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

Logging in (or registering) will help the system to select questions that you need to focus on.

1. - E1A09

What is the first action you should take if your digital message forwarding station inadvertently forwards a communication that violates FCC rules?

Select	Answer
A	Discontinue forwarding the communication as soon as you become aware of it
B	Discontinue forwarding all messages
C	Notify the nearest FCC Field Engineer's office
D	Notify the originating station that the communication does not comply with FCC rules

2. - E1B08

What limitations may the FCC place on an amateur station if its signal causes interference to domestic broadcast reception, assuming that the receivers involved are of good engineering design?

Select	Answer
A	The amateur station must avoid transmitting during certain hours on frequencies that cause the interference
B	The amateur station must cease operation
C	The amateur station must cease operation on all frequencies below 30 MHz
D	The amateur station must cease operation on all frequencies above 30 MHz

3. - E1C09

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

Select	Answer
A	24.940 MHz - 24.990 MHz
B	29.500 MHz - 29.700 MHz
C	18.110 MHz - 18.168 MHz
D	10.100 MHz - 10.150 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	Any amateur station, subject to the privileges of the class of operator license held by the control operator
C	Only those of Amateur Extra Class operators
D	Only those of General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators

5. - E1E04

Which of the following best describes the Volunteer Examiner accreditation process?

Select	Answer
A	The amateur operator applying must pass a VE examination administered by the FCC Enforcement Bureau
B	The procedure by which a VEC confirms that the VE applicant meets FCC requirements to serve as an examiner
C	The prospective VE obtains accreditation from the FCC
D	Each General, Advanced and Amateur Extra Class operator is automatically accredited as a VE when the license is granted

6. - E1F04

Which of the following geographic descriptions approximately describes "Line A"?

Select	Answer
A	A line roughly parallel to and south of the U.S.-Canadian border
B	A line roughly parallel to and east of the U.S. Pacific coastline
C	A line roughly parallel to and west of the U.S. Atlantic coastline
D	A line roughly parallel to and north of the U.S.-Mexican border and Gulf coastline

7. - E2A09

What do the terms L band and S band specify with regard to satellite communications?

Select	Answer
A	The 23 centimeter and 13 centimeter bands
B	The 2 meter and 70 centimeter bands
C	FM and Digital Store-and-Forward systems
D	Which sideband to use

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

9. - E2C09

What type of equipment is commonly used to implement a ham radio mesh network?

Select	Answer
A	A standard wireless router running custom software
B	A 2 meter VHF transceiver with a 1200 baud modem
C	A 440 MHz transceiver with a 9600 baud modem
D	An optical cable connection between the USB ports of 2 separate computers

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. - E2E12

Which type of control is used by stations using the Automatic Link Enable (ALE) protocol?

Select	Answer
A	Remote
B	ALE can use any type of control
C	Automatic
D	Local

12. - E3A08

When a meteor strikes the Earth's atmosphere, a cylindrical region of free electrons is formed at what layer of the ionosphere?

Select	Answer
A	The F1 layer
B	The F2 layer
C	The D layer
D	The E layer

13. - E3B05

Which amateur bands typically support long-path propagation?

Select	Answer
A	30 meters to 10 meters
B	6 meters to 2 meters
C	160 meters to 40 meters
D	160 meters to 10 meters

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	Polar paths
B	Sporadic-E
C	NVIS
D	Transequatorial propagation

15. - E4A01

Which of the following parameter determines the bandwidth of a digital or computer-based oscilloscope?

Select	Answer
A	Input capacitance
B	Input impedance
C	Sampling rate
D	Sample resolution

16. - E4B17

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

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

17. - E4C04

How is the noise figure of a receiver defined?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of atmospheric noise to phase noise
B	The ratio in dB of the noise generated by the receiver to the theoretical minimum noise
C	The ratio of thermal noise to atmospheric noise
D	The ratio of the noise bandwidth in Hertz to the theoretical bandwidth of a resistive network

18. - E4D06

What is the term for unwanted signals generated by the mixing of two or more signals?

Select	Answer
A	Adjacent channel interference
B	Neutralization
C	Intermodulation interference
D	Amplifier desensitization

19. - E4E04

How can conducted and radiated noise caused by an automobile alternator be suppressed?

Select	Answer
A	By installing a high-pass filter in series with the radio's power lead and a low-pass filter in parallel with the field lead
B	By connecting the radio's power leads directly to the battery and by installing coaxial capacitors in line with the alternator leads
C	By installing filter capacitors in series with the DC power lead and a blocking capacitor in the field lead
D	By installing a noise suppression resistor and a blocking capacitor in both leads

20. - E5A04

What is the magnitude of the impedance of a circuit with a resistor, an inductor and a capacitor all in parallel, at resonance?

Select	Answer
A	Approximately equal to inductive reactance
B	Approximately equal to circuit resistance
C	Approximately equal to capacitive reactance
D	Low, as compared to the circuit resistance

21. - E5B02

What is the term for the time it takes for a charged capacitor in an RC circuit to discharge to 36.8% of its initial voltage?

Select	Answer
A	One time constant
B	A discharge factor of one
C	An exponential discharge rate of one
D	One discharge period

22. - E5C07

What is a vector?

Select	Answer
A	The inverse of the sine function
B	The inverse of the tangent function
C	The value of a quantity that changes over time
D	A quantity with both magnitude and an angular component

23. - E5D13

How much power is consumed in a circuit consisting of a 100 ohm resistor in series with a 100 ohm inductive reactance drawing 1 ampere?

Select	Answer
A	200 Watts
B	70.7 Watts
C	141.4 Watts
D	100 Watts

24. - E6A14

How does DC input impedance at the gate of a field-effect transistor compare with the DC input impedance of a bipolar transistor?

Select	Answer
A	They are both high impedance
B	They are both low impedance
C	An FET has high input impedance; a bipolar transistor has low input impedance
D	An FET has low input impedance; a bipolar transistor has high input impedance

25. - E6B03

What special type of diode is capable of both amplification and oscillation?

Select	Answer
A	Point contact
B	Junction
C	Zener
D	Tunnel

26. - E6C02

What happens when the level of a comparator's input signal crosses the threshold?

Select	Answer
A	The feedback loop becomes unstable
B	The comparator changes its output state
C	The IC input can be damaged
D	The comparator enters latch-up

27. - E6D06

What core material property determines the inductance of a toroidal inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Resistance
B	Reactivity
C	Thermal impedance
D	Permeability

28. - E6E11

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

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

29. - E6F14

Which of the following is true of LCD displays?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	They may be hard view through polarized lenses
C	They only display alphanumeric symbols
D	They are hard to view in high ambient light conditions

30. - E7A09

What logical operation is performed by an exclusive NOR gate?

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

31. - E7B13

In Figure E7-2, what is the purpose of R?

Select	Answer
A	Fixed bias
B	Emitter load
C	Voltage regulation
D	Collector load

32. - E7C11

Which of the following is the common name for a filter network which is equivalent to two L-networks connected back-to-back with the two inductors in series and the capacitors in shunt at the input and output?

Select	Answer
A	Omega
B	Pi-L
C	Cascode
D	Pi

33. - E7D15

What is the purpose of a "step-start" circuit in a high voltage power supply?

Select	Answer
A	To provide a dual-voltage output for reduced power applications
B	To compensate for variations of the incoming line voltage
C	To allow the filter capacitors to charge gradually
D	To allow for remote control of the power supply

34. - E7E05

What circuit is added to an FM transmitter to boost the higher audio frequencies?

Select	Answer
A	A de-emphasis network
B	A heterodyne suppressor
C	An audio prescaler
D	A pre-emphasis network

35. - E7F14

Which of the following would allow a digital signal processing filter to create a sharper filter response?

Select	Answer
A	Higher data rate
B	Double-precision math routines
C	Complex phasor representations
D	More taps

36. - E7G01

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

Select	Answer
A	Very high
B	1000 ohms
C	Very low
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 phase locked loop synthesizer
B	A direct digital synthesizer
C	A hybrid synthesizer
D	A diode-switching matrix synthesizer

38. - E8A07

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

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

39. - E8B07

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing is a technique used for which type of amateur communication?

Select	Answer
A	EME
B	High speed digital modes
C	Extremely low-power contacts
D	OFDM signals are not allowed on amateur bands

40. - E8C09

Which is the name of a digital code where each preceding or following character changes by only one bit?

Select	Answer
A	Binary Coded Decimal Code
B	Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code
C	Excess 3 code
D	Gray code

41. - E8D05

What is the most common method of reducing key clicks?

Select	Answer
A	High-pass filters at the transmitter output
B	Increase keying waveform rise and fall times
C	Reduce keying waveform rise and fall times
D	Low-pass filters at the transmitter output

42. - E9A16

What is the effective radiated power relative to a dipole of a repeater station with 200 watts transmitter power output, 4 dB feed line loss, 3.2 dB duplexer loss, 0.8 dB circulator loss, and 10 dBd antenna gain?

Select	Answer
A	126 watts
B	317 watts
C	2000 watts
D	300 watts

43. - E9B02

In the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-1, what is the front-to-back ratio?

Select	Answer
A	36 dB
B	24 dB
C	14 dB
D	18 dB

44. - E9C13

What is the main effect of placing a vertical antenna over an imperfect ground?

Select	Answer
A	It reduces low-angle radiation
B	It causes increased SWR
C	It changes the impedance angle of the matching network
D	It reduces losses in the radiating portion of the antenna

45. - E9D05

What is a disadvantage of using a multiband trapped antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It might radiate harmonics
B	It must be neutralized
C	It radiates the harmonics and fundamental equally well
D	It is too sharply directional at lower frequencies

46. - E9E06

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

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

47. - E9F05

What is the approximate physical length of a solid polyethylene dielectric coaxial transmission line that is electrically one-quarter wavelength long at 14.1 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	3.5 meters
B	2.3 meters
C	0.2 meters
D	20 meters

48. - E9G05

What type of chart is shown in Figure E9-3?

Select	Answer
A	Smith chart
B	Elevation angle radiation pattern chart
C	Azimuth angle radiation pattern chart
D	Free space radiation directivity chart

49. - E9H08

What is the function of a sense antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It provides diversity reception that cancels multipath signals
B	It modifies the pattern of a DF antenna array to provide a null in one direction
C	It allows DF antennas to receive signals at different vertical angles
D	It increases the sensitivity of a DF antenna array

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	Polyethylene
D	Polytetrafluroethylene

Figure E7-2

Figure E9-1

Figure E9-3