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

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1. - E0A07

How may dangerous levels of carbon monoxide from an emergency generator be detected?

Select	Answer
A	By the odor
B	By the yellowish appearance of the gas
C	Any ordinary smoke detector can be used
D	Only with a carbon monoxide detector

2. - E1A08

If a station in a message forwarding system inadvertently forwards a message that is in violation of FCC rules, who is primarily accountable for the rules violation?

Select	Answer
A	The control operators of all the stations in the system
B	The control operator of the packet bulletin board station
C	The control operator of the originating station
D	The control operators of all the stations in the system not authenticating the source from which they accept communications

3. - E1B01

Which of the following constitutes a spurious emission?

Select	Answer
A	An emission outside the signal's necessary bandwidth that can be reduced or eliminated without affecting the information transmitted
B	A signal transmitted to prevent its detection by any station other than the intended recipient
C	An amateur station transmission made without the proper call sign identification
D	Any transmitted signal that unintentionally interferes with another licensed radio station

4. - E1C14

How long must an operator wait after filing a notification with the Utilities Technology Council (UTC) before operating on the 2200 meter or 630 meter band?

Select	Answer
A	Operators may operate after 30 days, providing they have not been told that their station is within 1 km of PLC systems using those frequencies
B	Operations may commence immediately, and may continue unless interference is reported by the UTC
C	Operators may not operate until a test signal has been transmitted in coordination with the local power company
D	Operators must not operate until approval is received

5. - E1D08

Which VHF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

Select	Answer
A	6 meters, 2 meters, and 1.25 meters
B	2 meters
C	2 meters and 1.25 meters
D	6 meters and 2 meters

6. - E1E06

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

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

7. - E1F10

Who may be the control operator of an auxiliary station?

Select	Answer
A	Only Technician, General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators
B	Only General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators
C	Only Amateur Extra Class operators
D	Any licensed amateur operator

8. - E2A11

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

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

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	Transmitting on channels shared with cable TV
D	Using converted satellite TV dishes

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 weak signal segment of the band, with most of the activity near the calling frequency
C	In the middle of each band, usually on the national calling frequency
D	In the middle of the band, usually 25 kHz above the national calling frequency

11. - E2D02

Which of the following is a good technique for making meteor scatter contacts?

Select	Answer
A	Short transmissions with rapidly repeated call signs and signal reports
B	15-second timed transmission sequences with stations alternating based on location
C	All these choices are correct
D	Use of special digital modes

12. - E2E06

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

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

13. - E3A12

What is the cause of auroral activity?

Select	Answer
A	The interaction in the F2 layer between the solar wind and the Van Allen belt
B	The interaction in the E layer of charged particles from the Sun with the Earth's magnetic field
C	Meteor showers concentrated in the extreme northern and southern latitudes
D	An extreme low-pressure area in the polar regions

14. - E3B12

What is the primary characteristic of chordal hop propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Propagation away from the great circle bearing between stations
B	Successive ionospheric refractions without an intermediate reflection from the ground
C	Signals reflected back toward the transmitting station
D	Propagation across the geomagnetic equator

15. - E3C06

By how much does the VHF/UHF radio horizon distance exceed the geometric horizon?

Select	Answer
A	By approximately 50 percent of the distance
B	By approximately twice the distance
C	By approximately 15 percent of the distance
D	By approximately four times the distance

16. - E4A07

Which of the following is an advantage of using an antenna analyzer compared to an SWR bridge to measure antenna SWR?

Select	Answer
A	Antenna analyzers do not need an external RF source
B	Antenna analyzers automatically tune your antenna for resonance
C	Antenna analyzers display a time-varying representation of the modulation envelope
D	All these choices are correct

17. - E4B05

What three test loads are used to calibrate an RF vector network analyzer?

Select	Answer
A	Short circuit, open circuit, and 50 ohms
B	Short circuit, open circuit, and resonant circuit
C	50 ohms, 75 ohms, and 90 ohms
D	50 ohms through 1/8 wavelength, 1/4 wavelength, and 1/2 wavelength of coaxial cable

18. - E4C08

An SDR receiver is overloaded when input signals exceed what level?

Select	Answer
A	The maximum count value of the analog-to-digital converter
B	One-half the maximum sampling buffer size
C	One-half the maximum sample rate
D	The reference voltage of the analog-to-digital converter

19. - E4D07

Which of the following reduces the likelihood of receiver desensitization?

Select	Answer
A	Switch from fast AGC to slow AGC
B	Decrease the RF bandwidth of the receiver
C	Increase the receiver front end gain
D	Raise the receiver IF frequency

20. - E4E10

What might be the cause of a loud roaring or buzzing AC line interference that comes and goes at intervals?

Select	Answer
A	A defective doorbell or doorbell transformer inside a nearby residence
B	All these choices are correct
C	A malfunctioning illuminated advertising display
D	Arcing contacts in a thermostatically controlled device

21. - E5A06

What is the magnitude of the circulating current within the components of a parallel LC circuit at resonance?

Select	Answer
A	It is at a minimum
B	It equals 1 divided by the quantity 2 times pi, multiplied by the square root of inductance L multiplied by capacitance C
C	It equals 2 multiplied by pi, multiplied by frequency, multiplied by inductance
D	It is at a maximum

22. - E5B10

What is the relationship between the AC current through an inductor and the voltage across an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Current leads voltage by 90 degrees
B	Voltage and current are 180 degrees out of phase
C	Voltage and current are in phase
D	Voltage leads current by 90 degrees

23. - E5C08

What coordinate system is often used to display the phase angle of a circuit containing resistance, inductive and/or capacitive reactance?

Select	Answer
A	Faraday grid
B	Maidenhead grid
C	Elliptical coordinates
D	Polar coordinates

24. - E5D02

Why is it important to keep lead lengths short for components used in circuits for VHF and above?

Select	Answer
A	To increase the thermal time constant
B	To avoid unwanted inductive reactance
C	To maintain component lifetime
D	All these choices are correct

25. - E6A08

What term indicates the frequency at which the grounded-base current gain of a transistor has decreased to 0.7 of the gain obtainable at 1 kHz?

Select	Answer
A	Alpha rejection frequency
B	Beta cutoff frequency
C	Alpha cutoff frequency
D	Corner frequency

26. - E6B11

What is used to control the attenuation of RF signals by a PIN diode?

Select	Answer
A	A sub-harmonic pump signal
B	Reverse voltage larger than the RF signal
C	Capacitance of an RF coupling capacitor
D	Forward DC bias current

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 connected to the positive or negative supply line used to establish a voltage when an input or output is an open circuit
C	A resistor in a keying circuit used to reduce key clicks
D	A resistor connected to an op-amp output that prevents signals from exceeding the power supply voltage

28. - E6D11

Which type of core material decreases inductance when inserted into a coil?

Select	Answer
A	Brass
B	Ferrite
C	Powdered iron
D	Ceramic

29. - E6E01

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

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

30. - E6F04

What is the photovoltaic effect?

Select	Answer
A	The conversion of voltage to current when exposed to light
B	The conversion of electrical energy to mechanical energy
C	The tendency of a battery to discharge when exposed to light
D	The conversion of light to electrical energy

31. - E7A01

Which circuit is bistable?

Select	Answer
A	An OR gate
B	A bipolar amplifier
C	A flip-flop
D	An AND gate

32. - E7B12

What type of amplifier circuit is shown in Figure E7-1?

Select	Answer
A	Emitter follower
B	Common collector
C	Common base
D	Common emitter

33. - E7C05

Which filter type is described as having ripple in the passband and a sharp cutoff?

Select	Answer
A	An active LC filter
B	A Chebyshev filter
C	A Butterworth filter
D	A passive op-amp filter

34. - E7D04

Which of the following types of linear voltage regulator usually make the most efficient use of the primary power source?

Select	Answer
A	A shunt current source
B	A series regulator
C	A series current source
D	A shunt regulator

35. - E7E09

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

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

36. - E7F08

What is the function of decimation?

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

37. - E7G10

What absolute voltage gain can be expected from the circuit in Figure E7-3 when R1 is 1800 ohms and RF is 68 kilohms?

Select	Answer
A	0.03
B	38
C	1
D	76

38. - E7H08

Which of the following components can be used to reduce thermal drift in crystal oscillators?

Select	Answer
A	NP0 capacitors
B	Wirewound resistors
C	Non-inductive resistors
D	Toroidal inductors

39. - E8A10

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

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

40. - E8B05

What is the deviation ratio of an FM-phone signal having a maximum frequency swing of plus-or-minus 5 kHz when the maximum modulation frequency is 3 kHz?

Select	Answer
A	0.6
B	1.67
C	0.167
D	60

41. - E8C01

How is Forward Error Correction implemented?

Select	Answer
A	By varying the frequency shift of the transmitted signal according to a predefined algorithm
B	By transmitting a special algorithm to the receiving station along with the data characters
C	By the receiving station repeating each block of three data characters
D	By transmitting extra data that may be used to detect and correct transmission errors

42. - E8D04

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

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

43. - E9A12

How much gain does an antenna have compared to a 1/2-wavelength dipole when it has 6 dB gain over an isotropic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	8.15 dB
B	6.0 dB
C	3.85 dB
D	2.79 dB

44. - E9B09

What type of computer program technique is commonly used for modeling antennas?

Select	Answer
A	Calculus differentiation with respect to physical properties
B	Method of Moments
C	Mutual impedance analysis
D	Graphical analysis

45. - E9C04

What happens to the radiation pattern of an unterminated long wire antenna as the wire length is increased?

Select	Answer
A	The front-to-back ratio decreases
B	The lobes align more in the direction of the wire
C	The lobes become more perpendicular to the wire
D	The vertical angle increases

46. - E9D01

How much does the gain of an ideal parabolic dish antenna change when the operating frequency is doubled?

Select	Answer
A	4 dB
B	2 dB
C	3 dB
D	6 dB

47. - E9E03

What is the name of the matching system that uses a section of transmission line connected in parallel with the feed line at or near the feed point?

Select	Answer
A	The delta match
B	The omega match
C	The stub match
D	The gamma match

48. - E9F07

How does ladder line compare to small-diameter coaxial cable such as RG-58 at 50 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	Lower loss
B	Lower velocity factor
C	Smaller reflection coefficient
D	Higher SWR

49. - E9G10

What do the arcs on a Smith chart represent?

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

50. - E9H11

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

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

Figure E7-1

Figure E7-3