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

Logging in (or registering) will help the system to select questions that you need to focus on.

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. - E1A14

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

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

3. - E1B09

Which amateur stations may be operated under RACES rules?

Select	Answer
A	Only those club stations licensed to Amateur Extra Class operators
B	Any FCC-licensed amateur station certified by the responsible civil defense organization for the area served
C	Any FCC-licensed amateur station participating in the Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS)
D	Any FCC-licensed amateur station except a Technician Class

4. - E1C08

What is the maximum permissible duration of a remotely controlled station's transmissions if its control link malfunctions?

Select	Answer
A	10 minutes
B	5 minutes
C	30 seconds
D	3 minutes

5. - E1D04

Which of the following is required in the identification transmissions from a balloon-borne telemetry station?

Select	Answer
A	The output power of the balloon transmitter
B	Call sign
C	The station's six-character Maidenhead grid locator
D	All these choices are correct

6. - E1E09

What may be the penalty for a VE who fraudulently administers or certifies an examination?

Select	Answer
A	A fine of up to $1000 per occurrence
B	A sentence of up to one year in prison
C	Revocation of the VE's amateur station license grant and the suspension of the VE's amateur operator license grant
D	All these choices are correct

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 144 MHz
C	Only on amateur frequencies above 420 MHz
D	Only on amateur frequencies above 50 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 location of the ground control station
C	The polarization of uplink and downlink signals
D	The uplink and downlink frequency ranges

9. - E2B01

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

Select	Answer
A	90
B	120
C	30
D	60

10. - E2C09

What type of equipment is commonly used to implement an amateur radio mesh network?

Select	Answer
A	A 440 MHz transceiver with a 9600 baud modem
B	An optical cable connection between the USB ports of 2 separate computers
C	A 2 meter VHF transceiver with a 1200 baud modem
D	A wireless router running custom firmware

11. - E2D11

Which of the following data are used by the APRS network to communicate station location?

Select	Answer
A	Radio direction finding spectrum analysis
B	Latitude and longitude
C	Time and frequency
D	Polar coordinates

12. - E2E06

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

Select	Answer
A	300 baud
B	110 baud
C	1200 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. - E3B07

What happens to linearly polarized radio waves that split into ordinary and extraordinary waves in the ionosphere?

Select	Answer
A	They are bent toward the magnetic poles
B	They become depolarized
C	They become phase locked
D	They become elliptically polarized

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

16. - E4A03

Which of the following test instruments is used to display spurious signals and/or intermodulation distortion products generated by an SSB transmitter?

Select	Answer
A	A wattmeter
B	A time-domain reflectometer
C	A logic analyzer
D	A spectrum analyzer

17. - E4B10

Which of the following methods measures intermodulation distortion in an SSB transmitter?

Select	Answer
A	Modulate the transmitter using two AF signals having harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a peak reading wattmeter
B	Modulate the transmitter using two AF signals having non-harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a spectrum analyzer
C	Modulate the transmitter using two RF signals having harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a logic analyzer
D	Modulate the transmitter using two RF signals having non-harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a spectrum analyzer

18. - E4C02

Which of the following receiver circuits can be effective in eliminating interference from strong out-of-band signals?

Select	Answer
A	A front-end filter or pre-selector
B	A narrow IF filter
C	A notch filter
D	A properly adjusted product detector

19. - E4D09

What is the purpose of the preselector in a communications receiver?

Select	Answer
A	To increase rejection of signals outside the desired band
B	To provide a range of AGC time constants
C	To allow selection of the optimum RF amplifier device
D	To store often-used frequencies

20. - E4E03

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

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

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	47.3 kHz
B	315.6 Hz
C	157.8 Hz
D	23.67 kHz

22. - E5B03

How is impedance in polar form converted to an equivalent admittance?

Select	Answer
A	Take the reciprocal of the magnitude and change the sign of the angle
B	Take the reciprocal of the angle and change the sign of the magnitude
C	Take the square root of the magnitude and add 180 degrees to the angle
D	Square the magnitude and subtract 90 degrees from the angle

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 6
B	Point 4
C	Point 5
D	Point 2

24. - E5D07

How many watts are consumed in a circuit having a power factor of 0.71 if the apparent power is 500VA?

Select	Answer
A	355 W
B	704 W
C	1.42 mW
D	252 W

25. - E6A06

What is the beta of a bipolar junction transistor?

Select	Answer
A	The breakdown voltage of the base to collector junction
B	The frequency at which the current gain is reduced to 0.707
C	The change in collector current with respect to base current
D	The switching speed

26. - E6B10

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

Select	Answer
A	5
B	7
C	1
D	6

27. - E6C07

What best describes a pull-up or pull-down resistor?

Select	Answer
A	A resistor that ensures that an oscillator frequency does not drift
B	A resistor in a keying circuit used to reduce key clicks
C	A resistor connected to an op-amp output that prevents signals from exceeding the power supply voltage
D	A resistor connected to the positive or negative supply line used to establish a voltage when an input or output is an open circuit

28. - E6D08

What is one reason for using powdered-iron cores rather than ferrite cores in an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Powdered-iron cores generally require fewer turns to produce a given inductance
B	Powdered-iron cores generally maintain their characteristics at higher currents
C	Powdered-iron cores use smaller diameter wire for the same inductance
D	Powdered-iron cores generally have greater initial permeability

29. - E6E04

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

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

30. - E6F03

What is the most common configuration of an optoisolator or optocoupler?

Select	Answer
A	A lens and a photomultiplier
B	A frequency modulated helium-neon laser
C	An LED and a phototransistor
D	An amplitude modulated helium-neon laser

31. - E7A11

What type of logic defines "1" as a high voltage?

Select	Answer
A	Negative logic
B	Assertive Logic
C	Reverse Logic
D	Positive Logic

32. - E7B05

What can be done to prevent unwanted oscillations in an RF power amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	Tune both the input and output for maximum power
B	Install parasitic suppressors and/or neutralize the stage
C	Tune the stage for maximum SWR
D	Use a phase inverter in the output filter

33. - E7C01

How are the capacitors and inductors of a low-pass filter Pi-network arranged between the network's input and output?

Select	Answer
A	A capacitor is connected between the input and ground, another capacitor is connected between the output and ground, and an inductor is connected between input and output
B	Two capacitors are in series between the input and output, and an inductor is connected between the two capacitors and ground
C	An inductor is connected between the input and ground, another inductor is connected between the output and ground, and a capacitor is connected between the input and output
D	Two inductors are in series between the input and output, and a capacitor is connected between the two inductors and ground

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

35. - E7E05

What circuit is added to an FM transmitter to boost the higher audio frequencies?

Select	Answer
A	A pre-emphasis network
B	A heterodyne enhancer
C	A de-emphasis network
D	A heterodyne suppressor

36. - E7F12

Which of the following is an advantage of a Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter vs an Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) digital filter?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	FIR filters can respond faster to impulses
C	FIR filters can delay all frequency components of the signal by the same amount
D	FIR filters are easier to implement for a given set of passband rolloff requirements

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	-2.3 volts
C	0.23 volts
D	-0.23 volts

38. - E7H02

What is a microphonic?

Select	Answer
A	Changes in oscillator frequency due to mechanical vibration
B	An IC used for amplifying microphone signals
C	Excess loading of the microphone by an oscillator
D	Distortion caused by RF pickup on the microphone cable

39. - E8A09

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

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

40. - E8B10

What is frequency division multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	Two or more information streams are merged into a digital combiner, which then pulse position modulates the transmitter
B	The transmitted signal is divided into packets of information
C	The transmitted signal jumps from band to band at a predetermined rate
D	Two or more information streams are merged into a baseband, which then modulates the transmitter

41. - E8C12

What factors affect the bandwidth of a transmitted CW signal?

Select	Answer
A	IF bandwidth and Q
B	Keying speed and shape factor (rise and fall time)
C	All these choices are correct
D	Modulation index and output power

42. - E8D09

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

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

43. - E9A02

What is the effective radiated power relative to a dipole of a repeater station with 150 watts transmitter power output, 2 dB feed line loss, 2.2 dB duplexer loss, and 7 dBd antenna gain?

Select	Answer
A	286 watts
B	1977 watts
C	78.7 watts
D	420 watts

44. - E9B10

What is the principle of a Method of Moments analysis?

Select	Answer
A	A wire is modeled as a single sine-wave voltage source
B	A wire is modeled as a series of segments, each having a uniform value of current
C	A wire is modeled as a single sine-wave current generator
D	A wire is modeled as a series of segments, each having a distinct value of voltage across it

45. - E9C06

What is the effect of adding a terminating resistor to a rhombic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It changes the radiation pattern from bidirectional to unidirectional
B	It decreases the ground loss
C	It reflects the standing waves on the antenna elements back to the transmitter
D	It changes the radiation pattern from horizontal to vertical polarization

46. - E9D06

What happens to the SWR bandwidth when one or more loading coils are used to resonate an electrically short antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It is decreased
B	It is increased
C	It is unchanged if the loading coil is located at a voltage maximum point
D	It is unchanged if the loading coil is located at the feed point

47. - E9E04

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

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

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	5.2 meters
B	8.3 meters
C	10.4 meters
D	6.9 meters

49. - E9G10

What do the arcs on a Smith chart represent?

Select	Answer
A	Frequency
B	Points with constant resistance
C	Points with constant reactance
D	SWR

50. - E9H09

What is a Pennant antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A form of rhombic antenna terminated in a variable capacitor to provide frequency diversity
B	A stealth antenna built to look like a flagpole
C	A four-element, high-gain vertical array invented by George Pennant
D	A small, vertically oriented receiving antenna consisting of a triangular loop terminated in approximately 900 ohms

Figure E5-1

Figure E6-2

Figure E7-3