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. - E0A08

What does SAR measure?

Select	Answer
A	Signal Amplification Rating
B	Synthetic Aperture Ratio of the human body
C	The rate at which RF energy is absorbed by the body
D	The rate of RF energy reflected from stationary terrain

2. - E1A05

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

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

3. - E1B03

Within what distance must an amateur station protect an FCC monitoring facility from harmful interference?

Select	Answer
A	30 miles
B	3 miles
C	1 mile
D	10 miles

4. - E1C05

When may an automatically controlled station originate third party communications?

Select	Answer
A	Never
B	When agreed upon by the sending or receiving station
C	When approved by the National Telecommunication and Information Administration
D	Only when transmitting RTTY or data emissions

5. - E1D04

Which of the following is required in the identification transmissions from a balloon-borne telemetry station?

Select	Answer
A	The station's six-character Maidenhead grid locator
B	The output power of the balloon transmitter
C	All these choices are correct
D	Call sign

6. - E1E07

What should a VE do if a candidate fails to comply with the examiner's instructions during an amateur operator license examination?

Select	Answer
A	Immediately terminate the candidate's examination
B	Immediately terminate everyone's examination and close the session
C	Warn the candidate that continued failure to comply will result in termination of the examination
D	Allow the candidate to complete the examination, but invalidate the results

7. - E1F10

Who may be the control operator of an auxiliary station?

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

8. - E2A05

What do the letters in a satellite's mode designator specify?

Select	Answer
A	The polarization of uplink and downlink signals
B	Power limits for uplink and downlink transmissions
C	The uplink and downlink frequency ranges
D	The location of the ground control station

9. - E2B07

What is the name of the signal component that carries color information in NTSC video?

Select	Answer
A	Hue
B	Luminance
C	Spectral intensity
D	Chroma

10. - E2C05

What is the function of a DX QSL Manager?

Select	Answer
A	To run a net to allow many stations to contact a rare DX station
B	To allocate frequencies for DXpeditions
C	To relay calls to and from a DX station
D	To handle the receiving and sending of confirmation cards for a DX station

11. - E2D06

Which of the following describes a method of establishing EME contacts?

Select	Answer
A	Storing and forwarding digital messages
B	Judging optimum transmission times by monitoring beacons reflected from the moon
C	High-speed CW identification to avoid fading
D	Time synchronous transmissions alternately from each station

12. - E2E08

Which of the following HF digital modes can be used to transfer binary files?

Select	Answer
A	AMTOR
B	PACTOR
C	RTTY
D	Hellschreiber

13. - E3A12

What is the cause of auroral activity?

Select	Answer
A	An extreme low-pressure area in the polar regions
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	The interaction in the F2 layer between the solar wind and the Van Allen belt

14. - E3B11

At what time of day can sporadic E propagation occur?

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

15. - E3C01

What does the radio communication term "ray tracing" describe?

Select	Answer
A	Modeling a radio wave's path through the ionosphere
B	The process in which an electronic display presents a pattern
C	Evaluating high voltage sources for x-rays
D	Determining the radiation pattern from an array of antennas

16. - E4A11

How should an antenna analyzer be connected when measuring antenna resonance and feed point impedance?

Select	Answer
A	Loosely couple the analyzer near the antenna base
B	Connect the analyzer via a high-impedance transformer to the antenna
C	Connect the antenna feed line directly to the analyzer's connector
D	Loosely couple the antenna and a dummy load to the analyzer

17. - E4B05

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

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

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

19. - E4D01

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

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

20. - E4E11

What could cause local AM broadcast band signals to combine to generate spurious signals in the MF or HF bands?

Select	Answer
A	One or more of the broadcast stations is transmitting an over-modulated signal
B	Your station receiver IF amplifier stage is defective
C	Nearby corroded metal joints are mixing and re-radiating the broadcast signals
D	You are receiving skywave signals from a distant station

21. - E5A10

How is the Q of an RLC series resonant circuit calculated?

Select	Answer
A	Reactance of either the inductance or capacitance multiplied by the resistance
B	Reactance of either the inductance or capacitance divided by the resistance
C	Resistance divided by the reactance of either the inductance or capacitance
D	Reactance of the inductance multiplied by the reactance of the capacitance

22. - E5B02

What letter is commonly used to represent susceptance?

Select	Answer
A	Y
B	X
C	B
D	G

23. - E5C03

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

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

24. - E5D07

How many watts are consumed in a circuit having a power factor of 0.71 if the apparent power is 500VA?

Select	Answer
A	355 W
B	252 W
C	704 W
D	1.42 mW

25. - E6A01

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

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

26. - E6B07

What is the failure mechanism when a junction diode fails due to excessive current?

Select	Answer
A	Excessive inverse voltage
B	Charge carrier depletion
C	Insufficient forward voltage
D	Excessive junction temperature

27. - E6C10

In Figure E6-3, what is the schematic symbol for a NOR gate?

Select	Answer
A	2
B	4
C	1
D	3

28. - E6D11

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

Select	Answer
A	Ceramic
B	Powdered iron
C	Ferrite
D	Brass

29. - E6E08

How is power supplied to the most common type of MMIC?

Select	Answer
A	Through a resistor and/or RF choke connected to the amplifier output lead
B	Directly to the bias voltage (VCC IN) lead
C	Through a capacitor and RF choke connected to the amplifier input lead
D	MMICs require no operating bias

30. - E6F06

Which of these materials is most commonly used to create photoconductive devices?

Select	Answer
A	A liquid semiconductor
B	A heavy metal
C	An ordinary metal
D	A crystalline semiconductor

31. - E7A11

What type of logic defines "1" as a high voltage?

Select	Answer
A	Positive Logic
B	Assertive Logic
C	Negative logic
D	Reverse Logic

32. - E7B10

In Figure E7-1, what is the purpose of R1 and R2?

Select	Answer
A	Self bias
B	Feedback
C	Voltage divider bias
D	Load resistors

33. - E7C01

How are the capacitors and inductors of a low-pass filter Pi-network arranged between the network's input and output?

Select	Answer
A	A capacitor is connected between the input and ground, another capacitor is connected between the output and ground, and an inductor is connected between input and output
B	An inductor is connected between the input and ground, another inductor is connected between the output and ground, and a capacitor is connected between the input and output
C	Two inductors are in series between the input and output, and a capacitor is connected between the two inductors and ground
D	Two capacitors are in series between the input and output, and an inductor is connected between the two capacitors and ground

34. - E7D14

What is the purpose of connecting equal-value resistors across power supply filter capacitors connected in series?

Select	Answer
A	Provide a minimum load on the supply
B	All these choices are correct
C	Equalize the voltage across each capacitor
D	Discharge the capacitors when voltage is removed

35. - E7E06

Why is de-emphasis commonly used in FM communications receivers?

Select	Answer
A	For compatibility with transmitters using phase modulation
B	To reduce impulse noise reception
C	To remove third-order distortion products
D	For higher efficiency

36. - E7F05

How frequently must an analog signal be sampled by an analog-to-digital converter so that the signal can be accurately reproduced?

Select	Answer
A	At least half the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal
B	At the same rate as the highest frequency component of the signal
C	At four times the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal
D	At least twice the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal

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	1
B	76
C	0.03
D	38

38. - E7H12

Which of the following must be done to ensure that a crystal oscillator provides the frequency specified by the crystal manufacturer?

Select	Answer
A	Provide the crystal with a specified parallel inductance
B	Bias the crystal at a specified voltage
C	Bias the crystal at a specified current
D	Provide the crystal with a specified parallel capacitance

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 square wave
C	A cosine wave
D	A sawtooth wave

40. - E8B03

What is the modulation index of an FM-phone signal having a maximum frequency deviation of 3000 Hz either side of the carrier frequency when the modulating frequency is 1000 Hz?

Select	Answer
A	1000
B	3000
C	3
D	0.3

41. - E8C06

What is the bandwidth of a 170-hertz shift, 300-baud ASCII transmission?

Select	Answer
A	0.3 kHz
B	1.0 kHz
C	0.5 kHz
D	0.1 Hz

42. - E8D01

Why are received spread spectrum signals resistant to interference?

Select	Answer
A	The high power used by a spread spectrum transmitter keeps its signal from being easily overpowered
B	Signals not using the spread spectrum algorithm are suppressed in the receiver
C	The receiver is always equipped with a digital blanker
D	If interference is detected by the receiver it will signal the transmitter to change frequencies

43. - E9A11

Which of the following factors determines ground losses for a ground-mounted vertical antenna operating in the 3 MHz to 30 MHz range?

Select	Answer
A	Soil conductivity
B	Distance from the transmitter
C	Take-off angle
D	The standing wave ratio

44. - E9B08

What is the far field of an antenna?

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

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. - E9D12

Which of the following would provide the best RF ground for your station?

Select	Answer
A	An electrically short connection to 3 or 4 interconnected ground rods via a series RF choke
B	An electrically short connection to a metal water pipe
C	An electrically short connection to 3 or 4 interconnected ground rods driven into the Earth
D	A 50-ohm resistor connected to ground

47. - E9E10

Which of these choices is an effective way to match an antenna with a 100-ohm feed point impedance to a 50-ohm coaxial cable feed line?

Select	Answer
A	Insert a 1/2 wavelength piece of 300-ohm twinlead in series between the antenna terminals and the 50-ohm feed cable
B	Insert a 1/4-wavelength piece of 75-ohm coaxial cable transmission line in series between the antenna terminals and the 50-ohm feed cable
C	Connect a 1/4-wavelength open stub of 300-ohm twinlead in parallel with the coaxial feed line where it connects to the antenna
D	Connect a 1/2 wavelength shorted stub of 75-ohm cable in parallel with the 50-ohm cable where it attaches to the antenna

48. - E9F11

What impedance does a 1/8-wavelength transmission line present to a generator when the line is open at the far end?

Select	Answer
A	The same as the characteristic impedance of the line
B	An inductive reactance
C	Infinite
D	A capacitive reactance

49. - E9G10

What do the arcs on a Smith chart represent?

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

50. - E9H05

What is the main drawback of a small wire-loop antenna for direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	It has a bidirectional pattern
B	All these choices are correct
C	It is practical for use only on VHF and higher bands
D	It has no clearly defined null

Figure E6-3

Figure E7-1

Figure E7-3