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

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1. - 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
B	Any person holding an FCC issued amateur license or who is authorized for alien reciprocal operation
C	Only a person named in an amateur station license grant
D	Any person named in an amateur station license grant or a person holding an unrestricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit

2. - E1B04

What must be done before placing an amateur station within an officially designated wilderness area or wildlife preserve, or an area listed in the National Register of Historical Places?

Select	Answer
A	A form FSD-15 must be submitted to the Department of the Interior
B	A letter of intent must be filed with the National Audubon Society
C	A proposal must be submitted to the National Park Service
D	An Environmental Assessment must be submitted to the FCC

3. - E1C01

What is a remotely controlled station?

Select	Answer
A	A station operated away from its regular home location
B	A station controlled by someone other than the licensee
C	A station operating under automatic control
D	A station controlled indirectly through a control link

4. - E1D08

Which VHF amateur service bands have frequencies available for space stations?

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

5. - E1E01

What is the minimum number of qualified VEs required to administer an Element 4 amateur operator license examination?

Select	Answer
A	4
B	2
C	3
D	5

6. - E1F01

On what frequencies are spread spectrum transmissions permitted?

Select	Answer
A	Only on amateur frequencies above 50 MHz
B	Only on amateur frequencies above 420 MHz
C	Only on amateur frequencies above 222 MHz
D	Only on amateur frequencies above 144 MHz

7. - E2A07

Which of the following types of signals can be relayed through a linear transponder?

Select	Answer
A	PSK and Packet
B	All of these choices are correct
C	FM and CW
D	SSB and SSTV

8. - E2B07

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

Select	Answer
A	Hue
B	Chroma
C	Luminance
D	Spectral Intensity

9. - E2C01

Which of the following is true about contest operating?

Select	Answer
A	It is mandatory to transmit the call sign of the station being worked as part of every transmission to that station
B	Every contest requires a signal report in the exchange
C	Operators are permitted to make contacts even if they do not submit a log
D	Interference to other amateurs is unavoidable and therefore acceptable

10. - E2D11

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

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

11. - E2E06

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

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

12. - E3A03

When scheduling EME contacts, which of these conditions will generally result in the least path loss?

Select	Answer
A	When the Moon is at apogee
B	When the Moon is at perigee
C	When the Moon is full
D	When the MUF is above 30 MHz

13. - E3B03

What is the best time of day for transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Late at night
B	Noon
C	Afternoon or early evening
D	Morning

14. - E3C09

How does the intensity of an X3 flare compare to that of an X2 flare?

Select	Answer
A	10 percent greater
B	Four times as great
C	50 percent greater
D	Twice as great

15. - E4A12

Which of the following procedures is an important precaution to follow when connecting a spectrum analyzer to a transmitter output?

Select	Answer
A	Attenuate the transmitter output going to the spectrum analyzer
B	All of these choices are correct
C	Match the antenna to the load
D	Use high quality double shielded coaxial cables to reduce signal losses

16. - E4B05

If a frequency counter with a specified accuracy of +/- 10 ppm reads 146,520,000 Hz, what is the most the actual frequency being measured could differ from the reading?

Select	Answer
A	1465.20 Hz
B	146.52 Hz
C	10 Hz
D	146.52 kHz

17. - E4C05

What does a value of -174 dBm/Hz represent with regard to the noise floor of a receiver?

Select	Answer
A	The noise figure of a 1 Hz bandwidth receiver
B	The minimum detectable signal as a function of receive frequency
C	The galactic noise contribution to minimum detectable signal
D	The theoretical noise at the input of a perfect receiver at room temperature

18. - E4D02

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

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

19. - E4E12

What is one disadvantage of using some types of automatic DSP notch-filters when attempting to copy CW signals?

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

20. - E5A10

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

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

21. - E5B12

What is admittance?

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

22. - E5C04

Which of the following represents a capacitive reactance in polar coordinates?

Select	Answer
A	A positive phase angle
B	A negative real part
C	A negative phase angle
D	A positive real part

23. - E5D09

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

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

24. - E6A09

What is a depletion-mode FET?

Select	Answer
A	Any FET for which holes are the majority carriers
B	Any FET without a channel
C	An FET that exhibits a current flow between source and drain when no gate voltage is applied
D	An FET that has no current flow between source and drain when no gate voltage is applied

25. - E6B10

In Figure E6-3, what is the schematic symbol for a light-emitting diode?

Select	Answer
A	5
B	6
C	7
D	1

26. - E6C12

What is BiCMOS logic?

Select	Answer
A	An integrated circuit logic family using both bipolar and CMOS transistors
B	A logic device with two CMOS circuits per package
C	A FET logic family based on bimetallic semiconductors
D	A logic family based on bismuth CMOS devices

27. - E6D02

What is the equivalent circuit of a quartz crystal?

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

28. - E6E04

Which is the most common input and output impedance of circuits that use MMICs?

Select	Answer
A	300 ohms
B	10 ohms
C	450 ohms
D	50 ohms

29. - E6F05

Which describes an optical shaft encoder?

Select	Answer
A	A device for generating RTTY signals by means of a rotating light source
B	A device which detects rotation of a control by interrupting a light source with a patterned wheel
C	A digital encryption device often used to encrypt spacecraft control signals
D	A device which measures the strength of a beam of light using analog to digital conversion

30. - E7A12

What type of logic defines "0" as a high voltage?

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

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

32. - 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

33. - E7D06

What is the purpose of Q1 in the circuit shown in Figure E7-3?

Select	Answer
A	It provides a constant load for the voltage source
B	It increases the current-handling capability of the regulator
C	It provides D1 with current
D	It provides negative feedback to improve regulation

34. - E7E05

What circuit is added to an FM transmitter to boost the higher audio frequencies?

Select	Answer
A	A heterodyne suppressor
B	An audio prescaler
C	A pre-emphasis network
D	A de-emphasis network

35. - E7F13

What is the function of taps in a digital signal processing filter?

Select	Answer
A	To reduce excess signal pressure levels
B	Provide incremental signal delays for filter algorithms
C	Provide access for debugging software
D	Select the point at which baseband signals are generated

36. - E7G03

What is the typical input impedance of an integrated circuit op-amp?

Select	Answer
A	Very low
B	100 ohms
C	Very high
D	1000 ohms

37. - E7H04

How is positive feedback supplied in a Colpitts oscillator?

Select	Answer
A	Through a tapped coil
B	Through a capacitive divider
C	Through a neutralizing capacitor
D	Through link coupling

38. - E8A04

What is "dither" with respect to analog to digital converters?

Select	Answer
A	A small amount of noise added to the input signal to allow more precise representation of a signal over time
B	An error caused by irregular quantization step size
C	A method of decimation by randomly skipping samples
D	An abnormal condition where the converter cannot settle on a value to represent the 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	0.3
B	1000
C	3
D	3000

40. - E8C10

What is an advantage of Gray code in digital communications where symbols are transmitted as multiple bits

Select	Answer
A	It has more resolution than simple binary
B	It facilitates error detection
C	It increases security
D	It has more possible states than simple binary

41. - E8D11

What is one advantage of using ASCII code for data communications?

Select	Answer
A	It contains fewer information bits per character than any other code
B	It uses one character as a shift code to send numeric and special characters
C	It is possible to transmit both upper and lower case text
D	It includes built in error correction features

42. - E9A14

What is meant by the radiation resistance of an antenna?

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

43. - E9B15

What is the front-to-back ratio of the radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-2?

Select	Answer
A	3 dB
B	15 dB
C	24 dB
D	28 dB

44. - E9C04

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

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

45. - E9D01

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

Select	Answer
A	Gain increases by 3 dB
B	Gain increases by 6 dB
C	Gain is multiplied by 0.707
D	Gain does not change

46. - E9E12

What is the primary purpose of a phasing line when used with an antenna having multiple driven elements?

Select	Answer
A	It allows single-band antennas to operate on other bands
B	It ensures that each driven element operates in concert with the others to create the desired antenna pattern
C	It makes sure the antenna has a low-angle radiation pattern
D	It prevents reflected power from traveling back down the feed line and causing harmonic radiation from the transmitter

47. - E9F02

Which of the following determines the velocity factor of a transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	Dielectric materials used in the line
B	The line length
C	The termination impedance
D	The center conductor resistivity

48. - E9G04

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

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

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 prevents receiver overload which could make it difficult to determine peaks or nulls
C	It reduces loss of received signals caused by antenna pattern nulls, thereby increasing sensitivity
D	It compensates for the effects of an isotropic antenna, thereby improving directivity

50. - E0A10

What toxic material may be present in some electronic components such as high voltage capacitors and transformers?

Select	Answer
A	Polymorphic silicon
B	Polytetrafluroethylene
C	Polychlorinated Biphenyls
D	Polyethylene

Figure E6-3

Figure E7-3

Figure E9-2