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

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1. - E0A05

What is one of the potential hazards of operating in the amateur radio microwave bands?

Select	Answer
A	The high gain antennas commonly used can result in high exposure levels
B	Microwaves often travel long distances by ionospheric reflection
C	Microwaves are ionizing radiation
D	The extremely high frequency energy can damage the joints of antenna structures

2. - E1A14

Except in some parts of Alaska, what is the maximum power permitted on the 630 meter band?

Select	Answer
A	50 watts PEP
B	100 watts PEP
C	5 watts EIRP
D	1 watt EIRP

3. - E1B02

Which of the following is an acceptable bandwidth for Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) based voice or SSTV digital transmissions made on the HF amateur bands?

Select	Answer
A	20 kHz
B	15 kHz
C	10 kHz
D	3 kHz

4. - E1C03

How do the control operator responsibilities of a station under automatic control differ from one under local control?

Select	Answer
A	Under automatic control the control operator is not required to be present at the control point
B	Under local control there is no control operator
C	Under local control a control operator is not required to be present at a control point
D	Under automatic control there is no control operator

5. - E1D01

What is the definition of telemetry?

Select	Answer
A	Two-way transmissions of data
B	One-way transmission of measurements at a distance from the measuring instrument
C	Two-way transmissions in excess of 1000 feet
D	One-way transmission that initiates, modifies, or terminates the functions of a device at a distance

6. - E1E03

What is a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator?

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

7. - E1F04

Which of the following geographic descriptions approximately describes "Line A"?

Select	Answer
A	A line roughly parallel to and east of the U.S. Pacific coastline
B	A line roughly parallel to and south of the border between the U.S. and Canada
C	A line roughly parallel to and north of the border between the U.S. and Mexico
D	A line roughly parallel to and west of the U.S. Atlantic coastline

8. - E2A03

How is the signal inverted by an inverting linear transponder?

Select	Answer
A	The signal is reduced to I and Q components and the Q component is filtered out
B	The signal is detected and remodulated on the reverse sideband
C	The signal is passed through a mixer and the difference rather than the sum is transmitted
D	The signal is passed through a non-linear filter

9. - E2B05

Which of the following describes the use of vestigial sideband in analog fast-scan TV transmissions?

Select	Answer
A	The vestigial sideband contains chroma information
B	Vestigial sideband reduces bandwidth while allowing for simple video detector circuitry
C	The vestigial sideband carries the audio information
D	Vestigial sideband provides high frequency emphasis to sharpen the picture

10. - E2C06

During a VHF/UHF contest, in which band segment would you expect to find the highest level of SSB or CW activity?

Select	Answer
A	In the middle of the band, usually 25 kHz above the national calling frequency
B	In the middle of each band, usually on the national calling frequency
C	In the weak signal segment of the band, with most of the activity near the calling frequency
D	At the top of each band, usually in a segment reserved for contests

11. - E2D07

What digital protocol is used by APRS?

Select	Answer
A	802.11
B	PACTOR
C	AMTOR
D	AX.25

12. - E2E02

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

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

13. - E3A01

What is the approximate maximum separation measured along the surface of the Earth between two stations communicating by EME?

Select	Answer
A	12,000 miles, if the moon is visible by both stations
B	500 miles, if the moon is at perigee
C	2000 miles, if the moon is at apogee
D	5000 miles, if the moon is at perigee

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. - E3C12

How does the maximum range of ground-wave propagation change when the signal frequency is increased?

Select	Answer
A	It stays the same
B	It decreases
C	It increases
D	It peaks at roughly 14 MHz

16. - E4A02

Which of the following parameters does a spectrum analyzer display on the vertical and horizontal axes?

Select	Answer
A	RF amplitude and time
B	SWR and frequency
C	RF amplitude and frequency
D	SWR and time

17. - E4B01

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

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

18. - E4C08

An SDR receiver is overloaded when input signals exceed what level?

Select	Answer
A	The reference voltage of the analog-to-digital converter
B	The maximum count value of the analog-to-digital converter
C	One-half the maximum sampling buffer size
D	One-half the maximum sample rate

19. - E4D07

Which of the following reduces the likelihood of receiver desensitization?

Select	Answer
A	Raise the receiver IF frequency
B	Switch from fast AGC to slow AGC
C	Increase the receiver front end gain
D	Decrease the RF bandwidth of the receiver

20. - E4E09

What undesirable effect can occur when using an IF noise blanker?

Select	Answer
A	The audio frequency bandwidth of the received signal might be compressed
B	Nearby signals may appear to be excessively wide even if they meet emission standards
C	Received audio in the speech range might have an echo effect
D	FM signals can no longer be demodulated

21. - E5A10

How is the Q of an RLC series resonant circuit calculated?

Select	Answer
A	Reactance of either the inductance or capacitance divided by the resistance
B	Reactance of either the inductance or capacitance multiplied by the resistance
C	Resistance divided by the reactance of either the inductance or capacitance
D	Reactance of the inductance multiplied by the reactance of the capacitance

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

23. - E5C02

How are impedances described in polar coordinates?

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

24. - E5D10

How can the true power be determined in an AC circuit where the voltage and current are out of phase?

Select	Answer
A	By dividing the reactive power by the power factor
B	By multiplying the apparent power by the power factor
C	By dividing the apparent power by the power factor
D	By multiplying the reactive power by the power factor

25. - E6A03

Why does a PN-junction diode not conduct current when reverse biased?

Select	Answer
A	Holes in P-type material and electrons in the N-type material are separated by the applied voltage, widening the depletion region
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	Only P-type semiconductor material can conduct current

26. - E6B03

What type of bias is required for an LED to emit light?

Select	Answer
A	Zero bias
B	Inductive bias
C	Reverse bias
D	Forward bias

27. - E6C11

In Figure E6-3, what is the schematic symbol for the NOT operation (inverter)?

Select	Answer
A	4
B	2
C	6
D	5

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

29. - E6E07

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

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

30. - E6F05

Which describes an optical shaft encoder?

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

31. - E7A09

What logical operation is performed by an exclusive NOR gate?

Select	Answer
A	It produces logic 1 at its output if only one input is logic 1
B	It produces logic 0 at its output if only one input is logic 1
C	It produces logic 0 at its output only if all inputs are logic 0
D	It produces logic 1 at its output only if all inputs are logic 1

32. - E7B13

Which of the following describes an emitter follower (or common collector) amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	A two-transistor amplifier with the emitters sharing a common bias resistor
B	A differential amplifier with both inputs fed to the emitter of the input transistor
C	An amplifier with a low impedance output that follows the base input voltage
D	An OR circuit with only one emitter used for output

33. - E7C11

Which of the following describes a receiving filter's ability to reject signals occupying an adjacent channel?

Select	Answer
A	Phase response
B	Shape factor
C	Passband ripple
D	Noise factor

34. - E7D10

What is the primary reason that a high-frequency switching type high-voltage power supply can be both less expensive and lighter in weight than a conventional power supply?

Select	Answer
A	It uses a diode bridge rectifier for increased output
B	The inverter design does not require any output filtering
C	The high frequency inverter design uses much smaller transformers and filter components for an equivalent power output
D	It uses a large power factor compensation capacitor to recover power from the unused portion of the AC cycle

35. - E7E09

What occurs when an excessive amount of signal energy reaches a mixer circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Spurious mixer products are generated
B	Mixer blanking occurs
C	A beat frequency is generated
D	Automatic limiting occurs

36. - E7F14

Which of the following would allow a digital signal processing filter to create a sharper filter response?

Select	Answer
A	Complex phasor representations
B	Higher data rate
C	Double-precision math routines
D	More taps

37. - E7G04

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

Select	Answer
A	The differential input voltage needed to bring the open loop output voltage to zero
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 difference between the output voltage of the op-amp and the input voltage required in the immediately following stage

38. - E7H08

Which of the following components can be used to reduce thermal drift in crystal oscillators?

Select	Answer
A	Toroidal inductors
B	Wirewound resistors
C	NP0 capacitors
D	Non-inductive resistors

39. - E8A11

Which of the following is a measure of the quality of an analog-to-digital converter?

Select	Answer
A	Power factor
B	Reciprocal mixing
C	Total harmonic distortion
D	Peak envelope power

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

41. - E8C02

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

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

42. - E8D09

What is considered an acceptable maximum IMD level for an idling PSK signal?

Select	Answer
A	-30 dB
B	+10 dB
C	-20 dB
D	+15 dB

43. - E9A08

What is antenna bandwidth?

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

44. - E9B11

What is a disadvantage of decreasing the number of wire segments in an antenna model below 10 segments per half-wavelength?

Select	Answer
A	The resulting design will favor radiation of harmonic energy
B	The antenna will become mechanically unstable
C	The computed feed point impedance may be incorrect
D	Ground conductivity will not be accurately modeled

45. - E9C01

What is the radiation pattern of two 1/4-wavelength vertical antennas spaced 1/2-wavelength apart and fed 180 degrees out of phase?

Select	Answer
A	Omni-directional
B	A figure-8 oriented along the axis of the array
C	Cardioid
D	A figure-8 broadside to the axis of the array

46. - E9D09

What is the function of a loading coil used as part of an HF mobile antenna?

Select	Answer
A	To lower the Q
B	To cancel capacitive reactance
C	To lower the losses
D	To increase the SWR bandwidth

47. - E9E04

What is the purpose of the series capacitor in a gamma-type antenna matching network?

Select	Answer
A	To cancel the inductive reactance of the matching network
B	To provide DC isolation between the feed line and the antenna
C	To transform the antenna impedance to a higher value
D	To provide a rejection notch that prevents the radiation of harmonics

48. - E9F10

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

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

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. - E9H11

What feature of a cardioid pattern antenna makes it useful for direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	A very sharp peak
B	Broadband response
C	A very sharp single null
D	High radiation angle

Figure E6-3

Figure E9-3