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

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1. - E1A14

What is the maximum bandwidth for a data emission on 60 meters?

Select	Answer
A	60 Hz
B	1.5 kHz
C	170 Hz
D	2.8 kHz

2. - E1B05

What is the National Radio Quiet Zone?

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

3. - E1C04

What is meant by IARP?

Select	Answer
A	The internal amateur radio practices policy of the FCC
B	An international amateur radio permit that allows U.S. amateurs to operate in certain countries of the Americas
C	An indication of increased antenna reflected power
D	A forecast of intermittent aurora radio propagation

4. - E1D11

Which amateur stations are eligible to operate as Earth stations?

Select	Answer
A	Only those of Amateur Extra Class operators
B	Only those of General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators
C	Any amateur station whose licensee has filed a pre-space notification with the FCC's International Bureau
D	Any amateur station, subject to the privileges of the class of operator license held by the control operator

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

6. - E1F07

When may an amateur station send a message to a business?

Select	Answer
A	When neither the amateur nor his or her employer has a pecuniary interest in the communications
B	When the control operator is employed by the FCC or another government agency
C	When transmitting international third-party communications
D	When the total money involved does not exceed $25

7. - E2A13

What type of satellite appears to stay in one position in the sky?

Select	Answer
A	Geostationary
B	HEO
C	Geomagnetic
D	LEO

8. - E2B10

Which of the following is an acceptable bandwidth for Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) based voice or SSTV digital transmissions made on the HF amateur bands?

Select	Answer
A	10 KHz
B	15 KHz
C	20 KHz
D	3 KHz

9. - E2C03

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

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

10. - E2D06

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

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

11. - E2E08

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

Select	Answer
A	Hellschreiber
B	AMTOR
C	RTTY
D	PACTOR

12. - E3A12

What is the cause of auroral activity?

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

13. - E3B14

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

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

14. - E3C13

What type of polarization is best for ground-wave propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Circular
B	Horizontal
C	Elliptical
D	Vertical

15. - E4A02

Which of the following parameters would a spectrum analyzer display on the vertical and horizontal axes?

Select	Answer
A	SWR and frequency
B	RF amplitude and frequency
C	SWR and time
D	RF amplitude and time

16. - E4B03

If a frequency counter with a specified accuracy of +/- 1.0 ppm reads 146,520,000 Hz, what is the most the actual frequency being measured could differ from the reading?

Select	Answer
A	165.2 Hz
B	14.652 kHz
C	1.4652 MHz
D	146.52 Hz

17. - E4C10

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

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

18. - E4D14

Which of the following is a way to reduce the likelihood of receiver desensitization?

Select	Answer
A	Increase the receiver front end gain
B	Decrease the RF bandwidth of the receiver
C	Switch from fast AGC to slow AGC
D	Raise the receiver IF frequency

19. - E4E06

What is a major cause of atmospheric static?

Select	Answer
A	Thunderstorms
B	Meteor showers
C	Geomagnetic storms
D	Solar radio frequency emissions

20. - E5A03

What is the magnitude of the impedance of a series RLC circuit at resonance?

Select	Answer
A	Approximately equal to inductive reactance
B	Approximately equal to capacitive reactance
C	Approximately equal to circuit resistance
D	High, as compared to the circuit 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. - E5C03

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

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

23. - E5D07

What determines the strength of the magnetic field around a conductor?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of the current to the resistance
B	The amount of current flowing through the conductor
C	The resistance divided by the current
D	The diameter of the conductor

24. - E6A12

Why do many MOSFET devices have internally connected Zener diodes on the gates?

Select	Answer
A	To protect the substrate from excessive voltages
B	To provide a voltage reference for the correct amount of reverse-bias gate voltage
C	To keep the gate voltage within specifications and prevent the device from overheating
D	To reduce the chance of the gate insulation being punctured by static discharges or excessive voltages

25. - E6B06

Which of the following is a common use of a hot-carrier diode?

Select	Answer
A	As a variable capacitance in an automatic frequency control circuit
B	As a constant voltage reference in a power supply
C	As a VHF/UHF mixer or detector
D	As balanced mixers in FM generation

26. - E6C01

What is the function of hysteresis in a comparator?

Select	Answer
A	To increase the sensitivity
B	To allow the comparator to be used with AC input signal
C	To prevent input noise from causing unstable output signals
D	To cause the output to change states continually

27. - E6D04

Which materials are commonly used as a slug core in a variable inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Teflon and Delrin
B	Ferrite and brass
C	Polystyrene and polyethylene
D	Cobalt and aluminum

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	Silicon nitride
D	Gallium nitride

29. - E6F13

What is a liquid crystal display (LCD)?

Select	Answer
A	A display utilizing a crystalline liquid and polarizing filters which becomes opaque when voltage is applied
B	A modern replacement for a quartz crystal oscillator which displays its fundamental frequency
C	A display that uses a glowing liquid to remain brightly lit in dim light
D	A frequency-determining unit for a transmitter or receiver

30. - E7A11

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

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

31. - E7B02

What is a Class D amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	A frequency doubling amplifier
B	A low power amplifier that uses a differential amplifier for improved linearity
C	An amplifier that uses drift-mode FETs for high efficiency
D	A type of amplifier that uses switching technology to achieve high efficiency

32. - E7C07

What kind of filter would you use to attenuate an interfering carrier signal while receiving an SSB transmission?

Select	Answer
A	A band-pass filter
B	An all-pass filter
C	A notch filter
D	A Pi-network filter

33. - E7D03

What device is typically used as a stable reference voltage in a linear voltage regulator?

Select	Answer
A	A varactor diode
B	A tunnel diode
C	An SCR
D	A Zener diode

34. - E7E12

What is a frequency discriminator stage in a FM receiver?

Select	Answer
A	An automatic band-switching circuit
B	An FM generator circuit
C	A circuit for filtering two closely adjacent signals
D	A circuit for detecting FM signals

35. - E7F10

What aspect of receiver analog-to-digital conversion determines the maximum receive bandwidth of a Direct Digital Conversion SDR?

Select	Answer
A	Sample width in bits
B	Sample rate
C	Sample clock phase noise
D	Processor latency

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	28
C	0.07
D	14

37. - E7H15

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

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

38. - E8A07

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

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

39. - E8B04

What is the modulation index of an FM-phone signal having a maximum carrier deviation of plus or minus 6 kHz when modulated with a 2 kHz modulating frequency?

Select	Answer
A	2000
B	1/3
C	3
D	6000

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

41. - E8D08

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

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

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	2.79 dB
C	3.85 dB
D	6.0 dB

43. - E9B14

What type of information can be obtained by submitting the details of a proposed new antenna to a modeling program?

Select	Answer
A	Polar plots of the far field elevation and azimuth patterns
B	All of these choices are correct
C	Antenna gain
D	SWR vs frequency charts

44. - E9C06

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

Select	Answer
A	It changes the radiation pattern from horizontal to vertical polarization
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 decreases the ground loss

45. - E9D04

Why should an HF mobile antenna loading coil have a high ratio of reactance to resistance?

Select	Answer
A	To swamp out harmonics
B	To minimize losses
C	To minimize the Q
D	To maximize losses

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

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 center conductor resistivity
C	The line length
D	The termination impedance

48. - E9G09

What third family of circles is often added to a Smith chart during the process of solving problems?

Select	Answer
A	Standing wave ratio circles
B	Antenna-length circles
C	Radiation-pattern circles
D	Coaxial-length circles

49. - E9H04

What is an advantage of using a shielded loop antenna for direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	It is electro statically balanced against ground, giving better nulls
B	It allows stations to communicate without giving away their position
C	It automatically cancels ignition noise in mobile installations
D	It eliminates tracking errors caused by strong out-of-band signals

50. - E0A07

How may dangerous levels of carbon monoxide from an emergency generator be detected?

Select	Answer
A	By the odor
B	Any ordinary smoke detector can be used
C	Only with a carbon monoxide detector
D	By the yellowish appearance of the gas

Figure E7-4