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	Polychlorinated biphenyls
C	Polytetrafluoroethylene
D	Polymorphic silicon

2. - E1A03

What is the maximum legal carrier frequency on the 20 meter band for transmitting USB AFSK digital signals having a 1 kHz bandwidth?

Select	Answer
A	14.349 MHz
B	14.100 MHz
C	14.070 MHz
D	14.149 MHz

3. - E1B11

What does PRB-1 require of regulations affecting amateur radio?

Select	Answer
A	Reasonable accommodations of amateur radio must be made
B	Use of wireless devices in a vehicle is exempt from regulation
C	Amateur radio operations must be permitted in any private residence
D	No limitations may be placed on antenna size or placement

4. - E1C07

At what level below a signal's mean power level is its bandwidth determined according to FCC rules?

Select	Answer
A	6 dB
B	3 dB
C	23 dB
D	26 dB

5. - E1D07

Which HF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

Select	Answer
A	Only the 40, 20, 17, 15, and 10 meter bands
B	Only the 40, 30, 20, 15, 12, and 10 meter bands
C	All HF bands
D	Only the 40, 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10 meter bands

6. - E1E06

Who is responsible for the proper conduct and necessary supervision during an amateur operator license examination session?

Select	Answer
A	The VEC coordinating the session
B	The VE session manager
C	The FCC
D	Each administering VE

7. - E1F03

Under what circumstances may a dealer sell an external RF power amplifier capable of operation below 144 MHz if it has not been granted FCC certification?

Select	Answer
A	It was imported from a manufacturer in another country and was certificated by that country's government
B	It was purchased in used condition from an amateur operator and is sold to another amateur operator for use at that operator's station
C	The equipment dealer assembled it from a kit
D	It was imported from a manufacturer in a country that does not require certification of RF power amplifiers

8. - E2A07

Which of the following types of signals can be relayed through a linear transponder?

Select	Answer
A	PSK and packet
B	All these choices are correct
C	SSB and SSTV
D	FM and CW

9. - E2B03

How is an interlaced scanning pattern generated in a fast-scan (NTSC) television system?

Select	Answer
A	By scanning lines from left to right in one field and right to left in the next
B	By scanning each field from bottom to top
C	By scanning two fields simultaneously
D	By scanning odd numbered lines in one field and even numbered lines in the next

10. - E2C11

How should you generally identify your station when attempting to contact a DX station during a contest or in a pileup?

Select	Answer
A	Send only the last two letters of your call sign until you make contact
B	Send the call sign of the DX station three times, the words this is,then your call sign three times
C	Send your full call sign once or twice
D	Send your full call sign and grid square

11. - E2D03

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

Select	Answer
A	JT65
B	Olivia
C	PACTOR III
D	MSK144

12. - E2E03

How is the timing of FT4 contacts organized?

Select	Answer
A	Alternating transmissions at 7.5 second intervals
B	Stations take turns on alternate days
C	By exchanging ACK/NAK packets
D	It depends on the lunar phase

13. - E3A05

Tropospheric propagation of microwave signals often occurs in association with what phenomenon?

Select	Answer
A	Grayline
B	Lightning discharges
C	Sprites and jets
D	Warm and cold fronts

14. - E3B04

What is meant by the terms "extraordinary" and "ordinary" waves?

Select	Answer
A	Extraordinary waves describe rare long-skip propagation compared to ordinary waves, which travel shorter distances
B	Independent waves created in the ionosphere that are elliptically polarized
C	Long-path and short-path waves
D	Refracted rays and reflected waves

15. - E3C10

What does the 304A solar parameter measure?

Select	Answer
A	The solar wind velocity at 304 degrees from the solar equator, correlated to solar activity
B	The ratio of x-ray flux to radio flux, correlated to sunspot number
C	The solar emission at 304 GHz, correlated to x-ray flare levels
D	UV emissions at 304 angstroms, correlated to the solar flux index

16. - E4A01

Which of the following limits the highest frequency signal that can be accurately displayed on a digital oscilloscope?

Select	Answer
A	Q of the circuit
B	Amount of memory
C	All these choices are correct
D	Sampling rate of the analog-to-digital converter

17. - E4B01

Which of the following factors most affects the accuracy of a frequency counter?

Select	Answer
A	Decade divider accuracy
B	Time base accuracy
C	Input attenuator accuracy
D	Temperature coefficient of the logic

18. - E4C04

What is the noise figure of a receiver?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of the noise bandwidth in hertz to the theoretical bandwidth of a resistive network
B	The ratio of thermal noise to atmospheric noise
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. - E4D06

What is the term for spurious signals generated by the combination of two or more signals in a non-linear device or circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Intermodulation
B	Adjacent channel interference
C	Amplifier desensitization
D	Neutralization

20. - E4E02

Which of the following types of noise can often be reduced with a digital signal processing noise filter?

Select	Answer
A	Ignition noise
B	Broadband white noise
C	All these choices are correct
D	Power line noise

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	157.8 Hz
B	23.67 kHz
C	315.6 Hz
D	47.3 kHz

22. - E5B07

What is the phase angle between the voltage across and the current through a series RLC circuit if XC is 500 ohms, R is 1 kilohm, and XL is 250 ohms?

Select	Answer
A	68.2 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
B	14.0 degrees with the voltage leading the current
C	68.2 degrees with the voltage leading the current
D	14.0 degrees with the voltage lagging the current

23. - E5C10

Which point on Figure E5-1 best represents the impedance of a series circuit consisting of a 400-ohm resistor and a 38-picofarad capacitor at 14 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	Point 5
B	Point 6
C	Point 2
D	Point 4

24. - E5D03

What is microstrip?

Select	Answer
A	Precision printed circuit conductors above a ground plane that provide constant impedance interconnects at microwave frequencies
B	Miniature coax used for low power applications
C	Lightweight transmission line made of common zip cord
D	Short lengths of coax mounted on printed circuit boards to minimize time delay between microwave circuits

25. - E6A01

In what application is gallium arsenide used as a semiconductor material?

Select	Answer
A	In microwave circuits
B	In high-power audio circuits
C	In high-current rectifier circuits
D	In very low-frequency RF circuits

26. - E6B10

In Figure E6-2, what is the schematic symbol for a light-emitting diode?

Select	Answer
A	6
B	7
C	5
D	1

27. - E6C05

What is an advantage of CMOS logic devices over TTL devices?

Select	Answer
A	Lower power consumption
B	Lower distortion
C	Immune to damage from static discharge
D	Differential output capability

28. - E6D10

What is a primary advantage of using a toroidal core instead of a solenoidal core in an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Toroidal cores exhibit greater hysteresis
B	Toroidal cores confine most of the magnetic field within the core material
C	Toroidal cores make it easier to couple the magnetic energy into other components
D	Toroidal cores have lower Q characteristics

29. - E6E04

Which is the most common input and output impedance of circuits that use MMICs?

Select	Answer
A	450 ohms
B	10 ohms
C	300 ohms
D	50 ohms

30. - E6F02

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

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

31. - E7A08

What logical operation does an OR gate perform?

Select	Answer
A	It produces logic 1 at its output if all inputs are logic 0
B	It produces logic 0 at its output if all inputs are logic 1
C	It produces logic 1 at its output if any or all inputs are logic 1
D	It only produces logic 0 at its output when all inputs are logic 1

32. - E7B01

For what portion of the signal cycle does each active element in a push-pull Class AB amplifier conduct?

Select	Answer
A	More than 180 degrees but less than 360 degrees
B	The entire cycle
C	Exactly 180 degrees
D	Less than 180 degrees

33. - E7C08

Which of the following factors has the greatest effect on the bandwidth and response shape of a crystal ladder filter?

Select	Answer
A	The relative frequencies of the individual crystals
B	The gain of the RF stage preceding the filter
C	The DC voltage applied to the quartz crystal
D	The amplitude of the signals passing through the filter

34. - E7D02

What is a characteristic of a switching electronic voltage regulator?

Select	Answer
A	It gives a ramp voltage at its output
B	The controlled device's duty cycle is changed to produce a constant average output voltage
C	The resistance of a control element is varied in direct proportion to the line voltage or load current
D	It is generally less efficient than a linear regulator

35. - E7E06

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

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

36. - E7F03

What type of digital signal processing filter is used to generate an SSB signal?

Select	Answer
A	A notch filter
B	A Hilbert-transform filter
C	An elliptical filter
D	An adaptive filter

37. - E7G07

What magnitude of voltage gain can be expected from the circuit in Figure E73 when R1 is 10 ohms and RF is 470 ohms?

Select	Answer
A	0.21
B	94
C	47
D	24

38. - E7H13

Which of the following is a technique for providing highly accurate and stable oscillators needed for microwave transmission and reception?

Select	Answer
A	Use a GPS signal reference
B	Use a rubidium stabilized reference oscillator
C	Use a temperature-controlled high Q dielectric resonator
D	All these choices are correct

39. - E8A09

How many different input levels can be encoded by an analog-to-digital converter with 8-bit resolution?

Select	Answer
A	256 divided by the gain of the input amplifier
B	8
C	8 multiplied by the gain of the input amplifier
D	256

40. - E8B09

What is deviation ratio?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of the audio modulating frequency to the center carrier frequency
B	The ratio of the maximum carrier frequency deviation to the highest audio modulating frequency
C	The ratio of the carrier center frequency to the audio modulating frequency
D	The ratio of the highest audio modulating frequency to the average audio modulating frequency

41. - E8C08

How does ARQ accomplish error correction?

Select	Answer
A	If errors are detected, redundant data is substituted
B	Special polynomial codes provide automatic correction
C	If errors are detected, a retransmission is requested
D	Special binary codes provide automatic correction

42. - E8D07

What is a common cause of overmodulation of AFSK signals?

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

43. - E9A10

Which of the following improves the efficiency of a ground-mounted quarter-wave vertical antenna?

Select	Answer
A	Shortening the radiating element
B	Isolating the coax shield from ground
C	All these choices are correct
D	Installing a radial system

44. - E9B04

What is the front-to-back ratio of the radiation pattern shown in Figure E92?

Select	Answer
A	15 dB
B	38 dB
C	3 dB
D	28 dB

45. - E9C10

Which of the following describes a Zepp antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A vertical array capable of quickly changing the direction of maximum radiation by changing phasing lines
B	An end-fed dipole antenna
C	An omni-directional antenna commonly used for satellite communications
D	A dipole constructed from zip cord

46. - E9D01

How much does the gain of an ideal parabolic dish antenna change when the operating frequency is doubled?

Select	Answer
A	3 dB
B	2 dB
C	6 dB
D	4 dB

47. - E9E10

Which of these choices is an effective way to match an antenna with a 100-ohm feed point impedance to a 50-ohm coaxial cable feed line?

Select	Answer
A	Connect a 1/2 wavelength shorted stub of 75-ohm cable in parallel with the 50-ohm cable where it attaches to the antenna
B	Insert a 1/4-wavelength piece of 75-ohm coaxial cable transmission line in series between the antenna terminals and the 50-ohm feed cable
C	Insert a 1/2 wavelength piece of 300-ohm twinlead in series between the antenna terminals and the 50-ohm feed cable
D	Connect a 1/4-wavelength open stub of 300-ohm twinlead in parallel with the coaxial feed line where it connects to the antenna

48. - E9F11

What impedance does a 1/8-wavelength transmission line present to a generator when the line is open at the far end?

Select	Answer
A	The same as the characteristic impedance of the line
B	An inductive reactance
C	A capacitive reactance
D	Infinite

49. - E9G04

What are the two families of circles and arcs that make up a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Resistance and voltage
B	Resistance and reactance
C	Voltage and impedance
D	Reactance and voltage

50. - E9H02

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

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

Figure E5-1

Figure E6-2