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

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1. - E1A10

If an amateur station is installed aboard a ship or aircraft, what condition must be met before the station is operated?

Select	Answer
A	The amateur station operator must agree not to transmit when the main radio of the ship or aircraft is in use
B	The amateur operator must have an FCC Marine or Aircraft endorsement on his or her amateur license
C	The amateur station must have a power supply that is completely independent of the main ship or aircraft power supply
D	Its operation must be approved by the master of the ship or the pilot in command of the aircraft

2. - E1B05

What is the National Radio Quiet Zone?

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

3. - E1C12

What types of communications may be transmitted to amateur stations in foreign countries?

Select	Answer
A	Messages intended for connection to users of the maritime satellite service
B	Communications incidental to the purpose of the amateur service and remarks of a personal nature
C	Business-related messages for non-profit organizations
D	All of these choices are correct

4. - E1D03

What is a telecommand station in the amateur satellite service?

Select	Answer
A	An amateur station that transmits communications to initiate, modify or terminate functions of a space station
B	An amateur station located on the Earth's surface for communication with other Earth stations by means of Earth satellites
C	An amateur station that transmits telemetry consisting of measurements of upper atmosphere
D	An amateur station located more than 50 km above the Earth's surface

5. - E1E12

What must the VE team do with the application form if the examinee does not pass the exam?

Select	Answer
A	Destroy the application form
B	Maintain the application form with the VEC's records
C	Send the application form to the FCC and inform the FCC of the grade
D	Return the application document to the examinee

6. - E1F07

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

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

7. - E2A07

Which of the following types of signals can be relayed through a linear transponder?

Select	Answer
A	PSK and Packet
B	All of these choices are correct
C	SSB and SSTV
D	FM and CW

8. - E2B05

Which of the following is an advantage of using vestigial sideband for standard fast- scan TV transmissions?

Select	Answer
A	The vestigial sideband contains chroma information
B	Vestigial sideband provides high frequency emphasis to sharpen the picture
C	The vestigial sideband carries the audio information
D	Vestigial sideband reduces bandwidth while allowing for simple video detector circuitry

9. - E2C02

Which of the following best describes the term self-spotting in regards to HF contest operating?

Select	Answer
A	The acceptable practice of manually posting the call signs of stations on a spotting network
B	An automatic method for rapidly zero beating or tuning to a station's frequency before calling that station
C	A manual technique for rapidly zero beating or tuning to a station's frequency before calling that station
D	The generally prohibited practice of posting one's own call sign and frequency on a spotting network

10. - E2D05

Which of the following techniques is normally used by low Earth orbiting digital satellites to relay messages around the world?

Select	Answer
A	Digipeating
B	Store-and-forward
C	Multi-satellite relaying
D	Node hopping

11. - E2E08

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

Select	Answer
A	Hellschreiber
B	AMTOR
C	PACTOR
D	RTTY

12. - E3A02

What characterizes libration fading of an EME signal?

Select	Answer
A	The returning echo is several Hertz lower in frequency than the transmitted signal
B	A fluttery irregular fading
C	A slow change in the pitch of the CW signal
D	A gradual loss of signal as the Sun rises

13. - E3B09

At what time of year is Sporadic E propagation most likely to occur?

Select	Answer
A	Around the equinoxes, especially the fall equinox
B	Around the equinoxes, especially the spring equinox
C	Around the solstices, especially the summer solstice
D	Around the solstices, especially the winter solstice

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	Sporadic-E
B	Polar paths
C	NVIS
D	Transequatorial propagation

15. - E4A06

What is the effect of aliasing in a digital or computer-based oscilloscope?

Select	Answer
A	False signals are displayed
B	All signals will have a DC offset
C	False triggering occurs
D	Calibration of the vertical scale is no longer valid

16. - E4B13

Which S parameter is equivalent to forward gain?

Select	Answer
A	S22
B	S12
C	S21
D	S11

17. - E4C11

Which of the following is a desirable amount of selectivity for an amateur SSB phone receiver?

Select	Answer
A	1 kHz
B	4.8 kHz
C	2.4 kHz
D	4.2 kHz

18. - E4D10

What does a third-order intercept level of 40 dBm mean with respect to receiver performance?

Select	Answer
A	A pair of 40 dBm signals will theoretically generate a third-order intermodulation product with the same level as the input signals
B	Signals less than 40 dBm will not generate audible third-order intermodulation products
C	A pair of 1 mW input signals will produce a third-order intermodulation product which is 40 dB stronger than the input signal
D	The receiver can tolerate signals up to 40 dB above the noise floor without producing third-order intermodulation products

19. - E4E01

Which of the following types of receiver noise can often be reduced by use of a receiver noise blanker?

Select	Answer
A	Ignition noise
B	Heterodyne interference
C	All of these choices are correct
D	Broadband white noise

20. - E5A13

What is an effect of increasing Q in a resonant circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Parasitic effects are minimized
B	Fewer components are needed for the same performance
C	Internal voltages and circulating currents increase
D	Phase shift can become uncontrolled

21. - E5B12

What is admittance?

Select	Answer
A	The turns ratio of a transformer
B	The inverse of impedance
C	The unit used for Q factor
D	The term for the gain of a field effect transistor

22. - E5C02

How are impedances described in polar coordinates?

Select	Answer
A	By Y and G values
B	By X and R values
C	By phase angle and amplitude
D	By real and imaginary parts

23. - E5D09

What happens to reactive power in an AC circuit that has both ideal inductors and ideal capacitors?

Select	Answer
A	It is dissipated in the formation of inductive and capacitive fields
B	It is dissipated as heat in the circuit
C	It is dissipated as kinetic energy in the circuit
D	It is repeatedly exchanged between the associated magnetic and electric fields, but is not dissipated

24. - E6A11

In Figure E6-2, what is the schematic symbol for a P-channel junction FET?

Select	Answer
A	1
B	3
C	2
D	6

25. - E6B09

What is a common use for point contact diodes?

Select	Answer
A	As a high voltage rectifier
B	As a constant current source
C	As a constant voltage source
D	As an RF detector

26. - E6C09

What is a Programmable Logic Device (PLD)?

Select	Answer
A	A device to control industrial equipment
B	A programmable collection of logic gates and circuits in a single integrated circuit
C	An algorithm for simulating logic functions during circuit design
D	Programmable equipment used for testing digital logic integrated circuits

27. - E6D16

What is the common name for a capacitor connected across a transformer secondary that is used to absorb transient voltage spikes?

Select	Answer
A	Snubber capacitor
B	Clipper capacitor
C	Feedback capacitor
D	Trimmer capacitor

28. - E6E09

Which of the following component package types would be most suitable for use at frequencies above the HF range?

Select	Answer
A	Axial lead
B	Surface mount
C	TO-220
D	Radial lead

29. - E6F07

What is a solid state relay?

Select	Answer
A	A mechanical relay that latches in the on or off state each time it is pulsed
B	A passive delay line
C	A relay using transistors to drive the relay coil
D	A device that uses semiconductors to implement the functions of an electromechanical relay

30. - E7A02

What is the function of a decade counter digital IC?

Select	Answer
A	It produces ten output pulses for every input pulse
B	It produces one output pulse for every ten input pulses
C	It decodes a decimal number for display on a seven segment LED display
D	It adds two decimal numbers together

31. - E7B16

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

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

32. - E7C14

Which mode is most affected by non-linear phase response in a receiver IF filter?

Select	Answer
A	Video
B	Meteor scatter
C	Single-Sideband voice
D	Digital

33. - E7D10

What is the primary reason that a high-frequency switching type high voltage power supply can be both less expensive and lighter in weight than a conventional power supply?

Select	Answer
A	It uses a large power factor compensation capacitor to create free power from the unused portion of the AC cycle
B	The high frequency inverter design uses much smaller transformers and filter components for an equivalent power output
C	It uses a diode bridge rectifier for increased output
D	The inverter design does not require any output filtering

34. - E7E02

What is the function of a reactance modulator?

Select	Answer
A	To produce PM signals by using an electrically variable resistance
B	To produce PM signals by using an electrically variable inductance or capacitance
C	To produce AM signals by using an electrically variable inductance or capacitance
D	To produce AM signals by using an electrically variable resistance

35. - E7F06

What is the minimum number of bits required for an analog-to-digital converter to sample a signal with a range of 1 volt at a resolution of 1 millivolt?

Select	Answer
A	8 bits
B	6 bits
C	4 bits
D	10 bits

36. - E7G12

What is an integrated circuit operational amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	A digital audio amplifier whose characteristics are determined by components external to the amplifier
B	A high-gain, direct-coupled differential amplifier with very high input impedance and very low output impedance
C	An amplifier used to increase the average output of frequency modulated amateur signals to the legal limit
D	A RF amplifier used in the UHF and microwave regions

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	Changes in oscillator frequency due to mechanical vibration
D	Distortion caused by RF pickup on the microphone cable

38. - E8A11

What type of information can be conveyed using digital waveforms?

Select	Answer
A	Data
B	All of these choices are correct
C	Human speech
D	Video signals

39. - E8B08

What describes Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	A frequency modulation technique which uses non-harmonically related frequencies
B	A digital modulation technique using subcarriers at frequencies chosen to avoid intersymbol interference
C	A digital mode for narrow band, slow speed transmissions
D	A bandwidth compression technique using Fourier transforms

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	9.6 kHz
C	15.36 kHz
D	5.76 kHz

41. - E8D11

What is one advantage of using ASCII code for data communications?

Select	Answer
A	It is possible to transmit both upper and lower case text
B	It uses one character as a shift code to send numeric and special characters
C	It contains fewer information bits per character than any other code
D	It includes built in error correction features

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	(radiation resistance / transmission resistance) x 100 per cent
D	(total resistance / radiation resistance) x 100 per cent

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

44. - E9C15

How does the radiation pattern of a horizontally polarized 3-element beam antenna vary with its height above ground?

Select	Answer
A	The horizontal beam width decreases with height
B	The main lobe takeoff angle increases with increasing height
C	The main lobe takeoff angle decreases with increasing height
D	The horizontal beam width increases with height

45. - E9D03

Where should a high Q loading coil be placed to minimize losses in a shortened vertical antenna?

Select	Answer
A	As low as possible on the vertical radiator
B	At a voltage node
C	As close to the transmitter as possible
D	Near the center of the vertical radiator

46. - E9E06

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

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

47. - E9F02

Which of the following determines the velocity factor of a transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	The center conductor resistivity
B	The termination impedance
C	Dielectric materials used in the line
D	The line length

48. - E9G03

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

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

49. - E9H06

What is the triangulation method of direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	A fixed receiving station plots three headings to the signal source
B	The geometric angles of sky waves from the source are used to determine its position
C	A fixed receiving station uses three different antennas to plot the location of the signal source
D	Antenna headings from several different receiving locations are used to locate the signal source

50. - E0A11

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

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

Figure E6-2