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

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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. - E1B03

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

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

3. - E1C01

What is a remotely controlled station?

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

4. - E1D01

What is the definition of the term telemetry?

Select	Answer
A	One-way transmission that initiates, modifies, or terminates the functions of a device at a distance
B	Two-way radiotelephone transmissions in excess of 1000 feet
C	Two-way single channel transmissions of data
D	One-way transmission of measurements at a distance from the measuring instrument

5. - E1E03

What is a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator?

Select	Answer
A	The person who has entered into an agreement with the FCC to be the VE session manager
B	A person who has volunteered to administer amateur operator license examinations
C	An organization that has entered into an agreement with the FCC to coordinate amateur operator license examinations
D	A person who has volunteered to prepare amateur operator license examinations

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 Amateur Extra Class operators
C	Any licensed amateur operator
D	Only General, Advanced or 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. - E2B04

What is blanking in a video signal?

Select	Answer
A	Turning off the scanning beam while it is traveling from right to left or from bottom to top
B	Transmitting a black and white test pattern
C	Synchronization of the horizontal and vertical sync pulses
D	Turning off the scanning beam at the conclusion of a transmission

9. - E2C01

Which of the following is true about contest operating?

Select	Answer
A	Interference to other amateurs is unavoidable and therefore acceptable
B	Operators are permitted to make contacts even if they do not submit a log
C	It is mandatory to transmit the call sign of the station being worked as part of every transmission to that station
D	Every contest requires a signal report in the exchange

10. - E2D03

Which of the following digital modes is especially useful for EME communications?

Select	Answer
A	Olivia
B	FSK441
C	PACTOR III
D	JT65

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

12. - E3A03

When scheduling EME contacts, which of these conditions will generally result in the least path loss?

Select	Answer
A	When the Moon is at perigee
B	When the Moon is at apogee
C	When the Moon is full
D	When the MUF is above 30 MHz

13. - E3B12

What is the primary characteristic of chordal hop propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Propagation across the geomagnetic equator
B	Propagation away from the great circle bearing between stations
C	Signals reflected back toward the transmitting station
D	Successive ionospheric reflections without an intermediate reflection from the ground

14. - E3C02

What is indicated by a rising A or K index?

Select	Answer
A	Higher levels of solar UV radiation
B	An increase in the critical frequency
C	Decreasing disruption of the geomagnetic field
D	Increasing disruption of the geomagnetic field

15. - E4A04

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

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

16. - E4B08

Which of the following is a characteristic of a good DC voltmeter?

Select	Answer
A	Low impedance input
B	High impedance input
C	Low reluctance input
D	High reluctance input

17. - E4C11

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

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

18. - E4D02

Which of the following describes two problems caused by poor dynamic range in a communications receiver?

Select	Answer
A	Oscillator instability requiring frequent retuning and loss of ability to recover the opposite sideband
B	Cross-modulation of the desired signal and insufficient audio power to operate the speaker
C	Oscillator instability and severe audio distortion of all but the strongest received signals
D	Cross-modulation of the desired signal and desensitization from strong adjacent signals

19. - E4E02

Which of the following types of receiver noise can often be reduced with a DSP noise filter?

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

20. - E5A10

How is the Q of an RLC series resonant circuit calculated?

Select	Answer
A	Reactance of either the inductance or capacitance times the resistance
B	Resistance divided by the reactance of either the inductance or capacitance
C	Reactance of either the inductance or capacitance divided by the resistance
D	Reactance of the inductance times the reactance of the capacitance

21. - E5B01

What is the term for the time required for the capacitor in an RC circuit to be charged to 63.2% of the applied voltage?

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

22. - E5C02

How are impedances described in polar coordinates?

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

23. - E5D08

What type of energy is stored in an electromagnetic or electrostatic field?

Select	Answer
A	Potential energy
B	Kinetic energy
C	Electromechanical energy
D	Thermodynamic energy

24. - E6A17

What are the names of the three terminals of a field-effect transistor?

Select	Answer
A	Gate 1, gate 2, drain
B	Emitter, base 1, base 2
C	Gate, drain, source
D	Emitter, base, collector

25. - E6B11

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

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

26. - E6C04

What is the primary advantage of tri-state logic?

Select	Answer
A	More efficient arithmetic operations
B	Low power consumption
C	Ability to connect many device outputs to a common bus
D	High speed operation

27. - E6D07

What is the usable frequency range of inductors that use toroidal cores, assuming a correct selection of core material for the frequency being used?

Select	Answer
A	From approximately 10 Hz to no more than 3000 kHz
B	From about 100 kHz to at least 1000 GHz
C	From less than 20 Hz to approximately 300 MHz
D	From a few kHz to no more than 30 MHz

28. - E6E11

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

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

29. - E6F02

What happens to the conductivity of a photoconductive material when light shines on it?

Select	Answer
A	It increases
B	It becomes unstable
C	It stays the same
D	It decreases

30. - E7A03

Which of the following can divide the frequency of a pulse train by 2?

Select	Answer
A	A multiplexer
B	A flip-flop
C	An OR gate
D	An XOR gate

31. - E7B17

Why are odd-order rather than even-order intermodulation distortion products of concern in linear power amplifiers?

Select	Answer
A	Because they are relatively far in frequency from the desired signal
B	Because they are relatively close in frequency to the desired signal
C	Because they invert the sidebands causing distortion
D	Because they maintain the sidebands, thus causing multiple duplicate signals

32. - E7C06

What are the distinguishing features of an elliptical filter?

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

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 allow the filter capacitors to charge gradually
C	To compensate for variations of the incoming line voltage
D	To allow for remote control of the power supply

34. - E7E03

How does an analog phase modulator function?

Select	Answer
A	By varying the tuning of an amplifier tank circuit to produce AM signals
B	By varying the tuning of a microphone preamplifier to produce AM signals
C	By varying the tuning of an amplifier tank circuit to produce PM signals
D	By varying the tuning of a microphone preamplifier to produce PM signals

35. - E7F05

How frequently must an analog signal be sampled by an analog-to-digital converter so that the signal can be accurately reproduced?

Select	Answer
A	At half the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal
B	At the same rate as the highest frequency component of the signal
C	At twice the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal
D	At four times the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal

36. - E7G06

Which of the following is the most appropriate use of an op-amp active filter?

Select	Answer
A	As a low-pass filter used between a transmitter and a transmission line
B	As a high-pass filter used to block RFI at the input to receivers
C	For smoothing power supply output
D	As an audio filter in a receiver

37. - E7H05

How is positive feedback supplied in a Pierce oscillator?

Select	Answer
A	Through a tapped coil
B	Through link coupling
C	Through a quartz crystal
D	Through a neutralizing capacitor

38. - E8A07

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

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

39. - E8B10

What describes frequency division multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	The transmitted signal is divided into packets of information
B	Two or more information streams are merged into a digital combiner, which then pulse position modulates the transmitter
C	The transmitted signal jumps from band to band at a predetermined rate
D	Two or more information streams are merged into a baseband, which then modulates the transmitter

40. - E8C07

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

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

41. - E8D07

What is a common cause of overmodulation of AFSK signals?

Select	Answer
A	Bit errors in the modem
B	Excessive numbers of retries
C	Ground loops
D	Excessive transmit audio levels

42. - E9A10

Which of the following choices is a way to improve the efficiency of a ground-mounted quarter-wave vertical antenna?

Select	Answer
A	Install a good radial system
B	Shorten the radiating element
C	Reduce the diameter of the radiating element
D	Isolate the coax shield from ground

43. - E9B02

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

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

44. - E9C04

What happens to the radiation pattern of an unterminated long wire antenna as the wire length is increased?

Select	Answer
A	The lobes become more perpendicular to the wire
B	The lobes align more in the direction of the wire
C	The front-to-back ratio decreases
D	The vertical angle increases

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 is too sharply directional at lower frequencies
D	It radiates the harmonics and fundamental equally well

46. - E9E08

Which of the following measurements is characteristic of a mismatched transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	A reflection coefficient greater than 1
B	A dielectric constant greater than 1
C	An SWR less than 1:1
D	An SWR greater than 1:1

47. - E9F02

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

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

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	Reactance axis
B	Prime axis
C	Impedance axis
D	Polar axis

49. - E9H05

What is the main drawback of a wire-loop antenna for direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	It is non-rotatable
B	It is practical for use only on VHF bands
C	It receives equally well in all directions
D	It has a bidirectional pattern

50. - E0A08

What does SAR measure?

Select	Answer
A	The rate of RF energy reflected from stationary terrain
B	The rate at which RF energy is absorbed by the body
C	Signal Amplification Rating
D	Synthetic Aperture Ratio of the human body

Figure E9-1

Figure E9-3