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. - 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	Its operation must be approved by the master of the ship or the pilot in command of the aircraft
C	The amateur operator must have an FCC Marine or Aircraft endorsement on his or her amateur license
D	The amateur station must have a power supply that is completely independent of the main ship or aircraft power supply

2. - E1B01

Which of the following constitutes a spurious emission?

Select	Answer
A	Any transmitted signal that unintentionally interferes with another licensed radio station
B	A signal transmitted to prevent its detection by any station other than the intended recipient
C	An amateur station transmission made at random without the proper call sign identification
D	An emission outside its necessary bandwidth that can be reduced or eliminated without affecting the information transmitted

3. - E1C12

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

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

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. - 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. - E1F12

Who may be the control operator of an auxiliary station?

Select	Answer
A	Only Amateur Extra Class operators
B	Only General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators
C	Any licensed amateur operator
D	Only Technician, General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators

7. - E2A10

Why may the received signal from an amateur satellite exhibit a rapidly repeating fading effect?

Select	Answer
A	Because of ionospheric absorption
B	Because the satellite is spinning
C	Because of the satellite's low orbital altitude
D	Because of the Doppler Effect

8. - E2B12

How are analog SSTV images typically transmitted on the HF bands?

Select	Answer
A	Varying tone frequencies representing the video are transmitted using single sideband
B	Video is converted to equivalent ASCII representation
C	Video is converted to equivalent Baudot representation
D	Varying tone frequencies representing the video are transmitted using PSK

9. - E2C11

How should you generally identify your station when attempting to contact a DX station during a contest or in a pileup?

Select	Answer
A	Send your full call sign once or twice
B	Send only the last two letters of your call sign until you make contact
C	Send the call sign of the DX station three times, the words "this is", then your call sign three times
D	Send your full call sign and grid square

10. - E2D11

Which of the following data are used by the APRS network to communicate your location?

Select	Answer
A	Radio direction finding spectrum analysis
B	Polar coordinates
C	Time and frequency
D	Latitude and longitude

11. - E2E08

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

Select	Answer
A	RTTY
B	PACTOR
C	AMTOR
D	Hellschreiber

12. - E3A17

What is meant by circularly polarized electromagnetic waves?

Select	Answer
A	Waves produced by a loop antenna
B	Waves that circle the Earth
C	Waves with a rotating electric field
D	Waves with an electric field bent into a circular shape

13. - E3B08

What type of HF propagation is probably occurring if radio signals travel along the terminator between daylight and darkness?

Select	Answer
A	Transequatorial
B	Gray-line
C	Sporadic-E
D	Long-path

14. - E3C01

What does the term ray tracing describe in regard to radio communications?

Select	Answer
A	The process in which an electronic display presents a pattern
B	Determining the radiation pattern from an array of antennas
C	Evaluating high voltage sources for X-Rays
D	Modeling a radio wave's path through the ionosphere

15. - E4A15

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

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

16. - E4B14

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

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

17. - E4C09

Which of the following choices is a good reason for selecting a high frequency for the design of the IF in a conventional HF or VHF communications receiver?

Select	Answer
A	Reduced drift
B	Improved receiver noise figure
C	Fewer components in the receiver
D	Easier for front-end circuitry to eliminate image responses

18. - E4D12

What is the term for the reduction in receiver sensitivity caused by a strong signal near the received frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Quieting
B	Cross-modulation interference
C	Desensitization
D	Squelch gain rollback

19. - E4E16

What current flows equally on all conductors of an unshielded multi-conductor cable?

Select	Answer
A	Reactive current only
B	Return current
C	Common-mode current
D	Differential-mode current

20. - E5A15

Which of the following can increase Q for inductors and capacitors?

Select	Answer
A	Lower self-resonant frequency
B	Higher self-resonant frequency
C	Lower reactance
D	Lower losses

21. - E5B04

What is the time constant of a circuit having two 220 microfarad capacitors and two 1 megohm resistors, all in parallel?

Select	Answer
A	440 seconds
B	110 seconds
C	55 seconds
D	220 seconds

22. - E5C12

If you plot the impedance of a circuit using the rectangular coordinate system and find the impedance point falls on the right side of the graph on the horizontal axis, what do you know about the circuit?

Select	Answer
A	It is equivalent to a pure resistance
B	It contains resistance and inductive reactance
C	It contains resistance and capacitive reactance
D	It has to be a direct current circuit

23. - E5D04

Why are short connections necessary at microwave frequencies?

Select	Answer
A	Because of ground reflections
B	To increase neutralizing resistance
C	To reduce noise figure
D	To reduce phase shift along the connection

24. - E6A17

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

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

25. - E6B06

Which of the following is a common use of a hot-carrier diode?

Select	Answer
A	As a variable capacitance in an automatic frequency control circuit
B	As balanced mixers in FM generation
C	As a VHF/UHF mixer or detector
D	As a constant voltage reference in a power supply

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	Programmable equipment used for testing digital logic integrated circuits
D	An algorithm for simulating logic functions during circuit design

27. - E6D05

What is one reason for using ferrite cores rather than powdered-iron in an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Ferrite toroids generally have better temperature stability
B	Ferrite toroids are easier to use with surface mount technology
C	Ferrite toroids generally have lower initial permeability
D	Ferrite toroids generally require fewer turns to produce a given inductance value

28. - E6E12

Why are high-power RF amplifier ICs and transistors sometimes mounted in ceramic packages?

Select	Answer
A	Better dissipation of heat
B	Enhanced sensitivity to light
C	High-voltage insulating ability
D	To provide a low-pass frequency response

29. - E6F05

Which describes an optical shaft encoder?

Select	Answer
A	A device for generating RTTY signals by means of a rotating light source
B	A digital encryption device often used to encrypt spacecraft control signals
C	A device which detects rotation of a control by interrupting a light source with a patterned wheel
D	A device which measures the strength of a beam of light using analog to digital conversion

30. - E7A11

What type of logic defines "1" as a high voltage?

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

31. - E7B11

In Figure E7-1, what is the purpose of R3?

Select	Answer
A	Output load resistor
B	Fixed bias
C	Emitter bypass
D	Self bias

32. - E7C02

Which of the following is a property of a T-network with series capacitors and a parallel shunt inductor?

Select	Answer
A	It is a high-pass filter
B	It is a band-pass filter
C	It is a low-pass filter
D	It is a notch filter

33. - E7D03

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

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

34. - E7E08

What are the principal frequencies that appear at the output of a mixer circuit?

Select	Answer
A	The sum, difference and square root of the input frequencies
B	1.414 and 0.707 times the input frequency
C	Two and four times the original frequency
D	The two input frequencies along with their sum and difference frequencies

35. - E7F15

Which of the following is an advantage of a Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter vs an Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) digital filter?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	FIR filters are easier to implement for a given set of passband rolloff requirements
C	FIR filters can respond faster to impulses
D	FIR filters delay all frequency components of the signal by the same amount

36. - E7G04

What is meant by the term op-amp input offset voltage?

Select	Answer
A	The difference between the output voltage of the op-amp and the input voltage required in the immediately following stage
B	The differential input voltage needed to bring the open loop output voltage to zero
C	The output voltage of the op-amp minus its input voltage
D	The potential between the amplifier input terminals of the op-amp in an open loop condition

37. - E7H07

How can an oscillator's microphonic responses be reduced?

Select	Answer
A	Mechanically isolating the oscillator circuitry from its enclosure
B	Use of NP0 capacitors
C	Eliminating noise on the oscillator's power supply
D	Using the oscillator only for CW and digital signals

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	256
C	8 multiplied by the gain of the input amplifier
D	8

39. - E8B07

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

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

40. - E8C07

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

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

41. - E8D06

Which of the following indicates likely overmodulation of an AFSK signal such as PSK or MFSK?

Select	Answer
A	Rapid signal fading
B	High reflected power
C	Harmonics on higher bands
D	Strong ALC action

42. - E9A15

What is the effective radiated power relative to a dipole of a repeater station with 150 watts transmitter power output, 2 dB feed line loss, 2.2 dB duplexer loss, and 7 dBd antenna gain?

Select	Answer
A	1977 watts
B	286 watts
C	420 watts
D	78.7 watts

43. - E9B16

How many elevation lobes appear in the forward direction of the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-2?

Select	Answer
A	7
B	1
C	4
D	3

44. - E9C08

What is a folded dipole antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A dipole configured to provide forward gain
B	A dipole one-quarter wavelength long
C	A dipole consisting of one wavelength of wire forming a very thin loop
D	A type of ground-plane antenna

45. - E9D04

Why should an HF mobile antenna loading coil have a high ratio of reactance to resistance?

Select	Answer
A	To minimize losses
B	To maximize losses
C	To swamp out harmonics
D	To minimize the Q

46. - E9E07

What term best describes the interactions at the load end of a mismatched transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	Reflection coefficient
B	Velocity factor
C	Dielectric constant
D	Characteristic impedance

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	0.2 meters
C	2.3 meters
D	20 meters

48. - E9G07

On the Smith chart shown in Figure E9-3, what is the only straight line shown?

Select	Answer
A	The reactance axis
B	The current axis
C	The voltage axis
D	The resistance axis

49. - E9H02

Which is generally true for low band (160 meter and 80 meter) receiving antennas?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	They must be erected at least 1/2 wavelength above the ground to attain good directivity
C	Low loss coax transmission line is essential for good performance
D	Atmospheric noise is so high that gain over a dipole is not important

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 E7-1

Figure E9-2

Figure E9-3