Why are there separate electric (E) and magnetic (H) field MPE limits?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	The body reacts to electromagnetic radiation from both the E and H fields
C	E field and H field radiation intensity peaks can occur at different locations
D	Ground reflections and scattering make the field strength vary with location

2. - E1A01

Which of the following carrier frequencies is illegal for LSB AFSK emissions on the 17 meter band RTTY and data segment of 18.068 to 18.110 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	18.110 MHz
B	18.068 MHz
C	18.100 MHz
D	18.107 MHz

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	Any transmitted signal that unintentionally interferes with another licensed radio station
C	An emission outside the signal's necessary bandwidth that can be reduced or eliminated without affecting the information transmitted
D	An amateur station transmission made without the proper call sign identification

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

5. - E1D09

Which UHF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

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

6. - E1E03

What is a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator?

Select	Answer
A	A person who has volunteered to administer amateur operator license examinations
B	The person who has entered into an agreement with the FCC to be the VE session manager
C	A person who has volunteered to prepare amateur operator license examinations
D	An organization that has entered into an agreement with the FCC to coordinate, prepare, and administer amateur operator license examinations

7. - E1F07

When may an amateur station send a message to a business?

Select	Answer
A	When the control operator is employed by the FCC or another government agency
B	When the total money involved does not exceed $25
C	When transmitting international third-party communications
D	When neither the amateur nor his or her employer has a pecuniary interest in the 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. - E2B06

What is vestigial sideband modulation?

Select	Answer
A	Narrow-band FM modulation achieved by filtering one sideband from the audio before frequency modulating the carrier
B	A type of modulation in which one sideband is inverted
C	Spread spectrum modulation achieved by applying FM modulation following single sideband amplitude modulation
D	Amplitude modulation in which one complete sideband and a portion of the other are transmitted

10. - E2C09

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

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

11. - E2D11

Which of the following data are used by the APRS network to communicate station location?

Select	Answer
A	Polar coordinates
B	Time and frequency
C	Radio direction finding spectrum analysis
D	Latitude and longitude

12. - E2E06

What is the most common data rate used for HF packet?

Select	Answer
A	110 baud
B	300 baud
C	48 baud
D	1200 baud

13. - E3A08

When a meteor strikes the Earth's atmosphere, a cylindrical region of free electrons is formed at what layer of the ionosphere?

Select	Answer
A	The D layer
B	The E layer
C	The F1 layer
D	The F2 layer

14. - E3B03

What is the best time of day for transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Noon
B	Afternoon or early evening
C	Late at night
D	Morning

15. - E3C08

What does the space weather term G5 mean?

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

16. - E4A05

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

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

17. - E4B06

How much power is being absorbed by the load when a directional power meter connected between a transmitter and a terminating load reads 100 watts forward power and 25 watts reflected power?

Select	Answer
A	75 watts
B	25 watts
C	125 watts
D	100 watts

18. - E4C04

What is the noise figure of a receiver?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of thermal noise to atmospheric 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 atmospheric noise to phase noise

19. - E4D02

Which of the following describes problems caused by poor dynamic range in a receiver?

Select	Answer
A	Cross-modulation of the desired signal and insufficient audio power to operate the speaker
B	Oscillator instability requiring frequent retuning and loss of ability to recover the opposite sideband
C	Oscillator instability and severe audio distortion of all but the strongest received signals
D	Spurious signals caused by cross-modulation and desensitization from strong adjacent signals

20. - E4E03

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

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

21. - E5A11

What is the half-power bandwidth of a resonant circuit that has a resonant frequency of 7.1 MHz and a Q of 150?

Select	Answer
A	47.3 kHz
B	315.6 Hz
C	23.67 kHz
D	157.8 Hz

22. - E5B10

What is the relationship between the AC current through an inductor and the voltage across an inductor?

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

23. - E5C11

Which point in Figure E5-1 best represents the impedance of a series circuit consisting of a 300-ohm resistor and an 18-microhenry inductor at 3.505 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	Point 1
B	Point 7
C	Point 3
D	Point 8

24. - E5D12

How many watts are consumed in a circuit having a power factor of 0.2 if the input is 100 VAC at 4 amperes?

Select	Answer
A	2000 watts
B	80 watts
C	400 watts
D	50 watts

25. - E6A12

Why do many MOSFET devices have internally connected Zener diodes on the gates?

Select	Answer
A	To provide a voltage reference for the correct amount of reverse-bias gate voltage
B	To reduce the chance of static damage to the gate
C	To protect the substrate from excessive voltages
D	To keep the gate voltage within specifications and prevent the device from overheating

26. - E6B09

What is a common use for point-contact diodes?

Select	Answer
A	As an RF detector
B	As a constant current source
C	As a high-voltage rectifier
D	As a constant voltage source

27. - E6C10

In Figure E6-3, what is the schematic symbol for a NOR gate?

Select	Answer
A	4
B	3
C	1
D	2

28. - E6D07

What is current in the primary winding of a transformer called if no load is attached to the secondary?

Select	Answer
A	Magnetizing current
B	Stabilizing current
C	Direct current
D	Excitation current

29. - E6E08

How is power supplied to the most common type of MMIC?

Select	Answer
A	MMICs require no operating bias
B	Through a resistor and/or RF choke connected to the amplifier output lead
C	Directly to the bias voltage (VCC IN) lead
D	Through a capacitor and RF choke connected to the amplifier input lead

30. - E6F06

Which of these materials is most commonly used to create photoconductive devices?

Select	Answer
A	A liquid semiconductor
B	A heavy metal
C	An ordinary metal
D	A crystalline semiconductor

31. - E7A01

Which circuit is bistable?

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

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. - E7C06

What are the distinguishing features of an elliptical filter?

Select	Answer
A	Gradual passband rolloff with extreme stop band ripple
B	Extremely flat response over its pass band with gradually rounded stop band corners
C	Extremely sharp cutoff with one or more notches in the stop band
D	Gradual passband rolloff with minimal stop band ripple

34. - E7D06

What is the purpose of Q1 in the circuit shown in Figure E7-2?

Select	Answer
A	It controls the current supplied to the load
B	It provides negative feedback to improve regulation
C	It provides D1 with current
D	It provides a constant load for the voltage source

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 reactance modulator followed by a mixer
C	By driving a product detector with a DSB signal
D	By using a balanced modulator followed by a filter

36. - E7F09

Why is an anti-aliasing digital filter required in a digital decimator?

Select	Answer
A	It notches out the sampling frequency to avoid sampling errors
B	It removes high-frequency signal components that would otherwise be reproduced as lower frequency components
C	It removes low-frequency signal components to eliminate the need for DC restoration
D	It peaks the response of the decimator, improving bandwidth

37. - E7G08

How does the gain of an ideal operational amplifier vary with frequency?

Select	Answer
A	It does not vary with frequency
B	It decreases linearly with increasing frequency
C	It increases linearly with increasing frequency
D	It decreases logarithmically with increasing frequency

38. - E7H14

What is a phase-locked loop circuit?

Select	Answer
A	An electronic circuit also known as a monostable multivibrator
B	An electronic servo loop consisting of a ratio detector, reactance modulator, and voltage-controlled oscillator
C	An electronic circuit consisting of a precision push-pull amplifier with a differential input
D	An electronic servo loop consisting of a phase detector, a low-pass filter, a voltage-controlled oscillator, and a stable reference oscillator

39. - E8A03

What type of wave does a Fourier analysis show to be made up of sine waves of a given fundamental frequency plus all its harmonics?

Select	Answer
A	A cosine wave
B	A square wave
C	A sine wave
D	A sawtooth wave

40. - E8B06

What is the deviation ratio of an FM-phone signal having a maximum frequency swing of plus or minus 7.5 kHz when the maximum modulation frequency is 3.5 kHz?

Select	Answer
A	47
B	2.14
C	0.47
D	0.214

41. - E8C03

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

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

42. - E8D07

What is a common cause of overmodulation of AFSK signals?

Select	Answer
A	Excessive numbers of retries
B	Excessive transmit audio levels
C	Bit errors in the modem
D	Ground loops

43. - E9A02

What is the effective radiated power relative to a dipole of a repeater station with 150 watts transmitter power output, 2 dB feed line loss, 2.2 dB duplexer loss, and 7 dBd antenna gain?

Select	Answer
A	78.7 watts
B	420 watts
C	1977 watts
D	286 watts

44. - E9B10

What is the principle of a Method of Moments analysis?

Select	Answer
A	A wire is modeled as a single sine-wave current generator
B	A wire is modeled as a single sine-wave voltage source
C	A wire is modeled as a series of segments, each having a uniform value of current
D	A wire is modeled as a series of segments, each having a distinct value of voltage across it

45. - E9C12

Which of the following describes an Extended Double Zepp antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A portable antenna erected using two push support poles
B	A center-fed 1.25-wavelength antenna (two 5/8-wave elements in phase)
C	An end-fed folded dipole antenna
D	A wideband vertical antenna constructed from precisely tapered aluminum tubing

46. - E9D05

What usually occurs if a Yagi antenna is designed solely for maximum forward gain?

Select	Answer
A	The front-to-back ratio increases
B	The front-to-back ratio decreases
C	The frequency response is widened over the whole frequency band
D	The SWR is reduced

47. - E9E07

What parameter describes the interactions at the load end of a mismatched transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	Dielectric constant
B	Reflection coefficient
C	Velocity factor
D	Characteristic impedance

48. - E9F13

What impedance does a 1/4-wavelength transmission line present to a generator when the line is shorted at the far end?

Select	Answer
A	Very low impedance
B	Very high impedance
C	The same as the generator output impedance
D	The same as the characteristic impedance of the transmission line

49. - E9G07

On the Smith chart shown in Figure E9-3, what is the only straight line shown?

Select	Answer
A	The reactance axis
B	The voltage axis
C	The resistance axis
D	The current axis

50. - E9H07

Why is RF attenuation used when direction-finding?

Select	Answer
A	To compensate for isotropic directivity and the antenna effect of feed lines
B	To increase receiver sensitivity
C	To narrow the receiver bandwidth
D	To prevent receiver overload which reduces pattern nulls

Figure E5-1

Figure E6-3

Figure E7-2

Figure E9-3