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

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1. - E1A05

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

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

2. - E1B05

What is the National Radio Quiet Zone?

Select	Answer
A	An area in New Mexico surrounding the White Sands Test Area
B	An area in Puerto Rico surrounding the Arecibo Radio Telescope
C	An area surrounding the National Radio Astronomy Observatory
D	An area in Florida surrounding Cape Canaveral

3. - E1C10

What types of amateur stations may automatically retransmit the radio signals of other amateur stations?

Select	Answer
A	Only auxiliary, repeater or space stations
B	Only beacon, repeater or space stations
C	Only auxiliary, beacon or space stations
D	Only earth stations, repeater stations or model craft

4. - E1D01

What is the definition of the term telemetry?

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

5. - E1E03

What is a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator?

Select	Answer
A	The person who has entered into an agreement with the FCC to be the VE session manager
B	A person who has volunteered to administer amateur operator license examinations
C	A person who has volunteered to prepare amateur operator license examinations
D	An organization that has entered into an agreement with the FCC to coordinate amateur operator license examinations

6. - E1F11

Which of the following best describes one of the standards that must be met by an external RF power amplifier if it is to qualify for a grant of FCC certification?

Select	Answer
A	It must satisfy the FCC's spurious emission standards when operated at the lesser of 1500 watts or its full output power
B	It must exhibit a gain of 0 dB or less over its full output range
C	It must produce full legal output when driven by not more than 5 watts of mean RF input power
D	It must be capable of external RF switching between its input and output networks

7. - E2A05

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

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

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

9. - E2C03

From which of the following bands is amateur radio contesting generally excluded?

Select	Answer
A	6 m
B	33 cm
C	2 m
D	30 m

10. - E2D14

What is one advantage of using JT65 coding?

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

11. - E2E04

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

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

12. - E3A05

Tropospheric propagation of microwave signals often occurs along what weather related structure?

Select	Answer
A	Gray-line
B	Sprites and jets
C	Warm and cold fronts
D	Lightning discharges

13. - E3B10

What is the cause of gray-line propagation?

Select	Answer
A	In darkness, solar absorption drops greatly while atmospheric ionization remains steady
B	At midday, the Sun super heats the ionosphere causing increased refraction of radio waves
C	At mid-afternoon, the Sun heats the ionosphere decreasing radio wave refraction and the MUF
D	At twilight and sunrise, D-layer absorption is low while E-layer and F-layer propagation remains high

14. - E3C09

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

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

15. - E4A01

Which of the following parameter determines the bandwidth of a digital or computer-based oscilloscope?

Select	Answer
A	Sample resolution
B	Sampling rate
C	Input impedance
D	Input capacitance

16. - E4B10

Which of the following describes a method to measure intermodulation distortion in an SSB transmitter?

Select	Answer
A	Modulate the transmitter with two non-harmonically related radio frequencies and observe the RF output with a spectrum analyzer
B	Modulate the transmitter with two harmonically related audio frequencies and observe the RF output with a peak reading wattmeter
C	Modulate the transmitter with two non-harmonically related audio frequencies and observe the RF output with a spectrum analyzer
D	Modulate the transmitter with two harmonically related audio frequencies and observe the RF output with a logic analyzer

17. - E4C10

Which of the following is a desirable amount of selectivity for an amateur RTTY HF receiver?

Select	Answer
A	6000 Hz
B	2400 Hz
C	100 Hz
D	300 Hz

18. - E4D03

How can intermodulation interference between two repeaters occur?

Select	Answer
A	When the repeaters are in close proximity and the signals cause feedback in the final amplifier of one or both transmitters
B	When the repeaters are in close proximity and the signals mix in the final amplifier of one or both transmitters
C	When the signals from the transmitters are reflected out of phase from airplanes passing overhead
D	When the signals from the transmitters are reflected in phase from airplanes passing overhead

19. - E4E07

How can you determine if line noise interference is being generated within your home?

Select	Answer
A	By observing the AC power line waveform with an oscilloscope
B	By observing the AC power line voltage with a spectrum analyzer
C	By checking the power line voltage with a time domain reflectometer
D	By turning off the AC power line main circuit breaker and listening on a battery operated radio

20. - E5A10

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

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

21. - E5B01

What is the term for the time required for the capacitor in an RC circuit to be charged to 63.2% of the applied voltage?

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

22. - E5C08

What coordinate system is often used to display the phase angle of a circuit containing resistance, inductive and/or capacitive reactance?

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

23. - E5D14

What is reactive power?

Select	Answer
A	Wattless, nonproductive power
B	Power consumed in circuit Q
C	Power consumed in wire resistance in an inductor
D	Power lost because of capacitor leakage

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	Insulator impurity
D	Acceptor impurity

25. - E6B03

What special type of diode is capable of both amplification and oscillation?

Select	Answer
A	Point contact
B	Zener
C	Tunnel
D	Junction

26. - E6C02

What happens when the level of a comparator's input signal crosses the threshold?

Select	Answer
A	The comparator changes its output state
B	The feedback loop becomes unstable
C	The comparator enters latch-up
D	The IC input can be damaged

27. - E6D13

What is the primary cause of inductor self-resonance?

Select	Answer
A	The skin effect
B	Inter-turn capacitance
C	Inductive kickback
D	Non-linear core hysteresis

28. - E6E03

Which of the following materials is likely to provide the highest frequency of operation when used in MMICs?

Select	Answer
A	Silicon
B	Silicon dioxide
C	Gallium nitride
D	Silicon nitride

29. - E6F01

What is photoconductivity?

Select	Answer
A	The conversion of electromotive energy to photon energy
B	The conversion of photon energy to electromotive energy
C	The increased conductivity of an illuminated semiconductor
D	The decreased conductivity of an illuminated semiconductor

30. - E7A10

What is a truth table?

Select	Answer
A	A list of inputs and corresponding outputs for a digital device
B	A diagram showing logic states when the digital device output is true
C	A table of logic symbols that indicate the logic states of an op-amp
D	A table of logic symbols that indicate the high logic states of an op-amp

31. - E7B13

In Figure E7-2, what is the purpose of R?

Select	Answer
A	Collector load
B	Emitter load
C	Voltage regulation
D	Fixed bias

32. - E7C05

Which filter type is described as having ripple in the passband and a sharp cutoff?

Select	Answer
A	A Chebyshev filter
B	An active LC filter
C	A passive op-amp filter
D	A Butterworth filter

33. - E7D02

What is one characteristic of a switching electronic voltage regulator?

Select	Answer
A	The controlled device's duty cycle is changed to produce a constant average output voltage
B	It gives a ramp voltage at its output
C	The resistance of a control element is varied in direct proportion to the line voltage or load current
D	It is generally less efficient than a linear regulator

34. - E7E08

What are the principal frequencies that appear at the output of a mixer circuit?

Select	Answer
A	The two input frequencies along with their sum and difference frequencies
B	1.414 and 0.707 times the input frequency
C	Two and four times the original frequency
D	The sum, difference and square root of the input frequencies

35. - E7F04

What is a common method of generating an SSB signal using digital signal processing?

Select	Answer
A	Combine signals with a quadrature phase relationship
B	Mixing products are converted to voltages and subtracted by adder circuits
C	A frequency synthesizer removes the unwanted sidebands
D	Emulation of quartz crystal filter characteristics

36. - E7G11

What absolute voltage gain can be expected from the circuit in Figure E7-4 when R1 is 3300 ohms and RF is 47 kilohms?

Select	Answer
A	7
B	0.07
C	28
D	14

37. - E7H11

What are the major spectral impurity components of direct digital synthesizers?

Select	Answer
A	Nyquist limit noise
B	Spurious signals at discrete frequencies
C	Digital conversion noise
D	Broadband noise

38. - E8A10

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

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

39. - E8B01

What is the term for the ratio between the frequency deviation of an RF carrier wave and the modulating frequency of its corresponding FM-phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	Modulation index
B	Quieting index
C	Percentage of modulation
D	FM compressibility

40. - E8C03

When performing phase shift keying, why is it advantageous to shift phase precisely at the zero crossing of the RF carrier?

Select	Answer
A	This results in the least possible transmitted bandwidth for the particular mode
B	It improves carrier suppression
C	All of these choices are correct
D	It is easier to demodulate with a conventional, non-synchronous detector

41. - E8D08

What parameter might indicate that excessively high input levels are causing distortion in an AFSK signal?

Select	Answer
A	Repeat Request Rate (RRR)
B	Signal to noise ratio
C	Intermodulation Distortion (IMD)
D	Baud rate

42. - E9A04

Which of the following factors may affect the feed point impedance of an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	Antenna height, conductor length/diameter ratio and location of nearby conductive objects
B	The settings of an antenna tuner at the transmitter
C	Sunspot activity and time of day
D	Transmission-line length

43. - 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	45 degrees
C	75 degrees
D	25 degrees

44. - E9C06

What is the effect of a terminating resistor on a rhombic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It decreases the ground loss
B	It changes the radiation pattern from bidirectional to unidirectional
C	It reflects the standing waves on the antenna elements back to the transmitter
D	It changes the radiation pattern from horizontal to vertical polarization

45. - E9D06

What happens to the bandwidth of an antenna as it is shortened through the use of loading coils?

Select	Answer
A	It becomes flat
B	It is decreased
C	It is increased
D	No change occurs

46. - E9E13

What is a use for a Wilkinson divider?

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

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

48. - E9G03

Which of the following is often determined using a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Beam headings and radiation patterns
B	Impedance and SWR values in transmission lines
C	Trigonometric functions
D	Satellite azimuth and elevation bearings

49. - E9H07

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

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

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	Each transmitter operating with a duty-cycle greater than 50 percent
D	Only commercial transmitters

Figure E7-2

Figure E7-4

Figure E9-2