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

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1. - E0A09

Which insulating material commonly used as a thermal conductor for some types of electronic devices is extremely toxic if broken or crushed and the particles are accidentally inhaled?

Select	Answer
A	Mica
B	Uranium Hexafluoride
C	Zinc oxide
D	Beryllium Oxide

2. - E1A12

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

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

3. - E1B03

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

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

4. - E1C12

On what portion of the 630 meter band are phone emissions permitted?

Select	Answer
A	Only the bottom 3 kHz
B	None
C	Only the top 3 kHz
D	The entire band

5. - E1D12

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

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

6. - E1E05

What is the minimum passing score on all amateur operator license examinations?

Select	Answer
A	Minimum passing score of 74%
B	Minimum passing score of 77%
C	Minimum passing score of 70%
D	Minimum passing score of 80%

7. - E1F09

Which of the following conditions apply when transmitting spread spectrum emissions?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	The transmission must not be used to obscure the meaning of any communication
C	The transmitting station must be in an area regulated by the FCC or in a country that permits SS emissions
D	A station transmitting SS emission must not cause harmful interference to other stations employing other authorized emissions

8. - E2A11

What type of antenna can be used to minimize the effects of spin modulation and Faraday rotation?

Select	Answer
A	A log-periodic dipole array
B	A linearly polarized antenna
C	An isotropic antenna
D	A circularly polarized antenna

9. - E2B06

What is vestigial sideband modulation?

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

10. - E2C04

Which of the following frequencies are sometimes used for amateur radio mesh networks?

Select	Answer
A	Frequencies shared with various unlicensed wireless data services
B	HF frequencies where digital communications are permitted
C	The 60 meter band channel centered on 5373 kHz
D	Cable TV channels 41 through 43

11. - E2D09

What type of modulation is used for JT65 contacts?

Select	Answer
A	RTTY
B	Multi-tone AFSK
C	PSK
D	IEEE 802.11

12. - E2E06

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

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

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. - E3B09

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

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

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 solar emission at 304 GHz, correlated to x-ray flare levels
C	UV emissions at 304 angstroms, correlated to the solar flux index
D	The ratio of x-ray flux to radio flux, correlated to sunspot number

16. - E4A10

Which of the following displays multiple digital signal states simultaneously?

Select	Answer
A	Bit error rate tester
B	Network analyzer
C	Modulation monitor
D	Logic analyzer

17. - E4B03

Which S parameter is equivalent to forward gain?

Select	Answer
A	S11
B	S12
C	S21
D	S22

18. - E4C04

What is the noise figure of a receiver?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio in dB of the noise generated by the receiver to the theoretical minimum noise
B	The ratio of thermal noise to atmospheric noise
C	The ratio of atmospheric noise to phase noise
D	The ratio of the noise bandwidth in hertz to the theoretical bandwidth of a resistive network

19. - E4D04

Which of the following may reduce or eliminate intermodulation interference in a repeater caused by another transmitter operating in close proximity?

Select	Answer
A	A properly terminated circulator at the output of the repeater's transmitter
B	Utilizing a Class D final amplifier
C	Utilizing a Class C final amplifier
D	A band-pass filter in the feed line between the transmitter and receiver

20. - E4E08

What current flows equally on all conductors of an unshielded multi-conductor cable?

Select	Answer
A	Return current
B	Differential-mode current
C	Reactive current only
D	Common-mode current

21. - E5A05

What is the result of increasing the Q of an impedance-matching circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Matching range is increased
B	It has no effect on impedance matching
C	Matching bandwidth is decreased
D	Matching bandwidth is increased

22. - E5B02

What letter is commonly used to represent susceptance?

Select	Answer
A	X
B	G
C	B
D	Y

23. - E5C02

How are impedances described in polar coordinates?

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

24. - E5D04

Why are short connections used at microwave frequencies?

Select	Answer
A	To reduce noise figure
B	To increase compensating capacitance
C	To increase neutralizing resistance
D	To reduce phase shift along the connection

25. - E6A05

How does DC input impedance at the gate of a field-effect transistor compare with the DC input impedance of a bipolar transistor?

Select	Answer
A	An FET has higher input impedance
B	They are both low impedance
C	An FET has lower input impedance
D	They are both high impedance

26. - E6B06

Which of the following is a common use of a Schottky diode?

Select	Answer
A	As a constant voltage reference in a power supply
B	As a variable capacitance in an automatic frequency control circuit
C	As a VHF/UHF mixer or detector
D	As a rectifier in high current power supplies

27. - E6C02

What happens when the level of a comparator's input signal crosses the threshold?

Select	Answer
A	The feedback loop becomes unstable
B	The IC input can be damaged
C	The comparator enters latch-up
D	The comparator changes its output state

28. - E6D02

What is the equivalent circuit of a quartz crystal?

Select	Answer
A	Motional capacitance, motional inductance, and loss resistance in series, all in parallel with a shunt capacitor representing electrode and stray capacitance
B	Motional capacitance, motional inductance, loss resistance, and a capacitor representing electrode and stray capacitance all in series
C	Motional inductance and loss resistance in series, paralleled with motional capacitance and a capacitor representing electrode and stray capacitance
D	Motional capacitance, motional inductance, loss resistance, and a capacitor representing electrode and stray capacitance all in parallel

29. - E6E04

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

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

30. - E6F07

What is a solid-state relay?

Select	Answer
A	A mechanical relay that latches in the on or off state each time it is pulsed
B	A relay using transistors to drive the relay coil
C	A semiconductor passive delay line
D	A device that uses semiconductors to implement the functions of an electromechanical relay

31. - E7A05

Which of the following is a circuit that continuously alternates between two states without an external clock?

Select	Answer
A	J-K flip-flop
B	T flip-flop
C	Astable multivibrator
D	Monostable multivibrator

32. - E7B02

What is a Class D amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	An amplifier that uses drift-mode FETs for high efficiency
B	A frequency doubling amplifier
C	A type of amplifier that uses switching technology to achieve high efficiency
D	A low power amplifier that uses a differential amplifier for improved linearity

33. - E7C04

How does an impedance-matching circuit transform a complex impedance to a resistive impedance?

Select	Answer
A	It introduces transconductance to cancel the reactive part of impedance
B	It cancels the reactive part of the impedance and changes the resistive part to a desired value
C	It introduces negative resistance to cancel the resistive part of impedance
D	Reactive currents are dissipated in matched resistances

34. - E7D12

What is the dropout voltage of an analog voltage regulator?

Select	Answer
A	Minimum input voltage for rated power dissipation
B	Maximum that the output voltage may decrease at rated load
C	Maximum output voltage drops when the input voltage is varied over its specified range
D	Minimum input-to-output voltage required to maintain regulation

35. - E7E07

What is meant by the term "baseband" in radio communications?

Select	Answer
A	The basic oscillator frequency in an FM transmitter that is multiplied to increase the deviation and carrier frequency
B	The unmodulated bandwidth of the transmitted signal
C	The lowest frequency band that the transmitter or receiver covers
D	The frequency range occupied by a message signal prior to modulation

36. - E7F01

What is meant by direct digital conversion as applied to software defined radios?

Select	Answer
A	A switching mixer is used to generate I and Q signals directly from the RF input
B	Incoming RF is digitized by an analog-to-digital converter without being mixed with a local oscillator signal
C	Incoming RF is converted to a control voltage for a voltage controlled oscillator
D	Software is converted from source code to object code during operation of the receiver

37. - E7G02

What is ringing in a filter?

Select	Answer
A	Partial cancellation of the signal over a range of frequencies
B	Undesired oscillations added to the desired signal
C	An echo caused by a long time delay
D	A reduction in high frequency response

38. - E7H11

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

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

39. - E8A05

What of the following instruments would be the most accurate for measuring the RMS voltage of a complex waveform?

Select	Answer
A	A grid dip meter
B	A D'Arsonval meter
C	A true-RMS calculating meter
D	An absorption wave meter

40. - E8B08

What describes Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	A digital modulation technique using subcarriers at frequencies chosen to avoid intersymbol interference
B	A bandwidth compression technique using Fourier transforms
C	A frequency modulation technique that uses non-harmonically related frequencies
D	A digital mode for narrow-band, slow-speed transmissions

41. - E8C05

What is the approximate bandwidth of a 13-WPM International Morse Code transmission?

Select	Answer
A	104 Hz
B	13 Hz
C	26 Hz
D	52 Hz

42. - E8D07

What is a common cause of overmodulation of AFSK signals?

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

43. - E9A13

What term describes station output, taking into account all gains and losses?

Select	Answer
A	Effective radiated power
B	Half-power bandwidth
C	Power factor
D	Apparent power

44. - E9B03

In the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-1, what is the front-to-side ratio?

Select	Answer
A	12 dB
B	18 dB
C	14 dB
D	24 dB

45. - E9C08

What is a folded dipole antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A dipole one-quarter wavelength long
B	A dipole configured to provide forward gain
C	A half-wave dipole with an additional parallel wire connecting its two ends
D	A type of ground-plane antenna

46. - E9D04

Why should an HF mobile antenna loading coil have a high ratio of reactance to resistance?

Select	Answer
A	To swamp out harmonics
B	To minimize the Q
C	To lower the radiation angle
D	To minimize losses

47. - E9E11

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

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

48. - E9F09

What is the approximate physical length of a foam polyethylene dielectric coaxial transmission line that is electrically 1/4 wavelength long at 7.2 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	6.9 meters
B	10.4 meters
C	5.2 meters
D	8.3 meters

49. - E9G05

Which of the following is a common use for a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Determine the length and position of an impedance matching stub
B	Determine the impedance of a transmission line, given the physical dimensions
C	Determine the gain of an antenna given the physical and electrical parameters
D	Determine the loss/100 feet of a transmission line, given the velocity factor and conductor materials

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

Figure E9-1