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

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1. - E1A08

If a station in a message forwarding system inadvertently forwards a message that is in violation of FCC rules, who is primarily accountable for the rules violation?

Select	Answer
A	The control operator of the originating station
B	The control operator of the packet bulletin board station
C	The control operators of all the stations in the system not authenticating the source from which they accept communications
D	The control operators of all the stations in the system

2. - E1B10

What frequencies are authorized to an amateur station operating under RACES rules?

Select	Answer
A	Specific local government channels
B	Specific segments in the amateur service MF, HF, VHF and UHF bands
C	All amateur service frequencies authorized to the control operator
D	Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) channels

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

4. - E1D03

What is a telecommand station in the amateur satellite service?

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

5. - E1E02

Where are the questions for all written U.S. amateur license examinations listed?

Select	Answer
A	In the appropriate FCC Report and Order
B	In a question pool maintained by all the VECs
C	In FCC Part 97
D	In a question pool maintained by the FCC

6. - E1F08

Which of the following types of amateur station communications are prohibited?

Select	Answer
A	Communications that have a religious content
B	Communications transmitted for hire or material compensation, except as otherwise provided in the rules
C	Communications that have a political content, except as allowed by the Fairness Doctrine
D	Communications in a language other than English

7. - E2A07

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

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

8. - E2B11

What is the function of the Vertical Interval Signaling (VIS) code sent as part of an SSTV transmission?

Select	Answer
A	To provide vertical synchronization
B	To identify the call sign of the station transmitting
C	To identify the SSTV mode being used
D	To lock the color burst oscillator in color SSTV images

9. - E2C10

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

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

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

11. - E2E02

What do the letters FEC mean as they relate to digital operation?

Select	Answer
A	Fatal Error Correction
B	Forward Error Correction
C	First Error Correction
D	Final Error Correction

12. - E3A09

Which of the following frequency range is most suited for meteor scatter communications?

Select	Answer
A	220 MHz - 450 MHz
B	1.8 MHz - 1.9 MHz
C	10 MHz - 14 MHz
D	28 MHz - 148 MHz

13. - E3B02

What is the approximate maximum range for signals using transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	7500 miles
B	5000 miles
C	2500 miles
D	1000 miles

14. - E3C15

What might a sudden rise in radio background noise indicate?

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

15. - E4A06

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

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

16. - E4B09

What is indicated if the current reading on an RF ammeter placed in series with the antenna feed line of a transmitter increases as the transmitter is tuned to resonance?

Select	Answer
A	There is possibly a short to ground in the feed line
B	There is an impedance mismatch between the antenna and feed line
C	There is more power going into the antenna
D	The transmitter is not properly neutralized

17. - E4C15

What is usually the primary source of noise that is heard from an HF receiver with an antenna connected?

Select	Answer
A	Atmospheric noise
B	Induction motor noise
C	Receiver front-end noise
D	Detector noise

18. - E4D03

How can intermodulation interference between two repeaters occur?

Select	Answer
A	When the signals from the transmitters are reflected in phase from airplanes passing overhead
B	When the signals from the transmitters are reflected out of phase from airplanes passing overhead
C	When the repeaters are in close proximity and the signals cause feedback in the final amplifier of one or both transmitters
D	When the repeaters are in close proximity and the signals mix in the final amplifier of one or both transmitters

19. - E4E11

Which is the most likely cause if you are hearing combinations of local AM broadcast signals within one or more of the MF or HF ham bands?

Select	Answer
A	The broadcast station is transmitting an over-modulated signal
B	Nearby corroded metal joints are mixing and re-radiating the broadcast signals
C	You are receiving sky wave signals from a distant station
D	Your station receiver IF amplifier stage is defective

20. - E5A17

What is the result of increasing the Q of an impedance-matching circuit?

Select	Answer
A	It has no effect on impedance matching
B	Matching range is increased
C	Matching bandwidth is decreased
D	Matching bandwidth is increased

21. - E5B03

What happens to the phase angle of a reactance when it is converted to a susceptance?

Select	Answer
A	It is unchanged
B	The sign is reversed
C	It is shifted by 90 degrees
D	The susceptance phase angle is the inverse of the reactance phase angle

22. - E5C16

Which point on Figure E5-2 best represents the impedance of a series circuit consisting of a 300 ohm resistor and a 19 picofarad capacitor at 21.200 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	Point 7
B	Point 8
C	Point 1
D	Point 3

23. - E5D14

What is reactive power?

Select	Answer
A	Power lost because of capacitor leakage
B	Wattless, nonproductive power
C	Power consumed in wire resistance in an inductor
D	Power consumed in circuit Q

24. - E6A01

In what application is gallium arsenide used as a semiconductor material in preference to germanium or silicon?

Select	Answer
A	In high-power audio circuits
B	In high-current rectifier circuits
C	In very low frequency RF circuits
D	In microwave circuits

25. - E6B07

What is the failure mechanism when a junction diode fails due to excessive current?

Select	Answer
A	Excessive junction temperature
B	Insufficient forward voltage
C	Excessive inverse voltage
D	Charge carrier depletion

26. - E6C13

Which of the following is an advantage of BiCMOS logic?

Select	Answer
A	Its simplicity results in much less expensive devices than standard CMOS
B	It is totally immune to electrostatic damage
C	It has the high input impedance of CMOS and the low output impedance of bipolar transistors
D	All of these choices are correct

27. - E6D12

What is the definition of saturation in a ferrite core inductor?

Select	Answer
A	The inductor windings are over coupled
B	Adjacent inductors become over-coupled
C	The ability of the inductor's core to store magnetic energy has been exceeded
D	The inductor's voltage rating is exceeded causing a flashover

28. - E6E08

How is voltage from a power supply normally furnished to the most common type of monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC)?

Select	Answer
A	Through a capacitor and RF choke connected to the amplifier input lead
B	Through a resistor and/or RF choke connected to the amplifier output lead
C	Directly to the bias voltage (VCC IN) lead
D	MMICs require no operating bias

29. - E6F09

What is the efficiency of a photovoltaic cell?

Select	Answer
A	The output RF power divided by the input DC power
B	The effective payback period
C	The relative fraction of light that is converted to current
D	The open-circuit voltage divided by the short-circuit current under full illumination

30. - E7A01

Which is a bi-stable circuit?

Select	Answer
A	An "OR" gate
B	An "AND" gate
C	A flip-flop
D	A clock

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	Use a phase inverter in the output filter
C	Tune both the input and output for maximum power
D	Tune the stage for maximum SWR

32. - E7C09

What is a Jones filter as used as part of an HF receiver IF stage?

Select	Answer
A	A special filter that emphasizes image responses
B	A filter that removes impulse noise E7C10 (B) Which of the following filters would be the best choice for use in a 2 meter repeater duplexer? A. A crystal filter B. A cavity filter C. A DSP filter D. An L-C filter
C	An automatic notch filter
D	A variable bandwidth crystal lattice filter

33. - E7D15

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

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

34. - E7E07

What is meant by the term baseband in radio communications?

Select	Answer
A	The frequency components present in the modulating signal
B	The basic oscillator frequency in an FM transmitter that is multiplied to increase the deviation and carrier frequency
C	The lowest frequency band that the transmitter or receiver covers
D	The unmodulated bandwidth of the transmitted signal

35. - E7F04

What is a common method of generating an SSB signal using digital signal processing?

Select	Answer
A	Emulation of quartz crystal filter characteristics
B	A frequency synthesizer removes the unwanted sidebands
C	Combine signals with a quadrature phase relationship
D	Mixing products are converted to voltages and subtracted by adder circuits

36. - E7G09

What will be the output voltage of the circuit shown in Figure E7-4 if R1 is 1000 ohms, RF is 10,000 ohms, and 0.23 volts DC is applied to the input?

Select	Answer
A	0.23 volts
B	2.3 volts
C	-0.23 volts
D	-2.3 volts

37. - E7H04

How is positive feedback supplied in a Colpitts oscillator?

Select	Answer
A	Through link coupling
B	Through a tapped coil
C	Through a neutralizing capacitor
D	Through a capacitive divider

38. - E8A06

What is the approximate ratio of PEP-to-average power in a typical single-sideband phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	25 to 1
B	2.5 to 1
C	100 to 1
D	1 to 1

39. - E8B09

What is meant by deviation ratio?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of the maximum carrier frequency deviation to the highest audio modulating frequency
B	The ratio of the audio modulating frequency to the center carrier frequency
C	The ratio of the carrier center frequency to the audio modulating frequency
D	The ratio of the highest audio modulating frequency to the average audio modulating frequency

40. - E8C01

How is Forward Error Correction implemented?

Select	Answer
A	By transmitting extra data that may be used to detect and correct transmission errors
B	By varying the frequency shift of the transmitted signal according to a predefined algorithm
C	By the receiving station repeating each block of three data characters
D	By transmitting a special algorithm to the receiving station along with the data characters

41. - E8D10

What are some of the differences between the Baudot digital code and ASCII?

Select	Answer
A	Baudot uses 6 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot has no letters/figures shift code, ASCII uses 2 letters/figures shift codes
B	Baudot uses 7 data bits per character, ASCII uses 8; Baudot has no letters/figures shift code, ASCII uses 2 letters/figures shift codes
C	Baudot uses 5 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot uses 2 characters as letters/figures shift codes, ASCII has no letters/figures shift code
D	Baudot uses 4 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot uses 1 character as a letters/figures shift code, ASCII has no letters/figures code

42. - E9A17

What is the effective radiated power of a repeater station with 200 watts transmitter power output, 2 dB feed line loss, 2.8 dB duplexer loss, 1.2 dB circulator loss, and 7 dBi antenna gain?

Select	Answer
A	63.2 watts
B	159 watts
C	632 watts
D	252 watts

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. - E9C07

What is the approximate feed point impedance at the center of a two-wire folded dipole antenna?

Select	Answer
A	450 ohms
B	72 ohms
C	300 ohms
D	50 ohms

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 resistive wire, such as spark plug wire
C	A cable with six or seven 18 gauge conductors in parallel
D	A wide flat copper strap

46. - E9E12

What is the primary purpose of a phasing line when used with an antenna having multiple driven elements?

Select	Answer
A	It allows single-band antennas to operate on other bands
B	It ensures that each driven element operates in concert with the others to create the desired antenna pattern
C	It makes sure the antenna has a low-angle radiation pattern
D	It prevents reflected power from traveling back down the feed line and causing harmonic radiation from the transmitter

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

48. - E9G01

Which of the following can be calculated using a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Radiation resistance
B	Impedance along transmission lines
C	Antenna radiation pattern
D	Radio propagation

49. - E9H07

Why is it advisable to use an RF attenuator on a receiver being used for direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	It narrows the bandwidth of the received signal to improve signal to noise ratio
B	It reduces loss of received signals caused by antenna pattern nulls, thereby increasing sensitivity
C	It prevents receiver overload which could make it difficult to determine peaks or nulls
D	It compensates for the effects of an isotropic antenna, thereby improving directivity

50. - E0A08

What does SAR measure?

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

Figure E5-2

Figure E7-4