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	Polymorphic silicon
B	Polychlorinated biphenyls
C	Polyethylene
D	Polytetrafluoroethylene

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	18.068 MHz
B	18.107 MHz
C	18.110 MHz
D	18.100 MHz

3. - E1B07

To what type of regulations does PRB-1 apply?

Select	Answer
A	Homeowners associations
B	FAA tower height limits
C	Use of wireless devices in vehicles
D	State and local zoning

4. - E1C09

What is the highest modulation index permitted at the highest modulation frequency for angle modulation below 29.0 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	2.0
B	3.0
C	0.5
D	1.0

5. - E1D11

Which amateur stations are eligible to operate as Earth stations?

Select	Answer
A	Only those of Amateur Extra Class operators
B	Any amateur station whose licensee has filed a pre-space notification with the FCC's International Bureau
C	Only those of General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators
D	Any amateur station, subject to the privileges of the class of operator license held by the control operator

6. - E1E06

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

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

7. - E1F01

On what frequencies are spread spectrum transmissions permitted?

Select	Answer
A	Only on amateur frequencies above 222 MHz
B	Only on amateur frequencies above 420 MHz
C	Only on amateur frequencies above 50 MHz
D	Only on amateur frequencies above 144 MHz

8. - E2A05

What do the letters in a satellite's mode designator specify?

Select	Answer
A	Power limits for uplink and downlink transmissions
B	The uplink and downlink frequency ranges
C	The polarization of uplink and downlink signals
D	The location of the ground control station

9. - E2B01

How many times per second is a new frame transmitted in a fast-scan (NTSC) television system?

Select	Answer
A	120
B	30
C	60
D	90

10. - E2C05

What is the function of a DX QSL Manager?

Select	Answer
A	To allocate frequencies for DXpeditions
B	To run a net to allow many stations to contact a rare DX station
C	To handle the receiving and sending of confirmation cards for a DX station
D	To relay calls to and from a DX station

11. - E2D04

What technology is used to track, in real time, balloons carrying amateur radio transmitters?

Select	Answer
A	APRS
B	Doppler shift of beacon signals
C	Ultrasonics
D	Bandwidth compressed LORAN

12. - E2E01

Which of the following types of modulation is common for data emissions below 30 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	DTMF tones modulating an FM signal
B	FSK
C	Spread spectrum
D	Pulse modulation

13. - E3A01

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

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

14. - E3B02

What is the approximate maximum range for signals using transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	2500 miles
B	5000 miles
C	1000 miles
D	7500 miles

15. - E3C01

What does the radio communication term "ray tracing" describe?

Select	Answer
A	The process in which an electronic display presents a pattern
B	Evaluating high voltage sources for x-rays
C	Modeling a radio wave's path through the ionosphere
D	Determining the radiation pattern from an array of antennas

16. - E4A11

How should an antenna analyzer be connected when measuring antenna resonance and feed point impedance?

Select	Answer
A	Loosely couple the analyzer near the antenna base
B	Connect the antenna feed line directly to the analyzer's connector
C	Loosely couple the antenna and a dummy load to the analyzer
D	Connect the analyzer via a high-impedance transformer to the antenna

17. - E4B11

Which of the following can be measured with a vector network analyzer?

Select	Answer
A	Output impedance
B	Input impedance
C	Reflection coefficient
D	All these choices are correct

18. - E4C12

Which of the following has the largest effect on an SDR receiver's dynamic range?

Select	Answer
A	CPU register width in bits
B	Anti-aliasing input filter bandwidth
C	Analog-to-digital converter sample width in bits
D	RAM speed used for data storage

19. - E4D03

How can intermodulation interference between two repeaters occur?

Select	Answer
A	When the signals from the transmitters are reflected in phase from airplanes passing overhead
B	When the repeaters are in close proximity and the signals cause feedback in the final amplifier of one or both transmitters
C	When the signals from the transmitters are reflected out of phase from airplanes passing overhead
D	When the repeaters are in close proximity and the signals mix in the final amplifier of one or both transmitters

20. - E4E03

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

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

21. - E5A15

Which of the following increases Q for inductors and capacitors?

Select	Answer
A	Lower reactance
B	Lower losses
C	Higher self-resonant frequency
D	Lower self-resonant frequency

22. - E5B04

What is the time constant of a circuit having two 220-microfarad capacitors and two 1-megohm resistors, all in parallel?

Select	Answer
A	55 seconds
B	440 seconds
C	220 seconds
D	110 seconds

23. - E5C02

How are impedances described in polar coordinates?

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

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

25. - E6A12

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

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

26. - E6B04

What type of semiconductor device is designed for use as a voltage-controlled capacitor?

Select	Answer
A	Zener diode
B	Varactor diode
C	Tunnel diode
D	Silicon-controlled rectifier

27. - E6C08

In Figure E6-3, what is the schematic symbol for a NAND gate?

Select	Answer
A	1
B	2
C	3
D	4

28. - E6D13

What is the primary cause of inductor self-resonance?

Select	Answer
A	The skin effect
B	Inductive kickback
C	Inter-turn capacitance
D	Non-linear core hysteresis

29. - E6E08

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

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

30. - E6F08

Why are optoisolators often used in conjunction with solid-state circuits when switching 120 VAC?

Select	Answer
A	Optoisolators provide a low impedance link between a control circuit and a power circuit
B	Optoisolators provide impedance matching between the control circuit and power circuit
C	Optoisolators eliminate the effects of reflected light in the control circuit
D	Optoisolators provide a very high degree of electrical isolation between a control circuit and the circuit being switched

31. - E7A10

What is a truth table?

Select	Answer
A	A list of inputs and corresponding outputs for a digital device
B	A table of logic symbols that indicate the high logic states of an op-amp
C	A table of logic symbols that indicate the logic states of an op-amp
D	A diagram showing logic states when the digital device output is true

32. - E7B17

Why are odd-order rather than even-order intermodulation distortion products of concern in linear power amplifiers?

Select	Answer
A	Because they invert the sidebands causing distortion
B	Because they maintain the sidebands, thus causing multiple duplicate signals
C	Because they are relatively close in frequency to the desired signal
D	Because they are relatively far in frequency from the desired signal

33. - E7C03

What advantage does a series-L Pi-L-network have over a series-L Pi-network for impedance matching between the final amplifier of a vacuum-tube transmitter and an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	Does not require a capacitor
B	Greater harmonic suppression
C	Greater transformation range
D	Higher efficiency

34. - E7D14

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

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

35. - E7E11

Which type of detector circuit is used for demodulating SSB signals?

Select	Answer
A	Discriminator
B	Product detector
C	Phase detector
D	Phase comparator

36. - E7F09

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

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

37. - E7G09

What will be the output voltage of the circuit shown in Figure E7-3 if R1 is 1000 ohms, RF is 10,000 ohms, and 0.23 volts DC is applied to the input?

Select	Answer
A	-2.3 volts
B	-0.23 volts
C	2.3 volts
D	0.23 volts

38. - E7H10

What information is contained in the lookup table of a direct digital synthesizer (DDS)?

Select	Answer
A	The phase relationship between a reference oscillator and the output waveform
B	The phase relationship between a voltage-controlled oscillator and the output waveform
C	Frequently used receiver and transmitter frequencies
D	Amplitude values that represent the desired waveform

39. - E8A10

What is the purpose of a low-pass filter used in conjunction with a digital-to-analog converter?

Select	Answer
A	Improve accuracy by removing out-of-sequence codes from the input
B	Lower the input bandwidth to increase the effective resolution
C	Remove harmonics from the output caused by the discrete analog levels generated
D	All these choices are correct

40. - E8B01

What is the modulation index of an FM signal?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of modulating signal amplitude to frequency deviation
B	The type of modulation used by the transmitter
C	The bandwidth of the transmitted signal divided by the modulating signal frequency
D	The ratio of frequency deviation to modulating signal frequency

41. - E8C04

What technique minimizes the bandwidth of a PSK31 signal?

Select	Answer
A	Use of trapezoidal data pulses
B	Reed-Solomon character encoding
C	Use of sinusoidal data pulses
D	Zero-sum character encoding

42. - E8D04

What is the primary effect of extremely short rise or fall time on a CW signal?

Select	Answer
A	The generation of RF harmonics
B	The generation of key clicks
C	Limits data speed
D	More difficult to copy

43. - E9A05

What is included in the total resistance of an antenna system?

Select	Answer
A	Radiation resistance plus transmission resistance
B	Radiation resistance plus space impedance
C	Transmission-line resistance plus radiation resistance
D	Radiation resistance plus loss resistance

44. - E9B03

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

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

45. - E9C05

Which of the following is a type of OCFD antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A multiband dipole antenna using one-way circular polarization for frequency diversity
B	A folded dipole center-fed with 300-ohm transmission line
C	A remotely tunable dipole antenna using orthogonally controlled frequency diversity
D	A dipole fed approximately 1/3 the way from one end with a 4:1 balun to provide multiband operation

46. - E9D03

Where should a high Q loading coil be placed to minimize losses in a shortened vertical antenna?

Select	Answer
A	As close to the transmitter as possible
B	Near the center of the vertical radiator
C	As low as possible on the vertical radiator
D	At a voltage node

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

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	7.0 meters
D	8.5 meters

49. - E9G08

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

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

50. - E9H07

Why is RF attenuation used when direction-finding?

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

Figure E6-3

Figure E7-3

Figure E9-1