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

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1. - E1A01

When using a transceiver that displays the carrier frequency of phone signals, which of the following displayed frequencies represents the highest frequency at which a properly adjusted USB emission will be totally within the band?

Select	Answer
A	3 kHz below the upper band edge
B	The exact upper band edge
C	300 Hz below the upper band edge
D	1 kHz below the upper band edge

2. - E1B10

What frequencies are authorized to an amateur station operating under RACES rules?

Select	Answer
A	Specific local government channels
B	Specific segments in the amateur service MF, HF, VHF and UHF bands
C	All amateur service frequencies authorized to the control operator
D	Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) channels

3. - E1C07

What is meant by local control?

Select	Answer
A	Automatically manipulating local station controls
B	Controlling a repeater using a portable handheld transceiver
C	Direct manipulation of the transmitter by a control operator
D	Controlling a station through a local auxiliary link

4. - E1D01

What is the definition of the term telemetry?

Select	Answer
A	One-way transmission that initiates, modifies, or terminates the functions of a device at a distance
B	Two-way radiotelephone transmissions in excess of 1000 feet
C	Two-way single channel transmissions of data
D	One-way transmission of measurements at a distance from the measuring instrument

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	3
C	5
D	2

6. - E1F09

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

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

7. - E2A02

What is the direction of a descending pass for an amateur satellite?

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

8. - E2B11

What is the function of the Vertical Interval Signaling (VIS) code sent as part of an SSTV transmission?

Select	Answer
A	To identify the SSTV mode being used
B	To provide vertical synchronization
C	To lock the color burst oscillator in color SSTV images
D	To identify the call sign of the station transmitting

9. - E2C12

What might help to restore contact when DX signals become too weak to copy across an entire HF band a few hours after sunset?

Select	Answer
A	Switch to a lower frequency HF band
B	Wait 24 hours before attempting another communication on the band
C	Switch to a higher frequency HF band
D	Wait 90 minutes or so for the signal degradation to pass

10. - E2D09

Which of these digital modes has the fastest data throughput under clear communication conditions?

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

11. - E2E07

What is the typical bandwidth of a properly modulated MFSK16 signal?

Select	Answer
A	550 Hz
B	316 Hz
C	2.16 kHz
D	31 Hz

12. - E3A13

Which emission mode is best for aurora propagation?

Select	Answer
A	RTTY
B	CW
C	SSB
D	FM

13. - E3B09

At what time of year is Sporadic E propagation most likely to occur?

Select	Answer
A	Around the equinoxes, especially the fall equinox
B	Around the solstices, especially the summer solstice
C	Around the equinoxes, especially the spring equinox
D	Around the solstices, especially the winter solstice

14. - E3C03

Which of the following signal paths is most likely to experience high levels of absorption when the A index or K index is elevated?

Select	Answer
A	NVIS
B	Sporadic-E
C	Transequatorial propagation
D	Polar paths

15. - E4A14

What is the purpose of the prescaler function on a frequency counter?

Select	Answer
A	It amplifies low level signals for more accurate counting
B	It prevents oscillation in a low-frequency counter circuit
C	It multiplies a higher frequency signal so a low-frequency counter can display the operating frequency
D	It divides a higher frequency signal so a low-frequency counter can display the input frequency

16. - E4B08

Which of the following is a characteristic of a good DC voltmeter?

Select	Answer
A	Low impedance input
B	High impedance input
C	Low reluctance input
D	High reluctance input

17. - E4C01

What is an effect of excessive phase noise in the local oscillator section of a receiver?

Select	Answer
A	It limits the receiver's ability to receive strong signals
B	It decreases receiver third-order intermodulation distortion dynamic range
C	It reduces receiver sensitivity
D	It can cause strong signals on nearby frequencies to interfere with reception of weak signals

18. - E4D07

Which describes the most significant effect of an off-frequency signal when it is causing cross-modulation interference to a desired signal?

Select	Answer
A	A large increase in background noise
B	A reduction in apparent signal strength
C	The desired signal can no longer be heard
D	The off-frequency unwanted signal is heard in addition to the desired signal

19. - E4E09

What undesirable effect can occur when using an IF noise blanker?

Select	Answer
A	FM signals can no longer be demodulated
B	The audio frequency bandwidth of the received signal might be compressed
C	Nearby signals may appear to be excessively wide even if they meet emission standards
D	Received audio in the speech range might have an echo effect

20. - E5A12

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

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

21. - E5B02

What is the term for the time it takes for a charged capacitor in an RC circuit to discharge to 36.8% of its initial voltage?

Select	Answer
A	One time constant
B	An exponential discharge rate of one
C	A discharge factor of one
D	One discharge period

22. - E5C12

If you plot the impedance of a circuit using the rectangular coordinate system and find the impedance point falls on the right side of the graph on the horizontal axis, what do you know about the circuit?

Select	Answer
A	It contains resistance and capacitive reactance
B	It contains resistance and inductive reactance
C	It has to be a direct current circuit
D	It is equivalent to a pure resistance

23. - E5D11

What is the power factor of an R-L circuit having a 60 degree phase angle between the voltage and the current?

Select	Answer
A	1.73
B	0.866
C	1.414
D	0.5

24. - E6A04

What is the name given to an impurity atom that adds holes to a semiconductor crystal structure?

Select	Answer
A	N-type impurity
B	Donor impurity
C	Acceptor impurity
D	Insulator impurity

25. - E6B11

What is used to control the attenuation of RF signals by a PIN diode?

Select	Answer
A	Reverse voltage larger than the RF signal
B	Forward DC bias current
C	Capacitance of an RF coupling capacitor
D	A sub-harmonic pump signal

26. - E6C07

What best describes a pull-up or pull-down resistor?

Select	Answer
A	A resistor connected to an op-amp output that only functions when the logic output is false
B	A resistor connected to the positive or negative supply line used to establish a voltage when an input or output is an open circuit
C	A resistor in a keying circuit used to reduce key clicks
D	A resistor that insures that an oscillator frequency does not drive lower over time

27. - E6D07

What is the usable frequency range of inductors that use toroidal cores, assuming a correct selection of core material for the frequency being used?

Select	Answer
A	From a few kHz to no more than 30 MHz
B	From approximately 10 Hz to no more than 3000 kHz
C	From less than 20 Hz to approximately 300 MHz
D	From about 100 kHz to at least 1000 GHz

28. - E6E01

Which of the following is true of a charge-coupled device (CCD)?

Select	Answer
A	It is used in a battery charger circuit
B	It samples an analog signal and passes it in stages from the input to the output
C	It is a CMOS analog-to-digital converter
D	Its phase shift changes rapidly with frequency

29. - E6F05

Which describes an optical shaft encoder?

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

30. - E7A06

What is a characteristic of a monostable multivibrator?

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

31. - E7B16

What is the effect of intermodulation products in a linear power amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	Low efficiency
C	Creation of parasitic oscillations
D	Transmission of spurious signals

32. - E7C13

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	The Q of Pi-networks can be varied depending on the component values chosen
B	Pi-networks have fewer components
C	L-networks cannot perform impedance transformation
D	Pi-networks are designed for balanced input and output

33. - E7D04

Which of the following types of linear voltage regulator usually make the most efficient use of the primary power source?

Select	Answer
A	A series current source
B	A shunt current source
C	A series regulator
D	A shunt regulator

34. - E7E02

What is the function of a reactance modulator?

Select	Answer
A	To produce AM signals by using an electrically variable resistance
B	To produce PM signals by using an electrically variable inductance or capacitance
C	To produce PM signals by using an electrically variable resistance
D	To produce AM signals by using an electrically variable inductance or capacitance

35. - E7F16

How might the sampling rate of an existing digital signal be adjusted by a factor of 3/4?

Select	Answer
A	Interpolate by a factor of three, then decimate by a factor of four
B	Add 3 to each input value and subtract 4 from each output value
C	Change the gain by a factor of 3/4
D	Multiply each sample value by a factor of 3/4

36. - E7G07

What magnitude of voltage gain can be expected from the circuit in Figure E7-4 when R1 is 10 ohms and RF is 470 ohms?

Select	Answer
A	47
B	0.21
C	94
D	24

37. - E7H02

Which describes a microphonic?

Select	Answer
A	Distortion caused by RF pickup on the microphone cable
B	Changes in oscillator frequency due to mechanical vibration
C	An IC used for amplifying microphone signals
D	Excess loading of the microphone by an oscillator

38. - E8A10

What is the purpose of a low pass filter used in conjunction with a digital-to-analog converter?

Select	Answer
A	Improve accuracy by removing out of sequence codes from the input
B	Remove harmonics from the output caused by the discrete analog levels generated
C	Lower the input bandwidth to increase the effective resolution
D	All of these choices are correct

39. - E8B07

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing is a technique used for which type of amateur communication?

Select	Answer
A	Extremely low-power contacts
B	High speed digital modes
C	EME
D	OFDM signals are not allowed on amateur bands

40. - E8C02

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

Select	Answer
A	The rate at which the waveform of a transmitted signal 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

41. - E8D04

What is the primary effect of extremely short rise or fall time on a CW signal?

Select	Answer
A	More difficult to copy
B	Limits data speed
C	The generation of RF harmonics
D	The generation of key clicks

42. - E9A12

How much gain does an antenna have compared to a 1/2-wavelength dipole when it has 6 dB gain over an isotropic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	8.15 dB
B	6.0 dB
C	3.85 dB
D	2.79 dB

43. - E9B10

What is the principle of a Method of Moments analysis?

Select	Answer
A	A wire is modeled as a series of points, each having a distinct location in space
B	A wire is modeled as a series of segments, each having a uniform value of current
C	A wire is modeled as a series of segments, each having a distinct value of voltage across it
D	A wire is modeled as a single sine-wave current generator

44. - E9C08

What is a folded dipole antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A dipole consisting of one wavelength of wire forming a very thin loop
B	A type of ground-plane antenna
C	A dipole configured to provide forward gain
D	A dipole one-quarter wavelength long

45. - E9D08

What happens as the Q of an antenna increases?

Select	Answer
A	Gain is reduced
B	SWR bandwidth increases
C	SWR bandwidth decreases
D	More common-mode current is present on the feed line

46. - E9E11

What is an effective way of matching a feed line to a VHF or UHF antenna when the impedances of both the antenna and feed line are unknown?

Select	Answer
A	Connect a parallel-resonant LC network across the antenna feed terminals
B	Use the universal stub matching technique
C	Connect a series-resonant LC network across the antenna feed terminals
D	Use a 50 ohm 1:1 balun between the antenna and feed line

47. - E9F05

What is the approximate physical length of a solid polyethylene dielectric coaxial transmission line that is electrically one-quarter wavelength long at 14.1 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	2.3 meters
B	0.2 meters
C	20 meters
D	3.5 meters

48. - E9G10

What do the arcs on a Smith chart represent?

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

49. - E9H05

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

Select	Answer
A	It is practical for use only on VHF bands
B	It is non-rotatable
C	It receives equally well in all directions
D	It has a bidirectional pattern

50. - E0A02

When evaluating RF exposure levels from your station at a neighbor's home, what must you do?

Select	Answer
A	Advise your neighbors of the results of your tests
B	Make sure signals from your station are less than the controlled MPE limits
C	Make sure signals from your station are less than the uncontrolled MPE limits
D	You need only evaluate exposure levels on your own property

Figure E7-4