US Amateur Radio - Amateur Extra (Element 4, 2016-2020) Practice Test

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1. - 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

2. - E1B11

What is the permitted mean power of any spurious emission relative to the mean power of the fundamental emission from a station transmitter or external RF amplifier installed after January 1, 2003 and transmitting on a frequency below 30 MHZ?

Select	Answer
A	At least 63 dB below
B	At least 53 dB below
C	At least 73 dB below
D	At least 43 dB below

3. - E1C13

Which of the following is required in order to operate in accordance with CEPT rules in foreign countries where permitted?

Select	Answer
A	You must append "/CEPT" to your call sign
B	The U.S. embassy must approve of your operation
C	You must bring a copy of FCC Public Notice DA 11-221
D	You must identify in the official language of the country in which you are operating

4. - E1D06

Which of the following is a requirement of a space station?

Select	Answer
A	The space station must cease all transmissions after 5 years
B	The space station must be capable of changing its orbit whenever such a change is ordered by NASA
C	All of these choices are correct
D	The space station must be capable of terminating transmissions by telecommand when directed by the FCC

5. - E1E05

What is the minimum passing score on amateur operator license examinations?

Select	Answer
A	Minimum passing score of 74%
B	Minimum passing score of 80%
C	Minimum passing score of 77%
D	Minimum passing score of 70%

6. - E1F06

Under what circumstances might the FCC issue a Special Temporary Authority (STA) to an amateur station?

Select	Answer
A	To provide additional spectrum for personal use
B	To allow regular operation on Land Mobile channels
C	To provide temporary operation while awaiting normal licensing
D	To provide for experimental amateur communications

7. - E2A09

What do the terms L band and S band specify with regard to satellite communications?

Select	Answer
A	The 2 meter and 70 centimeter bands
B	Which sideband to use
C	The 23 centimeter and 13 centimeter bands
D	FM and Digital Store-and-Forward systems

8. - E2B12

How are analog SSTV images typically transmitted on the HF bands?

Select	Answer
A	Video is converted to equivalent Baudot representation
B	Varying tone frequencies representing the video are transmitted using single sideband
C	Video is converted to equivalent ASCII representation
D	Varying tone frequencies representing the video are transmitted using PSK

9. - E2C06

During a VHF/UHF contest, in which band segment would you expect to find the highest level of activity?

Select	Answer
A	In the weak signal segment of the band, with most of the activity near the calling frequency
B	In the middle of each band, usually on the national calling frequency
C	At the top of each band, usually in a segment reserved for contests
D	In the middle of the band, usually 25 kHz above the national calling frequency

10. - E2D14

What is one advantage of using JT65 coding?

Select	Answer
A	Permits fast-scan TV transmissions over narrow bandwidth
B	Easily copied by ear if necessary
C	The ability to decode signals which have a very low signal to noise ratio
D	Uses only a 65 Hz bandwidth

11. - E2E04

What is indicated when one of the ellipses in an FSK crossed-ellipse display suddenly disappears?

Select	Answer
A	Selective fading has occurred
B	The receiver has drifted 5 kHz from the desired receive frequency
C	One of the signal filters is saturated
D	The mark and space signal have been inverted

12. - E3A12

What is the cause of auroral activity?

Select	Answer
A	Meteor showers concentrated in the extreme northern and southern latitudes
B	A low sunspot level combined with tropospheric ducting
C	The interaction in the E layer of charged particles from the Sun with the Earth's magnetic field
D	The interaction in the F2 layer between the solar wind and the Van Allen belt

13. - E3B14

What happens to linearly polarized radio waves that split into ordinary and extraordinary waves in the ionosphere?

Select	Answer
A	They become elliptically polarized
B	They are bent toward the magnetic poles
C	They become phase-locked
D	Their polarization is randomly modified

14. - 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

15. - E4A05

What might be an advantage of a digital vs an analog oscilloscope?

Select	Answer
A	Manipulation of time base after trace capture
B	All of these choices are correct
C	Storage of traces for future reference
D	Automatic amplitude and frequency numerical readout

16. - E4B01

Which of the following factors most affects the accuracy of a frequency counter?

Select	Answer
A	Decade divider accuracy
B	Time base accuracy
C	Temperature coefficient of the logic
D	Input attenuator accuracy

17. - E4C15

What is usually the primary source of noise that is heard from an HF receiver with an antenna connected?

Select	Answer
A	Atmospheric noise
B	Detector noise
C	Induction motor noise
D	Receiver front-end noise

18. - E4D02

Which of the following describes two problems caused by poor dynamic range in a communications receiver?

Select	Answer
A	Oscillator instability requiring frequent retuning and loss of ability to recover the opposite sideband
B	Oscillator instability and severe audio distortion of all but the strongest received signals
C	Cross-modulation of the desired signal and insufficient audio power to operate the speaker
D	Cross-modulation of the desired signal and desensitization from strong adjacent signals

19. - E4E01

Which of the following types of receiver noise can often be reduced by use of a receiver noise blanker?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	Heterodyne interference
C	Broadband white noise
D	Ignition noise

20. - E5A06

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

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

21. - E5B05

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

Select	Answer
A	It is unchanged
B	The sign is reversed
C	The magnitude of the susceptance is the reciprocal of the magnitude of the reactance
D	It is shifted by 90 degrees

22. - E5C05

What is the name of the diagram used to show the phase relationship between impedances at a given frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Phasor diagram
B	Venn diagram
C	Far field diagram
D	Near field diagram

23. - E5D09

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

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

24. - E6A17

What are the names of the three terminals of a field-effect transistor?

Select	Answer
A	Gate, drain, source
B	Emitter, base, collector
C	Gate 1, gate 2, drain
D	Emitter, base 1, base 2

25. - E6B07

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

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

26. - E6C05

What is an advantage of CMOS logic devices over TTL devices?

Select	Answer
A	Lower power consumption
B	Lower distortion
C	Immune to damage from static discharge
D	Differential output capability

27. - E6D11

How many turns will be required to produce a 1-mH inductor using a core that has an inductance index (A L) value of 523 millihenrys/1000 turns?

Select	Answer
A	2 turns
B	229 turns
C	43 turns
D	4 turns

28. - E6E07

Which of the following is typically used to construct a MMIC-based microwave amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	Point-to-point construction
B	Ground-plane construction
C	Microstrip construction
D	Wave-soldering construction

29. - E6F10

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

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

30. - E7A03

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

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

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

32. - E7C04

How does an impedance-matching circuit transform a complex impedance to a resistive impedance?

Select	Answer
A	It cancels the reactive part of the impedance and changes the resistive part to a desired value
B	It introduces transconductance to cancel the reactive part of impedance
C	Network resistances are substituted for load resistances and reactances are matched to the resistances
D	It introduces negative resistance to cancel the resistive part of impedance

33. - E7D08

What type of circuit is shown in Figure E7-3?

Select	Answer
A	Emitter follower
B	Switching voltage regulator
C	Linear voltage regulator
D	Grounded emitter amplifier

34. - E7E04

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

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

35. - E7F14

Which of the following would allow a digital signal processing filter to create a sharper filter response?

Select	Answer
A	Higher data rate
B	More taps
C	Double-precision math routines
D	Complex phasor representations

36. - E7G10

What absolute voltage gain can be expected from the circuit in Figure E7-4 when R1 is 1800 ohms and RF is 68 kilohms?

Select	Answer
A	1
B	38
C	0.03
D	76

37. - E7H15

Which of these functions can be performed by a phase-locked loop?

Select	Answer
A	Wide-band AF and RF power amplification
B	Comparison of two digital input signals, digital pulse counter
C	Frequency synthesis, FM demodulation
D	Photovoltaic conversion, optical coupling

38. - E8A07

What determines the PEP-to-average power ratio of a single-sideband phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	The frequency of the modulating signal
B	The degree of carrier suppression
C	The amplifier gain
D	The characteristics of the modulating signal

39. - 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	3
B	0.3
C	3000
D	1000

40. - E8C04

What technique is used to minimize the bandwidth requirements of a PSK31 signal?

Select	Answer
A	Reed-Solomon character encoding
B	Use of sinusoidal data pulses
C	Zero-sum character encoding
D	Use of trapezoidal data pulses

41. - 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 6 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot has no letters/figures shift code, ASCII uses 2 letters/figures shift codes
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 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

42. - E9A17

What is the effective radiated power of a repeater station with 200 watts transmitter power output, 2 dB feed line loss, 2.8 dB duplexer loss, 1.2 dB circulator loss, and 7 dBi antenna gain?

Select	Answer
A	632 watts
B	63.2 watts
C	159 watts
D	252 watts

43. - E9B09

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

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

44. - E9C03

What is the radiation pattern of two 1/4 wavelength vertical antennas spaced a 1/2 wavelength apart and fed in phase?

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

45. - E9D02

How can linearly polarized Yagi antennas be used to produce circular polarization?

Select	Answer
A	Arrange two Yagis perpendicular to each other with the driven elements at the same point on the boom fed 90 degrees out of phase
B	Arrange two Yagis collinear to each other with the driven elements fed 180 degrees out of phase
C	Stack two Yagis fed in phase to form an array with the respective elements in parallel planes
D	Stack two Yagis fed 90 degrees out of phase to form an array with the respective elements in parallel planes

46. - E9E01

What system matches a higher impedance transmission line to a lower impedance antenna by connecting the line to the driven element in two places spaced a fraction of a wavelength each side of element center?

Select	Answer
A	The delta matching system
B	The omega matching system
C	The stub matching system
D	The gamma matching system

47. - E9F10

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

Select	Answer
A	An inductive reactance
B	The same as the characteristic impedance of the line
C	The same as the input impedance to the final generator stage
D	A capacitive reactance

48. - E9G04

What are the two families of circles and arcs that make up a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Resistance and voltage
B	Voltage and impedance
C	Reactance and voltage
D	Resistance and reactance

49. - E9H07

Why is it advisable to use an RF attenuator on a receiver being used for direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	It narrows the bandwidth of the received signal to improve signal to noise ratio
B	It reduces loss of received signals caused by antenna pattern nulls, thereby increasing sensitivity
C	It compensates for the effects of an isotropic antenna, thereby improving directivity
D	It prevents receiver overload which could make it difficult to determine peaks or nulls

50. - E0A04

When evaluating a site with multiple transmitters operating at the same time, the operators and licensees of which transmitters are responsible for mitigating over-exposure situations?

Select	Answer
A	Each transmitter that produces 5 percent or more of its MPE limit at accessible locations
B	Only the most powerful transmitter
C	Only commercial transmitters
D	Each transmitter operating with a duty-cycle greater than 50 percent

Figure E7-3

Figure E7-4