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. - E1A01

When using a transceiver that displays the carrier frequency of phone signals, which of the following displayed frequencies represents the highest frequency at which a properly adjusted USB emission will be totally within the band?

Select	Answer
A	1 kHz below the upper band edge
B	The exact upper band edge
C	3 kHz below the upper band edge
D	300 Hz below the upper band edge

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 may have to notify the Federal Aviation Administration and register it with the FCC as required by Part 17 of FCC rules
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 must file an Environmental Impact Statement with the EPA before construction begins

3. - E1C13

Which of the following is required in order to operate in accordance with CEPT rules in foreign countries where permitted?

Select	Answer
A	The U.S. embassy must approve of your operation
B	You must identify in the official language of the country in which you are operating
C	You must append "/CEPT" to your call sign
D	You must bring a copy of FCC Public Notice DA 11-221

4. - E1D06

Which of the following is a requirement of a space station?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	The space station must be capable of terminating transmissions by telecommand when directed by the FCC
C	The space station must cease all transmissions after 5 years
D	The space station must be capable of changing its orbit whenever such a change is ordered by NASA

5. - E1E01

What is the minimum number of qualified VEs required to administer an Element 4 amateur operator license examination?

Select	Answer
A	2
B	3
C	4
D	5

6. - E1F07

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

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

7. - E2A03

What is the orbital period of an Earth satellite?

Select	Answer
A	The point of maximum height of a satellite's orbit
B	The time it takes for a satellite to complete one revolution around the Earth
C	The time it takes for a satellite to travel from perigee to apogee
D	The point of minimum height of a satellite's orbit

8. - E2B18

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

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

9. - E2C06

During a VHF/UHF contest, in which band segment would you expect to find the highest level of activity?

Select	Answer
A	In the middle of each band, usually on the national calling frequency
B	In the middle of the band, usually 25 kHz above the national calling frequency
C	In the weak signal segment of the band, with most of the activity near the calling frequency
D	At the top of each band, usually in a segment reserved for contests

10. - E2D09

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

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

11. - E2E13

Which of the following is a possible reason that attempts to initiate contact with a digital station on a clear frequency are unsuccessful?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	Your transmit frequency is incorrect
C	Another station you are unable to hear is using the frequency
D	The protocol version you are using is not the supported by the digital station

12. - E3A13

Which emission mode is best for aurora propagation?

Select	Answer
A	FM
B	CW
C	RTTY
D	SSB

13. - E3B03

What is the best time of day for transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Afternoon or early evening
B	Noon
C	Late at night
D	Morning

14. - E3C14

Why does the radio-path horizon distance exceed the geometric horizon?

Select	Answer
A	Downward bending due to aurora refraction
B	Downward bending due to density variations in the atmosphere
C	E-region skip
D	D-region skip

15. - E4A15

What is an advantage of a period-measuring frequency counter over a direct-count type?

Select	Answer
A	It can run on battery power for remote measurements
B	It provides improved resolution of low-frequency signals within a comparable time period
C	It can directly measure the modulation index of an FM transmitter
D	It does not require an expensive high-precision time base

16. - E4B14

What happens if a dip meter is too tightly coupled to a tuned circuit being checked?

Select	Answer
A	Cross modulation occurs
B	A less accurate reading results
C	Harmonics are generated
D	Intermodulation distortion occurs

17. - E4C17

Which of the following has the largest effect on an SDR receiver's linearity?

Select	Answer
A	Analog-to-digital converter sample width in bits
B	RAM speed used for data storage
C	CPU register width in bits
D	Anti-aliasing input filter bandwidth

18. - E4D09

What is the purpose of the preselector in a communications receiver?

Select	Answer
A	To allow selection of the optimum RF amplifier device
B	To increase rejection of unwanted signals
C	To provide a range of AGC time constants
D	To store often-used frequencies

19. - E4E03

Which of the following signals might a receiver noise blanker be able to remove from desired signals?

Select	Answer
A	Signals which are constant at all IF levels
B	Signals which appear at one IF but not another
C	Signals which appear across a wide bandwidth
D	Signals which have a sharply peaked frequency distribution

20. - E5A03

What is the magnitude of the impedance of a series RLC circuit at resonance?

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

21. - E5B09

What is the relationship between the current through a capacitor and the voltage across a capacitor?

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

22. - E5C06

What does the impedance 50-j25 represent?

Select	Answer
A	25 ohms resistance in series with 50 ohms capacitive reactance
B	50 ohms resistance in series with 25 ohms capacitive reactance
C	25 ohms resistance in series with 50 ohms inductive reactance
D	50 ohms resistance in series with 25 ohms inductive reactance

23. - E5D16

What is the power factor of an R-L circuit having a 30 degree phase angle between the voltage and the current?

Select	Answer
A	0.866
B	1.73
C	0.5
D	0.577

24. - E6A02

Which of the following semiconductor materials contains excess free electrons?

Select	Answer
A	Bipolar
B	N-type
C	P-type
D	Insulated gate

25. - E6B11

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

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

26. - E6C05

What is an advantage of CMOS logic devices over TTL devices?

Select	Answer
A	Immune to damage from static discharge
B	Lower distortion
C	Lower power consumption
D	Differential output capability

27. - E6D11

How many turns will be required to produce a 1-mH inductor using a core that has an inductance index (A L) value of 523 millihenrys/1000 turns?

Select	Answer
A	229 turns
B	43 turns
C	4 turns
D	2 turns

28. - E6E10

What is the packaging technique in which leadless components are soldered directly to circuit boards?

Select	Answer
A	Virtual lead mounting
B	Direct soldering
C	Stripped lead
D	Surface mount

29. - E6F04

What is the photovoltaic effect?

Select	Answer
A	The tendency of a battery to discharge when used outside
B	The conversion of electrical energy to mechanical energy
C	The conversion of voltage to current when exposed to light
D	The conversion of light to electrical energy

30. - E7A12

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

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

31. - E7B05

What can be done to prevent unwanted oscillations in an RF power amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	Install parasitic suppressors and/or neutralize the stage
B	Tune the stage for maximum SWR
C	Tune both the input and output for maximum power
D	Use a phase inverter in the output filter

32. - E7C07

What kind of filter would you use to attenuate an interfering carrier signal while receiving an SSB transmission?

Select	Answer
A	A band-pass filter
B	An all-pass filter
C	A Pi-network filter
D	A notch filter

33. - E7D03

What device is typically used as a stable reference voltage in a linear voltage regulator?

Select	Answer
A	A varactor diode
B	A Zener diode
C	A tunnel diode
D	An SCR

34. - E7E05

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

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

35. - E7F13

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

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

36. - E7G02

What is the effect of ringing in a filter?

Select	Answer
A	Partial cancellation of the signal over a range of frequencies
B	Undesired oscillations added to the desired signal
C	An echo caused by a long time delay
D	A reduction in high frequency response

37. - E7H13

Which of the following is a technique for providing highly accurate and stable oscillators needed for microwave transmission and reception?

Select	Answer
A	Use a GPS signal reference
B	All of these choices are correct
C	Use a rubidium stabilized reference oscillator
D	Use a temperature-controlled high Q dielectric resonator

38. - E8A09

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

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

39. - E8B11

What is digital time division multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	Two or more data streams share the same channel by transmitting time of transmission as the sub-carrier
B	Two or more signals are quadrature modulated to increase bandwidth efficiency
C	Two or more data streams are assigned to discrete sub-carriers on an FM transmitter
D	Two or more signals are arranged to share discrete time slots of a data transmission

40. - E8C08

How does ARQ accomplish error correction?

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

41. - E8D11

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

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

42. - E9A09

How is antenna efficiency calculated?

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

43. - E9B06

What is the elevation angle of peak response in the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-2?

Select	Answer
A	7.5 degrees
B	25 degrees
C	75 degrees
D	45 degrees

44. - E9C06

What is the effect of a terminating resistor on a rhombic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It decreases the ground loss
B	It reflects the standing waves on the antenna elements back to the transmitter
C	It changes the radiation pattern from bidirectional to unidirectional
D	It changes the radiation pattern from horizontal to vertical polarization

45. - E9D01

How does the gain of an ideal parabolic dish antenna change when the operating frequency is doubled?

Select	Answer
A	Gain is multiplied by 0.707
B	Gain increases by 6 dB
C	Gain increases by 3 dB
D	Gain does not change

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

47. - E9F04

What is the typical velocity factor for a coaxial cable with solid polyethylene dielectric?

Select	Answer
A	0.10
B	2.70
C	0.30
D	0.66

48. - E9G05

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

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

49. - E9H06

What is the triangulation method of direction finding?

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

50. - E0A05

What is one of the potential hazards of using microwaves in the amateur radio bands?

Select	Answer
A	The extremely high frequency energy can damage the joints of antenna structures
B	Microwaves are ionizing radiation
C	The high gain antennas commonly used can result in high exposure levels
D	Microwaves often travel long distances by ionospheric reflection

Figure E9-2

Figure E9-3