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

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1. - E1A06

Where must the carrier frequency of a CW signal be set to comply with FCC rules for 60 meter operation?

Select	Answer
A	At the highest frequency of the channel
B	At the center frequency of the channel
C	At the lowest frequency of the channel
D	On any frequency where the signal's sidebands are within the channel

2. - E1B03

Within what distance must an amateur station protect an FCC monitoring facility from harmful interference?

Select	Answer
A	1 mile
B	3 miles
C	10 miles
D	30 miles

3. - E1C10

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

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

4. - E1D07

Which amateur service HF bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

Select	Answer
A	Only the 40 m, 30 m, 20 m, 15 m, 12 m and 10 m bands
B	Only the 40 m, 20 m, 17 m, 15 m, 12 m and 10 m bands
C	Only the 40 m, 20 m, 17 m, 15 m and 10 m bands
D	All HF bands

5. - E1E13

Which of these choices is an acceptable method for monitoring the applicants if a VEC opts to conduct an exam session remotely?

Select	Answer
A	The exam proctor observes the applicants and reports any violations
B	Have each applicant sign an affidavit stating that all session rules were followed
C	Use a real-time video link and the Internet to connect the exam session to the observing VEs
D	Record the exam session on video tape for later review by the VE team

6. - E1F12

Who may be the control operator of an auxiliary station?

Select	Answer
A	Only Technician, General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators
B	Only General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators
C	Any licensed amateur operator
D	Only Amateur Extra Class operators

7. - E2A11

What type of antenna can be used to minimize the effects of spin modulation and Faraday rotation?

Select	Answer
A	A linearly polarized antenna
B	A log-periodic dipole array
C	An isotropic antenna
D	A circularly polarized antenna

8. - E2B18

On which of the following frequencies is one likely to find FM ATV transmissions?

Select	Answer
A	29.6 MHz
B	14.230 MHz
C	52.525 MHz
D	1255 MHz

9. - E2C04

What type of transmission is most often used for a ham radio mesh network?

Select	Answer
A	Spread spectrum in the 2.4 GHz band
B	Frequency division multiplex in the 24 GHz band
C	Store and forward on the 440 MHz band
D	Multiple Frequency Shift Keying in the 10 GHz band

10. - E2D09

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

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

11. - E2E03

How is the timing of JT65 contacts organized?

Select	Answer
A	Stations take turns on alternate days
B	By exchanging ACK/NAK packets
C	It depends on the lunar phase
D	Alternating transmissions at 1 minute intervals

12. - E3A07

Atmospheric ducts capable of propagating microwave signals often form over what geographic feature?

Select	Answer
A	Urban areas
B	Mountain ranges
C	Forests
D	Bodies of water

13. - E3B04

What is meant by the terms extraordinary and ordinary waves?

Select	Answer
A	Refracted rays and reflected waves
B	Independent waves created in the ionosphere that are elliptically polarized
C	Long path and short path waves
D	Extraordinary waves describe rare long skip propagation compared to ordinary waves which travel shorter distances

14. - E3C13

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

Select	Answer
A	Horizontal
B	Circular
C	Vertical
D	Elliptical

15. - E4A04

What determines the upper frequency limit for a computer soundcard-based oscilloscope program?

Select	Answer
A	Q of the interface of the interface circuit
B	Analog-to-digital conversion speed of the soundcard
C	Amount of memory on the soundcard
D	All of these choices are correct

16. - E4B06

How much power is being absorbed by the load when a directional power meter connected between a transmitter and a terminating load reads 100 watts forward power and 25 watts reflected power?

Select	Answer
A	100 watts
B	125 watts
C	25 watts
D	75 watts

17. - E4C13

How does a narrow-band roofing filter affect receiver performance?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	It improves sensitivity by reducing front end noise
C	It improves dynamic range by attenuating strong signals near the receive frequency
D	It improves intelligibility by using low Q circuitry to reduce ringing

18. - E4D11

Why are third-order intermodulation products created within a receiver of particular interest compared to other products?

Select	Answer
A	Third-order products are an indication of poor image rejection
B	Third-order intermodulation produces three products for every input signal within the band of interest
C	The third-order intercept is much higher than other orders
D	The third-order product of two signals which are in the band of interest is also likely to be within the band

19. - E4E07

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

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

20. - E5A07

What is the magnitude of the current at the input of a parallel RLC circuit at resonance?

Select	Answer
A	L/R
B	R/L
C	Maximum
D	Minimum

21. - E5B08

What is the phase angle between the voltage across and the current through a series RLC circuit if XC is 100 ohms, R is 100 ohms, and XL is 75 ohms?

Select	Answer
A	76 degrees with the voltage leading the current
B	14 degrees with the voltage leading the current
C	14 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
D	76 degrees with the voltage lagging the current

22. - E5C04

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

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

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	1.414
B	1.73
C	0.5
D	0.866

24. - E6A16

What are the majority charge carriers in N-type semiconductor material?

Select	Answer
A	Holes
B	Free neutrons
C	Free electrons
D	Free protons

25. - E6B08

Which of the following describes a type of semiconductor diode?

Select	Answer
A	Metal-semiconductor junction
B	CMOS-field effect
C	Thermionic emission diode
D	Electrolytic rectifier

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 IC input can be damaged
C	The comparator enters latch-up
D	The feedback loop becomes unstable

27. - E6D14

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

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

28. - E6E02

Which of the following device packages is a through-hole type?

Select	Answer
A	Ball grid array
B	PLCC
C	DIP
D	SOT

29. - E6F06

Which of these materials is affected the most by photoconductivity?

Select	Answer
A	A liquid semiconductor
B	An ordinary metal
C	A crystalline semiconductor
D	A heavy metal

30. - E7A11

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

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

31. - E7B16

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

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

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	Two capacitors are in series between the input and output, and an inductor is connected between the two capacitors and ground
C	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
D	Two inductors are in series between the input and output, and a capacitor is connected between the two inductors and ground

33. - E7D14

What is one purpose of a "bleeder" resistor in a conventional unregulated power supply?

Select	Answer
A	To balance the low-voltage filament windings
B	To boost the amount of output current
C	To improve output voltage regulation
D	To cut down on waste heat generated by the power supply

34. - E7E12

What is a frequency discriminator stage in a FM receiver?

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

35. - E7F01

What is meant by direct digital conversion as applied to software defined radios?

Select	Answer
A	Incoming RF is digitized by an analog-to-digital converter without being mixed with a local oscillator signal
B	Incoming RF is converted to a control voltage for a voltage controlled oscillator
C	Software is converted from source code to object code during operation of the receiver
D	A switching mixer is used to generate I and Q signals directly from the RF input

36. - E7G03

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

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

37. - E7H09

What type of frequency synthesizer circuit uses a phase accumulator, lookup table, digital to analog converter, and a low-pass anti-alias filter?

Select	Answer
A	A diode-switching matrix synthesizer
B	A direct digital synthesizer
C	A phase locked loop synthesizer
D	A hybrid synthesizer

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. - E8B09

What is meant by deviation ratio?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of the highest audio modulating frequency to the average audio modulating frequency
B	The ratio of the maximum carrier frequency deviation to the highest audio modulating frequency
C	The ratio of the audio modulating frequency to the center carrier frequency
D	The ratio of the carrier center frequency to the audio modulating frequency

40. - E8C08

How does ARQ accomplish error correction?

Select	Answer
A	If errors are detected, a retransmission is requested
B	If errors are detected, redundant data is substituted
C	Special binary codes provide automatic correction
D	Special polynomial codes provide automatic correction

41. - E8D10

What are some of the differences between the Baudot digital code and ASCII?

Select	Answer
A	Baudot uses 4 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot uses 1 character as a letters/figures shift code, ASCII has no letters/figures code
B	Baudot uses 6 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot has no letters/figures shift code, ASCII uses 2 letters/figures shift codes
C	Baudot uses 7 data bits per character, ASCII uses 8; Baudot has no letters/figures shift code, ASCII uses 2 letters/figures shift codes
D	Baudot uses 5 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot uses 2 characters as letters/figures shift codes, ASCII has no letters/figures shift code

42. - E9A09

How is antenna efficiency calculated?

Select	Answer
A	(effective radiated power / transmitter output) x 100 percent
B	(radiation resistance / total resistance) x 100 per cent
C	(total resistance / radiation resistance) x 100 per cent
D	(radiation resistance / transmission resistance) x 100 per cent

43. - E9B15

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

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

44. - E9C01

What is the radiation pattern of two 1/4-wavelength vertical antennas spaced 1/2-wavelength apart and fed 180 degrees out of phase?

Select	Answer
A	Cardioid
B	Omni-directional
C	A figure-8 oriented along the axis of the array
D	A figure-8 broadside to the axis of the array

45. - E9D08

What happens as the Q of an antenna increases?

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

46. - E9E06

What is the equivalent lumped-constant network for a hairpin matching system of a 3-element Yagi?

Select	Answer
A	Pi-network
B	A shunt inductor
C	Pi-L-network
D	A series capacitor

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

48. - E9G11

How are the wavelength scales on a Smith chart calibrated?

Select	Answer
A	In fractions of transmission line electrical wavelength
B	In fractions of antenna electrical wavelength
C	In fractions of transmission line electrical frequency
D	In fractions of antenna electrical frequency

49. - E9H11

What characteristic of a cardioid pattern antenna is useful for direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	A very sharp peak
B	A very sharp single null
C	High-radiation angle
D	Broad band response

50. - E0A11

Which of the following injuries can result from using high-power UHF or microwave transmitters?

Select	Answer
A	Hearing loss caused by high voltage corona discharge
B	Localized heating of the body from RF exposure in excess of the MPE limits
C	Ingestion of ozone gas from the cooling system
D	Blood clotting from the intense magnetic field

Figure E9-2