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

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1. - E1A08

If a station in a message forwarding system inadvertently forwards a message that is in violation of FCC rules, who is primarily accountable for the rules violation?

Select	Answer
A	The control operator of the packet bulletin board station
B	The control operators of all the stations in the system
C	The control operators of all the stations in the system not authenticating the source from which they accept communications
D	The control operator of the originating station

2. - E1B06

Which of the following additional rules apply if you are installing an amateur station antenna at a site at or near a public use airport?

Select	Answer
A	You must file an Environmental Impact Statement with the EPA before construction begins
B	No special rules apply if your antenna structure will be less than 300 feet in height
C	You must obtain a construction permit from the airport zoning authority
D	You may have to notify the Federal Aviation Administration and register it with the FCC as required by Part 17 of FCC rules

3. - E1C09

Which of these ranges of frequencies is available for an automatically controlled repeater operating below 30 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	29.500 MHz - 29.700 MHz
B	18.110 MHz - 18.168 MHz
C	10.100 MHz - 10.150 MHz
D	24.940 MHz - 24.990 MHz

4. - E1D11

Which amateur stations are eligible to operate as Earth stations?

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

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. - E1F10

What is the maximum permitted transmitter peak envelope power for an amateur station transmitting spread spectrum communications?

Select	Answer
A	1 W
B	1.5 kW
C	1.5 W
D	10 W

7. - E2A14

What technology is used to track, in real time, balloons carrying amateur radio transmitters?

Select	Answer
A	APRS
B	Doppler shift of beacon signals
C	Bandwidth compressed LORAN
D	Radar

8. - E2B06

What is vestigial sideband modulation?

Select	Answer
A	Narrow-band FM modulation achieved by filtering one sideband from the audio before frequency modulating the carrier
B	Spread spectrum modulation achieved by applying FM modulation following single sideband amplitude modulation
C	Amplitude modulation in which one complete sideband and a portion of the other are transmitted
D	A type of modulation in which one sideband is inverted

9. - E2C05

What is the function of a DX QSL Manager?

Select	Answer
A	To relay calls to and from a DX station
B	To run a net to allow many stations to contact a rare DX station
C	To handle the receiving and sending of confirmation cards for a DX station
D	To allocate frequencies for DXpeditions

10. - E2D10

How can an APRS station be used to help support a public service communications activity?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	An APRS station with an emergency medical technician can automatically transmit medical data to the nearest hospital
C	APRS stations with General Personnel Scanners can automatically relay the participant numbers and time as they pass the check points
D	An APRS station with a GPS unit can automatically transmit information to show a mobile station's position during the event

11. - E2E08

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

Select	Answer
A	RTTY
B	PACTOR
C	Hellschreiber
D	AMTOR

12. - E3A06

Which of the following is required for microwave propagation via rain scatter?

Select	Answer
A	Rain droplets must be electrically charged
B	The rain must be within radio range of both stations
C	All of these choices are correct
D	Rain droplets must be within the E layer

13. - E3B01

What is transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Propagation between two stations at the same latitude
B	Propagation between two continents by way of ducts along the magnetic equator
C	Propagation between any two points located on the magnetic equator
D	Propagation between two mid-latitude points at approximately the same distance north and south of the magnetic equator

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	Polar paths
C	Sporadic-E
D	Transequatorial propagation

15. - E4A03

Which of the following test instrument is used to display spurious signals and/or intermodulation distortion products in an SSB transmitter?

Select	Answer
A	A spectrum analyzer
B	A wattmeter
C	A time-domain reflectometer
D	A logic analyzer

16. - E4B17

What three test loads are used to calibrate a standard RF vector network analyzer?

Select	Answer
A	50 ohms through 1/8 wavelength, 1/4 wavelength, and 1/2 wavelength of coaxial cable
B	Short circuit, open circuit, and resonant circuit
C	Short circuit, open circuit, and 50 ohms
D	50 ohms, 75 ohms, and 90 ohms

17. - E4C16

Which of the following is caused by missing codes in an SDR receiver's analog-to-digital converter?

Select	Answer
A	Distortion
B	Overload
C	Loss of sensitivity
D	Excess output level

18. - E4D02

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

Select	Answer
A	Cross-modulation of the desired signal and desensitization from strong adjacent signals
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	Oscillator instability requiring frequent retuning and loss of ability to recover the opposite sideband

19. - E4E09

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

Select	Answer
A	Received audio in the speech range might have an echo effect
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	FM signals can no longer be demodulated

20. - E5A08

What is the phase relationship between the current through and the voltage across a series resonant circuit at resonance?

Select	Answer
A	The voltage and current are in phase
B	The current leads the voltage by 90 degrees
C	The voltage and current are 180 degrees out of phase
D	The voltage leads the current by 90 degrees

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	It is shifted by 90 degrees
D	The magnitude of the susceptance is the reciprocal of the magnitude of the reactance

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

23. - E5D03

What is microstrip?

Select	Answer
A	Precision printed circuit conductors above a ground plane that provide constant impedance interconnects at microwave frequencies
B	Miniature coax used for low power applications
C	Lightweight transmission line made of common zip cord
D	Short lengths of coax mounted on printed circuit boards to minimize time delay between microwave circuits

24. - E6A12

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

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

25. - E6B02

What is an important characteristic of a Schottky diode as compared to an ordinary silicon diode when used as a power supply rectifier?

Select	Answer
A	Controlled reverse avalanche voltage
B	Less forward voltage drop
C	Enhanced carrier retention time
D	Much higher reverse voltage breakdown

26. - E6C13

Which of the following is an advantage of BiCMOS logic?

Select	Answer
A	Its simplicity results in much less expensive devices than standard CMOS
B	It is totally immune to electrostatic damage
C	It has the high input impedance of CMOS and the low output impedance of bipolar transistors
D	All of these choices are correct

27. - E6D14

Which type of slug material decreases inductance when inserted into a coil?

Select	Answer
A	Ferrite
B	Brass
C	Powdered-iron
D	Ceramic

28. - E6E11

What is a characteristic of DIP packaging used for integrated circuits?

Select	Answer
A	Low leakage doubly insulated package
B	Package mounts in a direct inverted position
C	Two chips in each package (Dual In Package)
D	A total of two rows of connecting pins placed on opposite sides of the package (Dual In-line Package)

29. - E6F05

Which describes an optical shaft encoder?

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

30. - E7A09

What logical operation is performed by an exclusive NOR gate?

Select	Answer
A	It produces logic "0" at its output only if all inputs are logic "0"
B	It produces logic "0" at its output if any single input is logic "1"
C	It produces logic "1" at its output if any single input is logic "1"
D	It produces logic "1" at its output only if all inputs are logic "1"

31. - E7B04

Where on the load line of a Class A common emitter amplifier would bias normally be set?

Select	Answer
A	Where the load line intersects the voltage axis
B	Approximately half-way between saturation and cutoff
C	At a point where the bias resistor equals the load resistor
D	At a point where the load line intersects the zero bias current curve

32. - E7C05

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

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

33. - E7D06

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

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

34. - E7E04

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

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

35. - E7F13

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

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

36. - E7G08

How does the gain of an ideal operational amplifier vary with frequency?

Select	Answer
A	It increases linearly with increasing frequency
B	It decreases logarithmically with increasing frequency
C	It does not vary with frequency
D	It decreases linearly with increasing frequency

37. - E7H14

What is a phase-locked loop circuit?

Select	Answer
A	An electronic circuit consisting of a precision push-pull amplifier with a differential input
B	An electronic circuit also known as a monostable multivibrator
C	An electronic servo loop consisting of a ratio detector, reactance modulator, and voltage-controlled oscillator
D	An electronic servo loop consisting of a phase detector, a low-pass filter, a voltage-controlled oscillator, and a stable reference oscillator

38. - E8A03

What type of wave does a Fourier analysis show to be made up of sine waves of a given fundamental frequency plus all of its harmonics?

Select	Answer
A	A cosine wave
B	A square wave
C	A sine wave
D	A sawtooth wave

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

41. - E8D12

What is the advantage of including a parity bit with an ASCII character stream?

Select	Answer
A	Foreign language characters can be sent
B	Faster transmission rate
C	The signal can overpower interfering signals
D	Some types of errors can be detected SUBELEMENT E9 - ANTENNAS AND TRANSMISSION LINES [8 Exam Questions - 8 Groups] E9A Basic Antenna parameters: radiation resistance, gain, beamwidth, efficiency, beamwidth; effective radiated power, polarization E9A01 (C) What describes an isotropic antenna? A. A grounded antenna used to measure earth conductivity B. A horizontally polarized antenna used to compare Yagi antennas C. A theoretical antenna used as a reference for antenna gain D. A spacecraft antenna used to direct signals toward the earth

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	252 watts
B	632 watts
C	159 watts
D	63.2 watts

43. - E9B13

What does the abbreviation NEC stand for when applied to antenna modeling programs?

Select	Answer
A	Next Element Comparison
B	National Electrical Code
C	Numeric Electrical Computation
D	Numerical Electromagnetic Code

44. - E9C12

Which of the following describes an extended double Zepp antenna?

Select	Answer
A	An end fed folded dipole antenna
B	A portable antenna erected using two push support poles
C	A wideband vertical antenna constructed from precisely tapered aluminum tubing
D	A center fed 1.25 wavelength antenna (two 5/8 wave elements in phase)

45. - E9D04

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

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

46. - E9E07

What term best describes the interactions at the load end of a mismatched transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	Characteristic impedance
B	Dielectric constant
C	Reflection coefficient
D	Velocity factor

47. - E9F01

What is the velocity factor of a transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	The index of shielding for coaxial cable
B	The velocity of the wave in the transmission line multiplied by the velocity of light in a vacuum
C	The velocity of the wave in the transmission line divided by the velocity of light in a vacuum
D	The ratio of the characteristic impedance of the line to the terminating impedance

48. - E9G07

On the Smith chart shown in Figure E9-3, what is the only straight line shown?

Select	Answer
A	The voltage axis
B	The current axis
C	The resistance axis
D	The reactance axis

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 eliminates tracking errors caused by strong out-of-band signals
C	It automatically cancels ignition noise in mobile installations
D	It allows stations to communicate without giving away their position

50. - E0A10

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

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

Figure E7-3

Figure E9-3