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

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1. - E0A03

Over what range of frequencies are the FCC human body RF exposure limits most restrictive?

Select	Answer
A	3 to 30 MHz
B	300 to 3000 MHz
C	30 to 300 MHz
D	300 kHz to 3 MHz

2. - E1A06

Where must the carrier frequency of a CW signal be set to comply with FCC rules for 60 meter operation?

Select	Answer
A	On any frequency where the signal's sidebands are within the channel
B	At the highest frequency of the channel
C	At the center frequency of the channel
D	At the lowest frequency of the channel

3. - E1B12

What must the control operator of a repeater operating in the 70 cm band do if a radiolocation system experiences interference from that repeater?

Select	Answer
A	Cease operation or make changes to the repeater to mitigate the interference
B	File an FAA NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) with the repeater system's ERP, call sign, and six-character grid locator
C	All these choices are correct
D	Reduce the repeater antenna HAAT (Height Above Average Terrain)

4. - E1C08

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

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

5. - E1D06

What is the maximum permitted transmitter output power when operating a model craft by telecommand?

Select	Answer
A	2 watts
B	1 watt
C	5 watts
D	100 watts

6. - E1E08

To which of the following examinees may a VE not administer an examination?

Select	Answer
A	Friends of the VE
B	Relatives of the VE as listed in the FCC rules
C	All these choices are correct
D	Employees of the VE

7. - E1F04

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

Select	Answer
A	A line roughly parallel to and south of the border between the U.S. and Canada
B	A line roughly parallel to and east of the U.S. Pacific coastline
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. - E2A06

What are Keplerian elements?

Select	Answer
A	Encrypting codes used for spread spectrum modulation
B	Parameters that define the orbit of a satellite
C	Phase reversing elements in a Yagi antenna
D	High-emission heater filaments used in magnetron tubes

9. - E2B08

What technique allows commercial analog TV receivers to be used for fast-scan TV operations on the 70 cm band?

Select	Answer
A	Using USB and demodulating the signal with a computer sound card
B	Transmitting on the abandoned TV channel 2
C	Using converted satellite TV dishes
D	Transmitting on channels shared with cable TV

10. - E2C09

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

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

11. - E2D07

What digital protocol is used by APRS?

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

12. - E2E10

Which of these digital modes has the narrowest bandwidth?

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

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	12,000 miles, if the moon is visible by both stations
C	500 miles, if the moon is at perigee
D	2000 miles, if the moon is at apogee

14. - E3B06

Which of the following amateur bands most frequently provides long-path propagation?

Select	Answer
A	20 meters
B	6 meters
C	10 meters
D	80 meters

15. - E3C05

What orientation of Bz (B sub z) increases the likelihood that incoming particles from the sun will cause disturbed conditions?

Select	Answer
A	Southward
B	Northward
C	Westward
D	Eastward

16. - E4A05

What is the purpose of the prescaler function on a frequency counter?

Select	Answer
A	It prevents oscillation in a low-frequency counter circuit
B	It amplifies low-level signals for more accurate counting
C	It divides a higher frequency signal so a low-frequency counter can display the input frequency
D	It multiplies a higher frequency signal so a low-frequency counter can display the operating frequency

17. - E4B09

What is indicated if the current reading on an RF ammeter placed in series with the antenna feed line of a transmitter increases as the transmitter is tuned to resonance?

Select	Answer
A	There is more power going into the antenna
B	There is an impedance mismatch between the antenna and feed line
C	The transmitter is not properly neutralized
D	There is possibly a short to ground in the feed line

18. - E4C07

What does the MDS of a receiver represent?

Select	Answer
A	The multiplex distortion stability
B	The maximum detectable spectrum
C	The minimum discernible signal
D	The meter display sensitivity

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 store often-used frequencies
C	To allow selection of the optimum RF amplifier device
D	To provide a range of AGC time constants

20. - E4E07

Which of the following can cause shielded cables to radiate or receive interference?

Select	Answer
A	Use of braided shielding material
B	Common-mode currents on the shield and conductors
C	Low inductance ground connections at both ends of the shield
D	Tying all ground connections to a common point resulting in differential-mode currents in the shield

21. - E5A04

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

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

22. - E5B03

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

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

23. - E5C03

Which of the following represents an inductive reactance in polar coordinates?

Select	Answer
A	A negative magnitude
B	A negative phase angle
C	A positive phase angle
D	A positive magnitude

24. - E5D13

How many watts are consumed in a circuit consisting of a 100-ohm resistor in series with a 100-ohm inductive reactance drawing 1 ampere?

Select	Answer
A	100 watts
B	141.4 watts
C	70.7 watts
D	200 watts

25. - E6A02

Which of the following semiconductor materials contains excess free electrons?

Select	Answer
A	P-type
B	Insulated gate
C	Bipolar
D	N-type

26. - E6B08

Which of the following is a Schottky barrier diode?

Select	Answer
A	Thermionic emission diode
B	Metal-semiconductor junction
C	Electrolytic rectifier
D	PIN junction

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

29. - E6E01

Why is gallium arsenide (GaAs) useful for semiconductor devices operating at UHF and higher frequencies?

Select	Answer
A	Higher noise figures
B	Higher electron mobility
C	Lower transconductance
D	Lower junction voltage drop

30. - E6F08

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

Select	Answer
A	Optoisolators provide impedance matching between the control circuit and power circuit
B	Optoisolators provide a low impedance link between a control circuit and a 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. - E7A03

Which of the following can divide the frequency of a pulse train by 2?

Select	Answer
A	An XOR gate
B	An OR gate
C	A flip-flop
D	A multiplexer

32. - E7B11

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

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

33. - E7C10

Which of the following filters would be the best choice for use in a 2 meter band repeater duplexer?

Select	Answer
A	An L-C filter
B	A DSP filter
C	A cavity filter
D	A crystal filter

34. - E7D02

What is a characteristic of a switching electronic voltage regulator?

Select	Answer
A	The controlled device's duty cycle is changed to produce a constant average output voltage
B	It is generally less efficient than a linear regulator
C	The resistance of a control element is varied in direct proportion to the line voltage or load current
D	It gives a ramp voltage at its output

35. - E7E03

What is a frequency discriminator stage in a FM receiver?

Select	Answer
A	An automatic band-switching circuit
B	A circuit for detecting FM signals
C	An FM generator circuit
D	A circuit for filtering two closely adjacent signals

36. - E7F07

What function is performed by a Fast Fourier Transform?

Select	Answer
A	Converting analog signals to digital form
B	Converting 8-bit data to 16-bit data
C	Converting digital signals from the time domain to the frequency domain
D	Converting digital signals to analog form

37. - E7G03

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

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

38. - E7H06

Which of the following oscillator circuits are commonly used in VFOs?

Select	Answer
A	Pierce and Zener
B	Armstrong and deForest
C	Negative feedback and balanced feedback
D	Colpitts and Hartley

39. - E8A03

What type of wave does a Fourier analysis show to be made up of sine waves of a given fundamental frequency plus all its harmonics?

Select	Answer
A	A sine wave
B	A sawtooth wave
C	A square wave
D	A cosine wave

40. - E8B04

What is the modulation index of an FM-phone signal having a maximum carrier deviation of plus or minus 6 kHz when modulated with a 2 kHz modulating frequency?

Select	Answer
A	1/3
B	3
C	2000
D	6000

41. - E8C11

What is the relationship between symbol rate and baud?

Select	Answer
A	Baud is twice the symbol rate
B	They are the same
C	Symbol rate is only used for packet-based modes
D	Baud is only used for RTTY

42. - E8D10

What are some of the differences between the Baudot digital code and ASCII?

Select	Answer
A	Baudot uses 4 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot uses 1 character as a letters/figures shift code, ASCII has no letters/figures code
B	Baudot uses 5 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot uses 2 characters as letters/figures shift codes, ASCII has no letters/figures shift code
C	Baudot uses 7 data bits per character, ASCII uses 8; Baudot has no letters/figures shift code, ASCII uses 2 letters/figures shift codes
D	Baudot uses 6 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot has no letters/figures shift code, ASCII uses 2 letters/figures shift codes

43. - E9A04

Which of the following factors affect the feed point impedance of an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	Antenna height
B	The input power level
C	The settings of an antenna tuner at the transmitter
D	Transmission line length

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

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

46. - E9D11

Which of the following conductors would be best for minimizing losses in a station's RF ground system?

Select	Answer
A	Resistive wire, such as spark plug wire
B	Stranded wire
C	Solid wire
D	Wide flat copper strap

47. - E9E04

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

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

48. - E9F13

What impedance does a 1/4-wavelength transmission line present to a generator when the line is shorted at the far end?

Select	Answer
A	Very low impedance
B	The same as the generator output impedance
C	The same as the characteristic impedance of the transmission line
D	Very high impedance

49. - E9G02

What type of coordinate system is used in a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Resistance circles and reactance arcs
B	Resistance lines and reactance chords
C	Voltage lines and current chords
D	Voltage circles and current arcs

50. - E9H11

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

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

Figure E6-3

Figure E7-1