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. - E0A06

Why are there separate electric (E) and magnetic (H) field MPE limits?

Select	Answer
A	E field and H field radiation intensity peaks can occur at different locations
B	Ground reflections and scattering make the field strength vary with location
C	The body reacts to electromagnetic radiation from both the E and H fields
D	All these choices are correct

2. - E1A13

Who must be in physical control of the station apparatus of an amateur station aboard any vessel or craft that is documented or registered in the United States?

Select	Answer
A	Any person holding an FCC issued amateur license or who is authorized for alien reciprocal operation
B	Only a person with an FCC Marine Radio license grant
C	Any person named in an amateur station license grant or a person holding an unrestricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit
D	Only a person named in an amateur station license grant

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	10 kHz
B	15 kHz
C	20 kHz
D	3 kHz

4. - E1C10

What is the permitted mean power of any spurious emission relative to the mean power of the fundamental emission from a station transmitter or external RF amplifier installed after January 1, 2003 and transmitting on a frequency below 30 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	At least 43 dB below
B	At least 73 dB below
C	At least 53 dB below
D	At least 63 dB below

5. - E1D07

Which HF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

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

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 80%
D	Minimum passing score of 70%

7. - E1F02

What privileges are authorized in the U.S. to persons holding an amateur service license granted by the government of Canada?

Select	Answer
A	None, they must obtain a U.S. license
B	All privileges of the Amateur Extra Class license
C	Full privileges, up to and including those of the Amateur Extra Class license, on the 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter bands
D	The operating terms and conditions of the Canadian amateur service license, not to exceed U.S. Amateur Extra Class license privileges

8. - E2A12

What is the purpose of digital store-and-forward functions on an amateur radio satellite?

Select	Answer
A	To relay messages between satellites
B	To store digital messages in the satellite for later download by other stations
C	To delay download of telemetry between satellites
D	To upload operational software for the transponder

9. - E2B04

How is color information sent in analog SSTV?

Select	Answer
A	Color lines are sent sequentially
B	Color information is sent on a 2.8 kHz subcarrier
C	Color is sent in a color burst at the end of each line
D	Color is amplitude modulated on the frequency modulated intensity signal

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	At the top of each band, usually in a segment reserved for contests
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	In the middle of the band, usually 25 kHz above the national calling frequency

11. - E2D10

How can an APRS station be used to help support a public service communications activity?

Select	Answer
A	APRS stations with General Personnel Scanners can automatically relay the participant numbers and time as they pass the check points
B	An APRS station with a Global Positioning System unit can automatically transmit information to show a mobile station's position during the event
C	All these choices are correct
D	An APRS station with an emergency medical technician can automatically transmit medical data to the nearest hospital

12. - E2E10

Which of these digital modes has the narrowest bandwidth?

Select	Answer
A	170 Hz shift, 45-baud RTTY
B	PSK31
C	MFSK16
D	300-baud packet

13. - E3A13

Which of these emission modes is best for auroral propagation?

Select	Answer
A	CW
B	SSB
C	RTTY
D	FM

14. - E3B03

What is the best time of day for transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Afternoon or early evening
B	Late at night
C	Noon
D	Morning

15. - E3C14

Why does the radio-path horizon distance exceed the geometric horizon?

Select	Answer
A	D-region skip
B	E-region skip
C	Due to the Doppler effect
D	Downward bending due to density variations in the atmosphere

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. - E4B02

What is the significance of voltmeter sensitivity expressed in ohms per volt?

Select	Answer
A	When used as a galvanometer, the reading in volts multiplied by the ohms per volt rating will determine the power drawn by the device under test
B	When used as an ammeter, the full scale reading in amps divided by ohms per volt rating will determine the size of shunt needed
C	The full scale reading of the voltmeter multiplied by its ohms per volt rating will indicate the input impedance of the voltmeter
D	When used as an ohmmeter, the reading in ohms divided by the ohms per volt rating will determine the voltage applied to the circuit

18. - E4C03

What is the term for the suppression in an FM receiver of one signal by another stronger signal on the same frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Frequency discrimination
B	Cross-modulation interference
C	Desensitization
D	Capture effect

19. - E4D05

What transmitter frequencies would cause an intermodulation-product signal in a receiver tuned to 146.70 MHz when a nearby station transmits on 146.52 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	146.10 MHz and 147.30 MHz
B	146.34 MHz and 146.61 MHz
C	173.35 MHz and 139.40 MHz
D	146.88 MHz and 146.34 MHz

20. - E4E06

What is one type of electrical interference that might be caused by a nearby personal computer?

Select	Answer
A	A whining type noise that continually pulses off and on
B	A loud AC hum in the audio output of your station receiver
C	A clicking noise at intervals of a few seconds
D	The appearance of unstable modulated or unmodulated signals at specific frequencies

21. - E5A03

What is the magnitude of the impedance of a series RLC circuit at resonance?

Select	Answer
A	Approximately equal to capacitive reactance
B	Approximately equal to inductive reactance
C	High, as compared to the circuit resistance
D	Approximately equal to circuit resistance

22. - E5B05

What happens to the magnitude of a pure reactance when it is converted to a susceptance?

Select	Answer
A	It is shifted by 90 degrees
B	The sign is reversed
C	It is unchanged
D	It becomes the reciprocal

23. - E5C01

Which of the following represents capacitive reactance in rectangular notation?

Select	Answer
A	+jX
B	-jX
C	Omega
D	Delta

24. - E5D04

Why are short connections used at microwave frequencies?

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

25. - E6A06

What is the beta of a bipolar junction transistor?

Select	Answer
A	The switching speed
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 breakdown voltage of the base to collector junction

26. - E6B02

What is an important characteristic of a Schottky diode as compared to an ordinary silicon diode when used as a power supply rectifier?

Select	Answer
A	Much higher reverse voltage breakdown
B	Less forward voltage drop
C	Longer carrier retention time
D	More constant reverse avalanche voltage

27. - E6C08

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

Select	Answer
A	3
B	4
C	1
D	2

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 exhibit greater hysteresis
C	Toroidal cores have lower Q characteristics
D	Toroidal cores confine most of the magnetic field within the core material

29. - E6E12

Why are DIP through-hole package ICs not typically used at UHF and higher frequencies?

Select	Answer
A	Epoxy coating is conductive above 300 MHz
B	Excessive lead length
C	Too many pins
D	Unsuitable for combining analog and digital signals

30. - E6F10

What is the most common type of photovoltaic cell used for electrical power generation?

Select	Answer
A	Silicon
B	Selenium
C	Copper oxide
D	Cadmium Sulfide

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 only produces logic 0 at its output when all inputs are logic 1
D	It produces logic 1 at its output if any or all inputs are logic 1

32. - E7B11

In Figure E7-1, what is the purpose of R3?

Select	Answer
A	Emitter bypass
B	Fixed bias
C	Output load resistor
D	Self bias

33. - E7C09

What is a crystal lattice filter?

Select	Answer
A	A power supply filter made with interlaced quartz crystals
B	An audio filter made with four quartz crystals that resonate at 1 kHz intervals
C	A filter with narrow bandwidth and steep skirts made using quartz crystals
D	A filter using lattice-shaped quartz crystals for high-Q performance

34. - E7D12

What is the dropout voltage of an analog voltage regulator?

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

35. - E7E09

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

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

36. - E7F08

What is the function of decimation?

Select	Answer
A	Converting data to binary code decimal form
B	Removing unnecessary significant digits
C	Attenuating the signal
D	Reducing the effective sample rate by removing samples

37. - E7G03

What is the typical input impedance of an op-amp?

Select	Answer
A	Very high
B	100 ohms
C	1000 ohms
D	Very low

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

39. - E8A04

What is "dither" with respect to analog-to-digital converters?

Select	Answer
A	An error caused by irregular quantization step size
B	A small amount of noise added to the input signal to allow more precise representation of a signal over time
C	An abnormal condition where the converter cannot settle on a value to represent the signal
D	A method of decimation by randomly skipping samples

40. - E8B01

What is the modulation index of an FM signal?

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

41. - E8C05

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

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

42. - E8D11

What is one advantage of using ASCII code for data communications?

Select	Answer
A	It uses one character as a shift code to send numeric and special characters
B	It includes built-in error correction features
C	It contains fewer information bits per character than any other code
D	It is possible to transmit both upper and lower case text

43. - E9A08

What is antenna bandwidth?

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

44. - E9B08

What is the far field of an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	The region where radiated field strengths are constant
B	The region where radiated power dissipates over a specified time period
C	The region where the shape of the antenna pattern is independent of distance
D	The region of the ionosphere where radiated power is not refracted

45. - E9C02

What is the radiation pattern of two 1/4-wavelength vertical antennas spaced 1/4 wavelength apart and fed 90 degrees out of phase?

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

46. - E9D02

How can linearly polarized Yagi antennas be used to produce circular polarization?

Select	Answer
A	Arrange two Yagis collinear to each other with the driven elements fed 180 degrees out of phase
B	Stack two Yagis fed in phase to form an array with the respective elements in parallel planes
C	Arrange two Yagis perpendicular to each other with the driven elements at the same point on the boom fed 90 degrees out of phase
D	Stack two Yagis fed 90 degrees out of phase to form an array with the respective elements in parallel planes

47. - E9E11

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

Select	Answer
A	It prevents reflected power from traveling back down the feed line and causing harmonic radiation from the transmitter
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 creates a low-angle radiation pattern

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	6.9 meters
C	8.3 meters
D	10.4 meters

49. - E9G03

Which of the following is often determined using a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Trigonometric functions
B	Beam headings and radiation patterns
C	Impedance and SWR values in transmission lines
D	Satellite azimuth and elevation bearings

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

Figure E6-3

Figure E7-1