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	Polyethylene
B	Polymorphic silicon
C	Polychlorinated biphenyls
D	Polytetrafluoroethylene

2. - E1A12

What special operating frequency restrictions are imposed on slow scan TV transmissions?

Select	Answer
A	None; they are allowed on all amateur frequencies
B	They are not permitted above 54 MHz
C	They are restricted to 7.245 MHz, 14.245 MHz, 21.345 MHz, and 28.945 MHz
D	They are restricted to phone band segments

3. - E1B04

What must be done before placing an amateur station within an officially designated wilderness area or wildlife preserve, or an area listed in the National Register of Historic Places?

Select	Answer
A	A letter of intent must be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency
B	An Environmental Assessment must be submitted to the FCC
C	A proposal must be submitted to the National Park Service
D	A form FSD-15 must be submitted to the Department of the Interior

4. - E1C14

How long must an operator wait after filing a notification with the Utilities Technology Council (UTC) before operating on the 2200 meter or 630 meter band?

Select	Answer
A	Operations may commence immediately, and may continue unless interference is reported by the UTC
B	Operators may not operate until a test signal has been transmitted in coordination with the local power company
C	Operators must not operate until approval is received
D	Operators may operate after 30 days, providing they have not been told that their station is within 1 km of PLC systems using those frequencies

5. - E1D12

Which of the following amateur stations may transmit one-way communications?

Select	Answer
A	A message forwarding station or automatically controlled digital station
B	A local repeater or linked repeater station
C	All these choices are correct
D	A space station, beacon station, or telecommand station

6. - E1E04

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

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

7. - E1F02

What privileges are authorized in the U.S. to persons holding an amateur service license granted by the government of Canada?

Select	Answer
A	None, they must obtain a U.S. license
B	The operating terms and conditions of the Canadian amateur service license, not to exceed U.S. Amateur Extra Class license privileges
C	All privileges of the Amateur Extra Class license
D	Full privileges, up to and including those of the Amateur Extra Class license, on the 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter bands

8. - E2A12

What is the purpose of digital store-and-forward functions on an amateur radio satellite?

Select	Answer
A	To relay messages between satellites
B	To delay download of telemetry between satellites
C	To upload operational software for the transponder
D	To store digital messages in the satellite for later download by other stations

9. - E2B08

What technique allows commercial analog TV receivers to be used for fast-scan TV operations on the 70 cm band?

Select	Answer
A	Transmitting on channels shared with cable TV
B	Using converted satellite TV dishes
C	Transmitting on the abandoned TV channel 2
D	Using USB and demodulating the signal with a computer sound card

10. - E2C08

Which of the following contacts may be confirmed through the U.S. QSL bureau system?

Select	Answer
A	Repeater contacts between U.S. club members
B	Contacts using tactical call signs
C	Contacts between a U.S. station and a non-U.S. station
D	Special event contacts between stations in the U.S.

11. - E2D03

Which of the following digital modes is especially useful for EME communications?

Select	Answer
A	PACTOR III
B	Olivia
C	JT65
D	MSK144

12. - E2E02

What do the letters FEC mean as they relate to digital operation?

Select	Answer
A	Fatal Error Correction
B	Forward Error Correction
C	Final Error Correction
D	First Error Correction

13. - E3A07

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

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

14. - E3B09

At what time of year is sporadic E propagation most likely to occur?

Select	Answer
A	Around the solstices, especially the summer solstice
B	Around the equinoxes, especially the fall equinox
C	Around the equinoxes, especially the spring equinox
D	Around the solstices, especially the winter solstice

15. - E3C04

What does the value of Bz (B sub Z) represent?

Select	Answer
A	Direction and strength of the interplanetary magnetic field
B	Critical frequency for vertical transmissions
C	Duration of long-delayed echoes
D	Geomagnetic field stability

16. - E4A06

What is the effect of aliasing on a digital oscilloscope caused by setting the time base too slow?

Select	Answer
A	A false, jittery low-frequency version of the signal is displayed
B	Excessive blanking occurs, which prevents display of the signal
C	Calibration of the vertical scale is no longer valid
D	All signals will have a DC offset

17. - E4B08

Which of the following can be used to measure the Q of a series-tuned circuit?

Select	Answer
A	The frequency shift
B	The inductance to capacitance ratio
C	The resonant frequency of the circuit
D	The bandwidth of the circuit's frequency response

18. - E4C10

What is an advantage of having a variety of receiver IF bandwidths from which to select?

Select	Answer
A	Receive bandwidth can be set to match the modulation bandwidth, maximizing signal-to-noise ratio and minimizing interference
B	Multiple frequencies can be received simultaneously if desired
C	The noise figure of the RF amplifier can be adjusted to match the modulation type, thus increasing receiver sensitivity
D	Receiver power consumption can be reduced when wider bandwidth is not required

19. - E4D01

What is meant by the blocking dynamic range of a receiver?

Select	Answer
A	The minimum difference in dB between two signals which produce third-order intermodulation products greater than the noise floor
B	The difference in dB between the noise floor and the third-order intercept point
C	The difference in dB between the noise floor and the level of an incoming signal that will cause 1 dB of gain compression
D	The minimum difference in dB between the levels of two FM signals that will cause one signal to block the other

20. - E4E05

How can radio frequency interference from an AC motor be suppressed?

Select	Answer
A	By installing a bypass capacitor in series with the motor leads
B	By using a ground-fault current interrupter in the circuit used to power the motor
C	By installing a brute-force AC-line filter in series with the motor leads
D	By installing a high-pass filter in series with the motor's power leads

21. - E5A14

What is the resonant frequency of an RLC circuit if R is 22 ohms, L is 50 microhenries and C is 40 picofarads?

Select	Answer
A	1.78 MHz
B	3.56 MHz
C	22.36 MHz
D	44.72 MHz

22. - E5B12

What is admittance?

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

23. - E5C12

Which point on Figure E5-1 best represents the impedance of a series circuit consisting of a 300-ohm resistor and a 19-picofarad capacitor at 21.200 MHz?

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

24. - E5D06

In what direction is the magnetic field oriented about a conductor in relation to the direction of electron flow?

Select	Answer
A	In a circle around the conductor
B	In the same direction as the current
C	In a direction opposite to the current
D	In all directions; omni-directional

25. - E6A04

What is the name given to an impurity atom that adds holes to a semiconductor crystal structure?

Select	Answer
A	N-type impurity
B	Donor impurity
C	Insulator impurity
D	Acceptor impurity

26. - E6B08

Which of the following is a Schottky barrier diode?

Select	Answer
A	PIN junction
B	Electrolytic rectifier
C	Thermionic emission diode
D	Metal-semiconductor junction

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. - 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	Mechanical deformation of material by the application of a voltage
D	Increased conductivity in the presence of light

29. - E6E08

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

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

30. - E6F02

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

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

31. - E7A06

What is a characteristic of a monostable multivibrator?

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

32. - E7B07

Which of the following is a likely result when a Class C amplifier is used to amplify a single-sideband phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	Signal distortion and excessive bandwidth
B	Reduced intermodulation products
C	Signal inversion
D	Increased overall intelligibility

33. - E7C10

Which of the following filters would be the best choice for use in a 2 meter band repeater duplexer?

Select	Answer
A	A crystal filter
B	A DSP filter
C	An L-C filter
D	A cavity filter

34. - E7D14

What is the purpose of connecting equal-value resistors across power supply filter capacitors connected in series?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	Provide a minimum load on the supply
C	Equalize the voltage across each capacitor
D	Discharge the capacitors when voltage is removed

35. - E7E03

What is a frequency discriminator stage in a FM receiver?

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

36. - E7F13

What is the function of taps in a digital signal processing filter?

Select	Answer
A	To reduce excess signal pressure levels
B	Provide incremental signal delays for filter algorithms
C	Provide access for debugging software
D	Select the point at which baseband signals are generated

37. - E7G04

What is meant by the "op-amp input offset voltage"?

Select	Answer
A	The difference between the output voltage of the op-amp and the input voltage required in the immediately following stage
B	The potential between the amplifier input terminals of the op-amp in an open loop condition
C	The output voltage of the op-amp minus its input voltage
D	The differential input voltage needed to bring the open loop output voltage to zero

38. - E7H11

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

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

39. - E8A06

What is the approximate ratio of PEP-to-average power in a typical single-sideband phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	100 to 1
B	25 to 1
C	1 to 1
D	2.5 to 1

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	2.14
B	0.214
C	47
D	0.47

41. - E8C02

What is the definition of symbol rate in a digital transmission?

Select	Answer
A	The number of characters carried per second by the station-to-station link
B	The duration of each bit in a message sent over the air
C	The number of control characters in a message packet
D	The rate at which the waveform changes to convey information

42. - E8D02

What spread spectrum communications technique uses a high-speed binary bit stream to shift the phase of an RF carrier?

Select	Answer
A	Binary phase-shift keying
B	Direct sequence
C	Frequency hopping
D	Phase compandored spread spectrum

43. - E9A11

Which of the following factors determines ground losses for a ground-mounted vertical antenna operating in the 3 MHz to 30 MHz range?

Select	Answer
A	Distance from the transmitter
B	Soil conductivity
C	The standing wave ratio
D	Take-off angle

44. - E9B01

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

Select	Answer
A	30 degrees
B	25 degrees
C	50 degrees
D	75 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 end-fire along the axis of the array
B	Cardioid
C	Omni-directional
D	A figure-8 broadside to the axis of the array

46. - E9D08

What happens as the Q of an antenna increases?

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

47. - E9E11

What is the primary purpose of phasing lines when used with an antenna having multiple driven elements?

Select	Answer
A	It ensures that each driven element operates in concert with the others to create the desired antenna pattern
B	It allows single-band antennas to operate on other bands
C	It prevents reflected power from traveling back down the feed line and causing harmonic radiation from the transmitter
D	It creates a low-angle radiation pattern

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	13.3 meters
C	8.5 meters
D	7.0 meters

49. - E9G08

What is the process of normalization with regard to a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Reassigning resistance values with regard to the reactance axis
B	Reassigning reactance values with regard to the resistance axis
C	Reassigning prime center with regard to the reactance axis
D	Reassigning impedance values with regard to the prime center

50. - E9H02

Which is generally true for low band (160 meter and 80 meter) receiving antennas?

Select	Answer
A	Low loss coax transmission line is essential for good performance
B	All these choices are correct
C	Atmospheric noise is so high that gain over a dipole is not important
D	They must be erected at least 1/2 wavelength above the ground to attain good directivity

Figure E5-1

Figure E9-1