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

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1. - E1A12

With your transceiver displaying the carrier frequency of CW signals, you hear a DX station's CQ on 3.500 MHz. Is it legal to return the call using CW on the same frequency?

Select	Answer
A	No, U.S. stations are not permitted to use CW emissions below 3.525 MHz
B	Yes, the displayed frequency is within the 80 meter CW band segment
C	No, one of the sidebands of the CW signal will be out of the band
D	Yes, the DX station initiated the contact

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

3. - E1C01

What is a remotely controlled station?

Select	Answer
A	A station operated away from its regular home location
B	A station controlled indirectly through a control link
C	A station controlled by someone other than the licensee
D	A station operating under automatic control

4. - E1D08

Which VHF amateur service bands have frequencies available for space stations?

Select	Answer
A	2 meters
B	6 meters and 2 meters
C	2 meters and 1.25 meters
D	6 meters, 2 meters, and 1.25 meters

5. - E1E06

Who is responsible for the proper conduct and necessary supervision during an amateur operator license examination session?

Select	Answer
A	The VEC coordinating the session
B	The VE session manager
C	Each administering VE
D	The FCC

6. - E1F03

Under what circumstances may a dealer sell an external RF power amplifier capable of operation below 144 MHz if it has not been granted FCC certification?

Select	Answer
A	It was purchased in used condition from an amateur operator and is sold to another amateur operator for use at that operator's station
B	The equipment dealer assembled it from a kit
C	It was imported from a manufacturer in a country that does not require certification of RF power amplifiers
D	It was imported from a manufacturer in another country and was certificated by that country's government

7. - E2A02

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

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

8. - E2B02

How many horizontal lines make up a fast-scan (NTSC) television frame?

Select	Answer
A	1080
B	30
C	60
D	525

9. - E2C10

Why might a DX station state that they are listening on another frequency?

Select	Answer
A	To separate the calling stations from the DX station
B	To improve operating efficiency by reducing interference
C	Because the DX station may be transmitting on a frequency that is prohibited to some responding stations
D	All of these choices are correct

10. - E2D08

What type of packet frame is used to transmit APRS beacon data?

Select	Answer
A	Connect
B	Unnumbered Information
C	Acknowledgement
D	Disconnect

11. - E2E10

Which of these digital modes has the narrowest bandwidth?

Select	Answer
A	MFSK16
B	PSK31
C	300-baud packet
D	170 Hz shift, 45 baud RTTY

12. - E3A11

What is a typical range for tropospheric propagation of microwave signals?

Select	Answer
A	100 miles to 300 miles
B	10 miles to 50 miles
C	2500 miles
D	1200 miles

13. - E3B13

Why is chordal hop propagation desirable?

Select	Answer
A	The signal experiences less loss along the path compared to normal skip propagation
B	Atmospheric noise is lower in the direction of chordal hop propagation
C	Signals travel faster along ionospheric chords
D	The MUF for chordal hop propagation is much lower than for normal skip propagation

14. - E3C15

What might a sudden rise in radio background noise indicate?

Select	Answer
A	Increased transequatorial propagation likely
B	Long-path propagation is occurring
C	A solar flare has occurred
D	A meteor ping

15. - E4A10

Which of the following displays multiple digital signal states simultaneously?

Select	Answer
A	Modulation monitor
B	Bit error rate tester
C	Network analyzer
D	Logic analyzer

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 harmonically related audio frequencies and observe the RF output with a peak reading wattmeter
B	Modulate the transmitter with two non-harmonically related radio frequencies and observe the RF output with a spectrum analyzer
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. - E4C12

What is an undesirable effect of using too wide a filter bandwidth in the IF section of a receiver?

Select	Answer
A	Undesired signals may be heard
B	Thermal-noise distortion
C	Output-offset overshoot
D	Filter ringing

18. - E4D04

Which of the following may reduce or eliminate intermodulation interference in a repeater caused by another transmitter operating in close proximity?

Select	Answer
A	A properly terminated circulator at the output of the transmitter
B	A band-pass filter in the feed line between the transmitter and receiver
C	A Class D final amplifier
D	A Class C final amplifier

19. - E4E15

Which of the following can cause shielded cables to radiate or receive interference?

Select	Answer
A	Use of braided shielding material
B	Common mode currents on the shield and conductors
C	Tying all ground connections to a common point resulting in differential mode currents in the shield
D	Low inductance ground connections at both ends of the shield

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	436.6 kHz
D	218.3 kHz

21. - E5B11

What is the phase angle between the voltage across and the current through a series RLC circuit if XC is 25 ohms, R is 100 ohms, and XL is 50 ohms?

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

22. - E5C11

What do the two numbers that are used to define a point on a graph using rectangular coordinates represent?

Select	Answer
A	The sine and cosine values
B	The tangent and cotangent values
C	The magnitude and phase of the point
D	The coordinate values along the horizontal and vertical axes

23. - E5D18

How many watts are consumed in a circuit having a power factor of 0.71 if the apparent power is 500VA?

Select	Answer
A	1.42 mW
B	355 W
C	704 W
D	252 W

24. - E6A09

What is a depletion-mode FET?

Select	Answer
A	An FET that has no current flow between source and drain when no gate voltage is applied
B	Any FET for which holes are the majority carriers
C	An FET that exhibits a current flow between source and drain when no gate voltage is applied
D	Any FET without a channel

25. - E6B11

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

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

26. - E6C03

What is tri-state logic?

Select	Answer
A	Low power logic devices designed to operate at 3 volts
B	Proprietary logic devices manufactured by Tri-State Devices
C	Logic devices with 0, 1, and high impedance output states
D	Logic devices that utilize ternary math

27. - E6D05

What is one reason for using ferrite cores rather than powdered-iron in an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Ferrite toroids generally require fewer turns to produce a given inductance value
B	Ferrite toroids generally have better temperature stability
C	Ferrite toroids are easier to use with surface mount technology
D	Ferrite toroids generally have lower initial permeability

28. - E6E05

Which of the following noise figure values is typical of a low-noise UHF preamplifier?

Select	Answer
A	44 dBm
B	-10 dB
C	2 dB
D	-20 dBm

29. - E6F05

Which describes an optical shaft encoder?

Select	Answer
A	A device which detects rotation of a control by interrupting a light source with a patterned wheel
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 digital encryption device often used to encrypt spacecraft control signals

30. - E7A12

What type of logic defines "0" as a high voltage?

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

31. - E7B08

How can an RF power amplifier be neutralized?

Select	Answer
A	By feeding an in-phase component of the output back to the input
B	By increasing the driving power
C	By reducing the driving power
D	By feeding a 180-degree out-of-phase portion of the output back to the input

32. - E7C06

What are the distinguishing features of an elliptical filter?

Select	Answer
A	Gradual passband rolloff with minimal stop band ripple
B	Extremely sharp cutoff with one or more notches in the stop band
C	Extremely flat response over its pass band with gradually rounded stop band corners
D	Gradual passband rolloff with extreme stop band ripple

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 regulator
C	A shunt current source
D	A series regulator

34. - E7E04

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

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

35. - E7F15

Which of the following is an advantage of a Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter vs an Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) digital filter?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	FIR filters can respond faster to impulses
C	FIR filters delay all frequency components of the signal by the same amount
D	FIR filters are easier to implement for a given set of passband rolloff requirements

36. - E7G10

What absolute voltage gain can be expected from the circuit in Figure E7-4 when R1 is 1800 ohms and RF is 68 kilohms?

Select	Answer
A	38
B	76
C	0.03
D	1

37. - E7H02

Which describes a microphonic?

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

38. - E8A09

How many levels can an analog-to-digital converter with 8 bit resolution encode?

Select	Answer
A	256
B	8
C	8 multiplied by the gain of the input amplifier
D	256 divided by the gain of the input amplifier

39. - E8B03

What is the modulation index of an FM-phone signal having a maximum frequency deviation of 3000 Hz either side of the carrier frequency when the modulating frequency is 1000 Hz?

Select	Answer
A	3000
B	3
C	1000
D	0.3

40. - E8C07

What is the necessary bandwidth of a 4800-Hz frequency shift, 9600-baud ASCII FM transmission?

Select	Answer
A	4.8 kHz
B	5.76 kHz
C	15.36 kHz
D	9.6 kHz

41. - E8D09

What is considered a good minimum IMD level for an idling PSK signal?

Select	Answer
A	-30 dB
B	+15 dB
C	-20 dB
D	+10 dB

42. - E9A09

How is antenna efficiency calculated?

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

43. - E9B09

What type of computer program technique is commonly used for modeling antennas?

Select	Answer
A	Method of Moments
B	Calculus differentiation with respect to physical properties
C	Graphical analysis
D	Mutual impedance analysis

44. - E9C12

Which of the following describes an extended double Zepp antenna?

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

45. - E9D11

Which of the following types of conductors would be best for minimizing losses in a station's RF ground system?

Select	Answer
A	A single 12 gauge or 10 gauge stainless steel wire
B	A wide flat copper strap
C	A resistive wire, such as spark plug wire
D	A cable with six or seven 18 gauge conductors in parallel

46. - E9E05

How must the driven element in a 3-element Yagi be tuned to use a hairpin matching system?

Select	Answer
A	The driven element resonance must be lower than the operating frequency
B	The driven element reactance must be capacitive
C	The driven element radiation resistance must be higher than the characteristic impedance of the transmission line
D	The driven element reactance must be inductive

47. - E9F14

What impedance does a 1/2 wavelength transmission line present to a generator when the line is shorted at the far end?

Select	Answer
A	Very high impedance
B	The same as the characteristic impedance of the line
C	The same as the output impedance of the generator
D	Very low impedance

48. - E9G06

On the Smith chart shown in Figure E9-3, what is the name for the large outer circle on which the reactance arcs terminate?

Select	Answer
A	Impedance axis
B	Polar axis
C	Reactance axis
D	Prime axis

49. - E9H04

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

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

50. - E0A03

Which of the following would be a practical way to estimate whether the RF fields produced by an amateur radio station are within permissible MPE limits?

Select	Answer
A	All of the choices are correct
B	Use a hand calculator plus Smith-chart equations to calculate the fields
C	Use an antenna modeling program to calculate field strength at accessible locations
D	Use a calibrated antenna analyzer

Figure E7-4

Figure E9-3