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

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

3. - E1B09

Which amateur stations may be operated under RACES rules?

Select	Answer
A	Any FCC-licensed amateur station certified by the responsible civil defense organization for the area served
B	Only those club stations licensed to Amateur Extra Class operators
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. - E1C07

At what level below a signal's mean power level is its bandwidth determined according to FCC rules?

Select	Answer
A	3 dB
B	6 dB
C	23 dB
D	26 dB

5. - E1D11

Which amateur stations are eligible to operate as Earth stations?

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

6. - E1E10

What must the administering VEs do after the administration of a successful examination for an amateur operator license?

Select	Answer
A	They must collect and submit the documents to the coordinating VEC for grading
B	They must submit the application document to the coordinating VEC according to the coordinating VEC instructions
C	They must collect and send the documents to the FCC according to instructions
D	They must collect and send the documents to the NCVEC for grading

7. - E1F05

Amateur stations may not transmit in which of the following frequency segments if they are located in the contiguous 48 states and north of Line A?

Select	Answer
A	222 MHz - 223 MHz
B	53 MHz - 54 MHz
C	440 MHz - 450 MHz
D	420 MHz - 430 MHz

8. - E2A11

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

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

9. - E2B09

What hardware, other than a receiver with SSB capability and a suitable computer, is needed to decode SSTV using Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM)?

Select	Answer
A	No other hardware is needed
B	A special notch filter to remove synchronization pulses
C	A special front end limiter
D	A special IF converter

10. - E2C08

Which of the following contacts may be confirmed through the U.S. QSL bureau system?

Select	Answer
A	Special event contacts between stations in the U.S.
B	Contacts using tactical call signs
C	Repeater contacts between U.S. club members
D	Contacts between a U.S. station and a non-U.S. station

11. - E2D11

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

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

12. - E2E10

Which of these digital modes has the narrowest bandwidth?

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

13. - E3A14

What is meant by circularly polarized electromagnetic waves?

Select	Answer
A	Waves with a rotating electric field
B	Waves that circle the Earth
C	Waves with an electric field bent into a circular shape
D	Waves produced by a loop antenna

14. - E3B11

At what time of day can sporadic E propagation occur?

Select	Answer
A	Only around sunset and sunrise
B	Any time
C	Only in hours of darkness
D	Only around sunset

15. - E3C06

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

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

16. - E4A02

Which of the following parameters does a spectrum analyzer display on the vertical and horizontal axes?

Select	Answer
A	SWR and frequency
B	RF amplitude and time
C	SWR and time
D	RF amplitude and frequency

17. - E4B10

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

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

18. - E4C09

Which of the following choices is a good reason for selecting a high frequency for the design of the IF in a superheterodyne HF or VHF communications receiver?

Select	Answer
A	Fewer components in the receiver
B	Easier for front-end circuitry to eliminate image responses
C	Improved receiver noise figure
D	Reduced drift

19. - E4D01

What is meant by the blocking dynamic range of a receiver?

Select	Answer
A	The minimum difference in dB between two signals which produce third-order intermodulation products greater than the noise floor
B	The difference in dB between the noise floor and the level of an incoming signal that will cause 1 dB of gain compression
C	The minimum difference in dB between the levels of two FM signals that will cause one signal to block the other
D	The difference in dB between the noise floor and the third-order intercept point

20. - E4E01

What problem can occur when using an automatic notch filter (ANF) to remove interfering carriers while receiving CW signals?

Select	Answer
A	Any nearby signal passing through the DSP system will overwhelm the desired signal
B	Removal of the CW signal as well as the interfering carrier
C	Ringing in the DSP filter will completely remove the spaces between the CW characters
D	Received CW signals will appear to be modulated at the DSP clock frequency

21. - E5A01

What can cause the voltage across reactances in a series RLC circuit to be higher than the voltage applied to the entire circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Capacitance
B	Conductance
C	Resonance
D	Resistance

22. - E5B12

What is admittance?

Select	Answer
A	The term for the gain of a field effect transistor
B	The turns ratio of a transformer
C	The inverse of impedance
D	The inverse of Q factor

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 4
B	Point 5
C	Point 2
D	Point 6

24. - E5D03

What is microstrip?

Select	Answer
A	Short lengths of coax mounted on printed circuit boards to minimize time delay between microwave circuits
B	Miniature coax used for low power applications
C	Precision printed circuit conductors above a ground plane that provide constant impedance interconnects at microwave frequencies
D	Lightweight transmission line made of common zip cord

25. - E6A01

In what application is gallium arsenide used as a semiconductor material?

Select	Answer
A	In high-power audio circuits
B	In very low-frequency RF circuits
C	In high-current rectifier circuits
D	In microwave circuits

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. - E6C03

What is tri-state logic?

Select	Answer
A	Proprietary logic devices manufactured by Tri-State Devices
B	Low-power logic devices designed to operate at 3 volts
C	Logic devices with 0, 1, and high-impedance output states
D	Logic devices that utilize ternary math

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

29. - E6E12

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

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

30. - E6F10

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

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

31. - E7A06

What is a characteristic of a monostable multivibrator?

Select	Answer
A	It stores one bit of data in either a 0 or 1 state
B	It produces a continuous square wave oscillating between 1 and 0
C	It switches momentarily to the opposite binary state and then returns to its original state after a set time
D	It maintains a constant output voltage, regardless of variations in the input voltage

32. - E7B09

Which of the following describes how the loading and tuning capacitors are to be adjusted when tuning a vacuum tube RF power amplifier that employs a Pi-network output circuit?

Select	Answer
A	The tuning capacitor is set to maximum capacitance and the loading capacitor is adjusted for minimum plate permissible current
B	The tuning capacitor is adjusted for minimum plate current, and the loading capacitor is adjusted for maximum permissible plate current
C	The loading capacitor is set to maximum capacitance and the tuning capacitor is adjusted for minimum allowable plate current
D	The loading capacitor is adjusted to minimum plate current while alternately adjusting the tuning capacitor for maximum allowable plate current

33. - E7C11

Which of the following describes a receiving filter's ability to reject signals occupying an adjacent channel?

Select	Answer
A	Phase response
B	Passband ripple
C	Shape factor
D	Noise factor

34. - E7D11

What is the function of the pass transistor in a linear voltage regulator circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Provides a stable input impedance over a wide range of source voltage
B	Maintains nearly constant output impedance over a wide range of load current
C	Permits a wide range of output voltage settings
D	Maintains nearly constant output voltage over a wide range of load current

35. - E7E04

What is one way a single-sideband phone signal can be generated?

Select	Answer
A	By using a loop modulator followed by a mixer
B	By using a balanced modulator followed by a filter
C	By using a reactance modulator followed by a mixer
D	By driving a product detector with a DSB signal

36. - E7F09

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

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

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	38
B	76
C	1
D	0.03

38. - E7H07

How can an oscillator's microphonic responses be reduced?

Select	Answer
A	Use NP0 capacitors
B	Increase the bias voltage
C	Reduce noise on the oscillator's power supply
D	Mechanically isolate the oscillator circuitry from its enclosure

39. - E8A06

What is the approximate ratio of PEP-to-average power in a typical single-sideband phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	100 to 1
B	2.5 to 1
C	1 to 1
D	25 to 1

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 bandwidth of the transmitted signal divided by the modulating signal frequency
C	The type of modulation used by the transmitter
D	The ratio of frequency deviation to modulating signal frequency

41. - E8C02

What is the definition of symbol rate in a digital transmission?

Select	Answer
A	The rate at which the waveform changes to convey information
B	The duration of each bit in a message sent over the air
C	The number of control characters in a message packet
D	The number of characters carried per second by the station-to-station link

42. - E8D02

What spread spectrum communications technique uses a high-speed binary bit stream to shift the phase of an RF carrier?

Select	Answer
A	Phase compandored spread spectrum
B	Frequency hopping
C	Binary phase-shift keying
D	Direct sequence

43. - E9A03

What is the radiation resistance of an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	The value of a resistance that would dissipate the same amount of power as that radiated from an antenna
B	The specific impedance of the antenna
C	The resistance in the atmosphere that an antenna must overcome to be able to radiate a signal
D	The combined losses of the antenna elements and feed line

44. - E9B05

What type of antenna pattern is shown in Figure E9-2?

Select	Answer
A	Polarization
B	Radiation resistance
C	Azimuth
D	Elevation

45. - E9C14

How does the performance of a horizontally polarized antenna mounted on the side of a hill compare with the same antenna mounted on flat ground?

Select	Answer
A	The main lobe takeoff angle decreases in the downhill direction
B	The main lobe takeoff angle increases in the downhill direction
C	The horizontal beamwidth decreases in the downhill direction
D	The horizontal beamwidth increases in the uphill direction

46. - E9D04

Why should an HF mobile antenna loading coil have a high ratio of reactance to resistance?

Select	Answer
A	To minimize the Q
B	To lower the radiation angle
C	To minimize losses
D	To swamp out harmonics

47. - E9E02

What is the name of an antenna matching system that matches an unbalanced feed line to an antenna by feeding the driven element both at the center of the element and at a fraction of a wavelength to one side of center?

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

48. - E9F05

What is the approximate physical length of a solid polyethylene dielectric coaxial transmission line that is electrically 1/4 wavelength long at 14.1 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	4.3 meters
B	5.3 meters
C	3.5 meters
D	10.6 meters

49. - E9G02

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

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

50. - E9H06

What is the triangulation method of direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	The geometric angles of sky waves from the source are used to determine its position
B	Antenna headings from several different receiving locations are used to locate the signal source
C	A fixed receiving station uses three different antennas to plot the location of the signal source
D	A fixed receiving station plots three headings to the signal source

Figure E5-1

Figure E7-3

Figure E9-2