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

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1. - E0A01

What is the primary function of an external earth connection or ground rod?

Select	Answer
A	Reduce RFI to telephones and home entertainment systems
B	Lightning protection
C	Reduce RF current flow between pieces of equipment
D	Reduce received noise

2. - E1A05

What is the maximum power output permitted on the 60 meter band?

Select	Answer
A	100 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to the gain of a half-wave dipole
B	50 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to a dipole
C	50 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to an isotropic radiator
D	100 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to an isotropic radiator

3. - E1B11

What does PRB-1 require of regulations affecting amateur radio?

Select	Answer
A	No limitations may be placed on antenna size or placement
B	Use of wireless devices in a vehicle is exempt from regulation
C	Amateur radio operations must be permitted in any private residence
D	Reasonable accommodations of amateur radio must be made

4. - E1C03

How do the control operator responsibilities of a station under automatic control differ from one under local control?

Select	Answer
A	Under local control a control operator is not required to be present at a control point
B	Under local control there is no control operator
C	Under automatic control the control operator is not required to be present at the control point
D	Under automatic control there is no control operator

5. - E1D05

What must be posted at the station location of a station being operated by telecommand on or within 50 km of the earth's surface?

Select	Answer
A	A photocopy of the station license
B	A label with the name, address, and telephone number of the station licensee
C	All these choices are correct
D	A label with the name, address, and telephone number of the control operator

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 70%
D	Minimum passing score of 80%

7. - E1F09

Which of the following conditions apply when transmitting spread spectrum emissions?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	The transmitting station must be in an area regulated by the FCC or in a country that permits SS emissions
C	A station transmitting SS emission must not cause harmful interference to other stations employing other authorized emissions
D	The transmission must not be used to obscure the meaning of any communication

8. - E2A01

What is the direction of an ascending pass for an amateur satellite?

Select	Answer
A	From east to west
B	From west to east
C	From north to south
D	From south to north

9. - E2B01

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

Select	Answer
A	120
B	90
C	60
D	30

10. - E2C08

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

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

11. - E2D02

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

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

12. - E2E02

What do the letters FEC mean as they relate to digital operation?

Select	Answer
A	Fatal Error Correction
B	Final Error Correction
C	Forward Error Correction
D	First Error Correction

13. - E3A14

What is meant by circularly polarized electromagnetic waves?

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

14. - E3B01

What is transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Propagation between a point on the equator and its antipodal point
B	Propagation between points at the same latitude
C	Propagation between two mid-latitude points at approximately the same distance north and south of the magnetic equator
D	Propagation between points located on the magnetic equator

15. - E3C04

What does the value of Bz (B sub Z) represent?

Select	Answer
A	Direction and strength of the interplanetary magnetic field
B	Critical frequency for vertical transmissions
C	Geomagnetic field stability
D	Duration of long-delayed echoes

16. - E4A10

Which of the following displays multiple digital signal states simultaneously?

Select	Answer
A	Network analyzer
B	Logic analyzer
C	Modulation monitor
D	Bit error rate tester

17. - E4B05

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

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

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

19. - E4D10

What does a third-order intercept level of 40 dBm mean with respect to receiver performance?

Select	Answer
A	Signals less than 40 dBm will not generate audible third-order intermodulation products
B	A pair of 40 dBm input signals will theoretically generate a third-order intermodulation product that has the same output amplitude as either of the input signals
C	A pair of 1 mW input signals will produce a third-order intermodulation product that is 40 dB stronger than the input signal
D	The receiver can tolerate signals up to 40 dB above the noise floor without producing third-order intermodulation products

20. - E4E07

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

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

21. - E5A12

What is the half-power bandwidth of a resonant circuit that has a resonant frequency of 3.7 MHz and a Q of 118?

Select	Answer
A	31.4 kHz
B	218.3 kHz
C	15.7 kHz
D	436.6 kHz

22. - E5B05

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

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

23. - E5C04

What coordinate system is often used to display the resistive, inductive, and/or capacitive reactance components of impedance?

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

24. - E5D09

What happens to reactive power in an AC circuit that has both ideal inductors and ideal capacitors?

Select	Answer
A	It is dissipated in the formation of inductive and capacitive fields
B	It is repeatedly exchanged between the associated magnetic and electric fields, but is not dissipated
C	It is dissipated as kinetic energy in the circuit
D	It is dissipated as heat in the circuit

25. - E6A11

In Figure E6-1, what is the schematic symbol for a P-channel junction FET?

Select	Answer
A	6
B	3
C	2
D	1

26. - E6B04

What type of semiconductor device is designed for use as a voltage-controlled capacitor?

Select	Answer
A	Varactor diode
B	Zener diode
C	Tunnel diode
D	Silicon-controlled rectifier

27. - E6C06

Why do CMOS digital integrated circuits have high immunity to noise on the input signal or power supply?

Select	Answer
A	The input switching threshold is about one-half the power supply voltage
B	The input switching threshold is about two times the power supply voltage
C	Bandwidth is very limited
D	Large bypass capacitance is inherent

28. - E6D02

What is the equivalent circuit of a quartz crystal?

Select	Answer
A	Motional capacitance, motional inductance, and loss resistance in series, all in parallel with a shunt capacitor representing electrode and stray capacitance
B	Motional capacitance, motional inductance, loss resistance, and a capacitor representing electrode and stray capacitance all in series
C	Motional capacitance, motional inductance, loss resistance, and a capacitor representing electrode and stray capacitance all in parallel
D	Motional inductance and loss resistance in series, paralleled with motional capacitance and a capacitor representing electrode and stray capacitance

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 electron mobility
C	Lower transconductance
D	Higher noise figures

30. - E6F07

What is a solid-state relay?

Select	Answer
A	A mechanical relay that latches in the on or off state each time it is pulsed
B	A device that uses semiconductors to implement the functions of an electromechanical relay
C	A semiconductor passive delay line
D	A relay using transistors to drive the relay coil

31. - E7A02

What is the function of a decade counter?

Select	Answer
A	It produces 10 output pulses for every input pulse
B	It produces one output pulse for every 10 input pulses
C	It decodes a binary number for display on a seven-segment LED display
D	It decodes a decimal number for display on a seven-segment LED display

32. - E7B11

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

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

33. - E7C12

What is one advantage of a Pi-matching network over an L-matching network consisting of a single inductor and a single capacitor?

Select	Answer
A	Pi-networks provide balanced input and output
B	Pi-networks are more stable
C	L-networks cannot perform impedance transformation
D	The Q of Pi-networks can be controlled

34. - E7D15

What is the purpose of a step-start circuit in a high-voltage power supply?

Select	Answer
A	To allow for remote control of the power supply
B	To allow the filter capacitors to charge gradually
C	To compensate for variations of the incoming line voltage
D	To provide a dual-voltage output for reduced power applications

35. - E7E09

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

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

36. - E7F02

What kind of digital signal processing audio filter is used to remove unwanted noise from a received SSB signal?

Select	Answer
A	A crystal-lattice filter
B	A phase-inverting filter
C	An adaptive filter
D	A Hilbert-transform filter

37. - E7G06

What is the gain-bandwidth of an operational amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	The gain of the amplifier at a filter's cutoff frequency
B	The maximum frequency for a filter circuit using that type of amplifier
C	The frequency at which the amplifier's offset voltage is zero
D	The frequency at which the open-loop gain of the amplifier equals one

38. - E7H09

What type of frequency synthesizer circuit uses a phase accumulator, lookup table, digital to analog converter, and a low-pass anti-alias filter?

Select	Answer
A	A hybrid synthesizer
B	A phase-locked loop synthesizer
C	A diode-switching matrix synthesizer
D	A direct digital synthesizer

39. - E8A05

What of the following instruments would be the most accurate for measuring the RMS voltage of a complex waveform?

Select	Answer
A	A grid dip meter
B	An absorption wave meter
C	A D'Arsonval meter
D	A true-RMS calculating meter

40. - E8B02

How does the modulation index of a phase-modulated emission vary with RF carrier frequency?

Select	Answer
A	It increases as the RF carrier frequency increases
B	It varies with the square root of the RF carrier frequency
C	It decreases as the RF carrier frequency increases
D	It does not depend on the RF carrier frequency

41. - E8C07

What is the bandwidth of a 4800-Hz frequency shift, 9600-baud ASCII FM transmission?

Select	Answer
A	9.6 kHz
B	15.36 kHz
C	4.8 kHz
D	5.76 kHz

42. - E8D06

What is the advantage of including parity bits in ASCII characters?

Select	Answer
A	Faster transmission rate
B	Foreign language characters can be sent
C	The signal can overpower interfering signals
D	Some types of errors can be detected

43. - E9A10

Which of the following improves the efficiency of a ground-mounted quarter-wave vertical antenna?

Select	Answer
A	Isolating the coax shield from ground
B	All these choices are correct
C	Installing a radial system
D	Shortening the radiating element

44. - E9B06

What is the elevation angle of peak response in the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-2?

Select	Answer
A	7.5 degrees
B	25 degrees
C	45 degrees
D	75 degrees

45. - E9C11

How is the far-field elevation pattern of a vertically polarized antenna affected by being mounted over seawater versus soil?

Select	Answer
A	The low-angle radiation decreases
B	Additional higher vertical angle lobes will appear
C	The low-angle radiation increases
D	Fewer vertical angle lobes will be present

46. - E9D09

What is the function of a loading coil used as part of an HF mobile antenna?

Select	Answer
A	To lower the losses
B	To cancel capacitive reactance
C	To increase the SWR bandwidth
D	To lower the Q

47. - E9E08

What is a use for a Wilkinson divider?

Select	Answer
A	It is used to feed low-impedance loads from a high-impedance source
B	It is used to feed high-impedance antennas from a low-impedance source
C	It is used to divide power equally between two 50-ohm loads while maintaining 50-ohm input impedance
D	It divides the operating frequency of a transmitter signal so it can be used on a lower frequency band

48. - E9F06

What is the approximate physical length of an air-insulated, parallel conductor transmission line that is electrically 1/2 wavelength long at 14.10 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	8.5 meters
B	7.0 meters
C	10.6 meters
D	13.3 meters

49. - E9G02

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

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

50. - E9H04

What is an advantage of placing a grounded electrostatic shield around a small loop direction-finding antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It increases signal strength by providing a better match to the feed line
B	It eliminates tracking errors caused by strong out-of-band signals
C	It adds capacitive loading, increasing the bandwidth of the antenna
D	It eliminates unbalanced capacitive coupling to the surroundings, improving the nulls

Figure E6-1

Figure E7-1

Figure E9-2