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

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1. - E1A03

With your transceiver displaying the carrier frequency of phone signals, you hear a station calling CQ on 14.349 MHz USB. Is it legal to return the call using upper sideband on the same frequency?

Select	Answer
A	No, the sideband will extend beyond the band edge
B	Yes, because you were not the station calling CQ
C	No, U.S. stations are not permitted to use phone emissions above 14.340 MHz
D	Yes, because the displayed frequency is within the 20 meter band

2. - E1B01

Which of the following constitutes a spurious emission?

Select	Answer
A	A signal transmitted to prevent its detection by any station other than the intended recipient
B	Any transmitted signal that unintentionally interferes with another licensed radio station
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. - E1C10

What types of amateur stations may automatically retransmit the radio signals of other amateur stations?

Select	Answer
A	Only auxiliary, repeater or space stations
B	Only earth stations, repeater stations or model craft
C	Only auxiliary, beacon or space stations
D	Only beacon, repeater or space stations

4. - E1D04

What is an Earth station in the amateur satellite service?

Select	Answer
A	An amateur station that is not able to communicate using amateur satellites
B	An amateur station within 50 km of the Earth's surface intended for communications with amateur stations by means of objects in space
C	Any amateur station on the surface of the Earth
D	An amateur station that transmits telemetry consisting of measurement of upper atmosphere

5. - E1E03

What is a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator?

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

6. - E1F11

Which of the following best describes one of the standards that must be met by an external RF power amplifier if it is to qualify for a grant of FCC certification?

Select	Answer
A	It must be capable of external RF switching between its input and output networks
B	It must produce full legal output when driven by not more than 5 watts of mean RF input power
C	It must satisfy the FCC's spurious emission standards when operated at the lesser of 1500 watts or its full output power
D	It must exhibit a gain of 0 dB or less over its full output range

7. - E2A04

What is meant by the term mode as applied to an amateur radio satellite?

Select	Answer
A	The type of signals that can be relayed through the satellite
B	The satellite's orientation with respect to the Earth
C	The satellite's uplink and downlink frequency bands
D	Whether the satellite is in a polar or equatorial orbit

8. - E2B07

What is the name of the signal component that carries color information in NTSC video?

Select	Answer
A	Luminance
B	Chroma
C	Hue
D	Spectral Intensity

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

10. - E2D01

Which of the following digital modes is especially designed for use for meteor scatter signals?

Select	Answer
A	FSK441
B	Hellschreiber
C	WSPR
D	APRS

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. - E3A15

What is an electromagnetic wave?

Select	Answer
A	A wave consisting of two magnetic fields at right angles to each other
B	A wave of alternating current, in the core of an electromagnet
C	A wave consisting of two electric fields at parallel right angles to each other
D	A wave consisting of an electric field and a magnetic field oscillating at right angles to each other

13. - E3B11

At what time of day is Sporadic-E propagation most likely to occur?

Select	Answer
A	Any time
B	Around sunrise
C	Around sunset
D	Early evening

14. - E3C09

How does the intensity of an X3 flare compare to that of an X2 flare?

Select	Answer
A	50 percent greater
B	Twice as great
C	Four times as great
D	10 percent greater

15. - E4A07

Which of the following is an advantage of using an antenna analyzer compared to an SWR bridge to measure antenna SWR?

Select	Answer
A	Antenna analyzers automatically tune your antenna for resonance
B	All of these choices are correct
C	Antenna analyzers display a time-varying representation of the modulation envelope
D	Antenna analyzers do not need an external RF source

16. - E4B05

If a frequency counter with a specified accuracy of +/- 10 ppm reads 146,520,000 Hz, what is the most the actual frequency being measured could differ from the reading?

Select	Answer
A	1465.20 Hz
B	146.52 kHz
C	146.52 Hz
D	10 Hz

17. - E4C03

What is the term for the blocking of one FM phone signal by another, stronger FM phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	Capture effect
B	Desensitization
C	Frequency discrimination
D	Cross-modulation interference

18. - E4D13

Which of the following can cause receiver desensitization?

Select	Answer
A	Audio bias adjusted too high
B	Squelch gain misadjusted
C	Audio gain adjusted too low
D	Strong adjacent channel signals

19. - E4E12

What is one disadvantage of using some types of automatic DSP notch-filters when attempting to copy CW signals?

Select	Answer
A	A DSP filter can remove the desired signal at the same time as it removes interfering signals
B	Any nearby signal passing through the DSP system will overwhelm the desired signal
C	Ringing in the DSP filter will completely remove the spaces between the CW characters
D	Received CW signals will appear to be modulated at the DSP clock frequency

20. - E5A01

What can cause the voltage across reactances in series to be larger than the voltage applied to them?

Select	Answer
A	Conductance
B	Resonance
C	Resistance
D	Capacitance

21. - E5B03

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

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

22. - E5C15

Which point in Figure E5-2 best represents the impedance of a series circuit consisting of a 300 ohm resistor and an 18 microhenry inductor at 3.505 MHz?

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

23. - E5D05

Which parasitic characteristic increases with conductor length?

Select	Answer
A	Malleability
B	Permittivity
C	Inductance
D	Permeability

24. - E6A04

What is the name given to an impurity atom that adds holes to a semiconductor crystal structure?

Select	Answer
A	Acceptor impurity
B	N-type impurity
C	Insulator impurity
D	Donor impurity

25. - E6B09

What is a common use for point contact diodes?

Select	Answer
A	As a high voltage rectifier
B	As an RF detector
C	As a constant voltage source
D	As a constant current source

26. - E6C11

In Figure E6-5, what is the schematic symbol for the NOT operation (inverter)?

Select	Answer
A	5
B	2
C	6
D	4

27. - E6D16

What is the common name for a capacitor connected across a transformer secondary that is used to absorb transient voltage spikes?

Select	Answer
A	Snubber capacitor
B	Trimmer capacitor
C	Clipper capacitor
D	Feedback capacitor

28. - E6E12

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

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

29. - E6F13

What is a liquid crystal display (LCD)?

Select	Answer
A	A modern replacement for a quartz crystal oscillator which displays its fundamental frequency
B	A display that uses a glowing liquid to remain brightly lit in dim light
C	A frequency-determining unit for a transmitter or receiver
D	A display utilizing a crystalline liquid and polarizing filters which becomes opaque when voltage is applied

30. - E7A10

What is a truth table?

Select	Answer
A	A table of logic symbols that indicate the logic states of an op-amp
B	A list of inputs and corresponding outputs for a digital device
C	A diagram showing logic states when the digital device output is true
D	A table of logic symbols that indicate the high logic states of an op-amp

31. - E7B18

What is a characteristic of a grounded-grid amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	Low bandwidth
B	High power gain
C	Low input impedance
D	High filament voltage

32. - E7C14

Which mode is most affected by non-linear phase response in a receiver IF filter?

Select	Answer
A	Single-Sideband voice
B	Digital
C	Meteor scatter
D	Video

33. - E7D16

When several electrolytic filter capacitors are connected in series to increase the operating voltage of a power supply filter circuit, why should resistors be connected across each capacitor?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	To provide a safety bleeder to discharge the capacitors when the supply is off
C	To equalize, as much as possible, the voltage drop across each capacitor
D	To provide a minimum load current to reduce voltage excursions at light loads

34. - E7E04

What is one way a single-sideband phone signal can be generated?

Select	Answer
A	By using a reactance modulator followed by a mixer
B	By driving a product detector with a DSB signal
C	By using a balanced modulator followed by a filter
D	By using a loop modulator followed by a mixer

35. - E7F09

Why is an anti-aliasing digital filter required in a digital decimator?

Select	Answer
A	It peaks the response of the decimator, improving bandwidth
B	It removes high-frequency signal components which would otherwise be reproduced as lower frequency components
C	It notches out the sampling frequency to avoid sampling errors
D	It removes low frequency signal components to eliminate the need for DC restoration

36. - E7G11

What absolute voltage gain can be expected from the circuit in Figure E7-4 when R1 is 3300 ohms and RF is 47 kilohms?

Select	Answer
A	0.07
B	14
C	28
D	7

37. - E7H02

Which describes a microphonic?

Select	Answer
A	Changes in oscillator frequency due to mechanical vibration
B	Excess loading of the microphone by an oscillator
C	Distortion caused by RF pickup on the microphone cable
D	An IC used for amplifying microphone signals

38. - E8A12

What is an advantage of using digital signals instead of analog signals to convey the same information?

Select	Answer
A	Digital signals always occupy a narrower bandwidth
B	Less complex circuitry is required for digital signal generation and detection
C	All of these choices are correct
D	Digital signals can be regenerated multiple times without error

39. - E8B03

What is the modulation index of an FM-phone signal having a maximum frequency deviation of 3000 Hz either side of the carrier frequency when the modulating frequency is 1000 Hz?

Select	Answer
A	1000
B	0.3
C	3000
D	3

40. - E8C05

What is the necessary bandwidth of a 13-WPM international Morse code transmission?

Select	Answer
A	Approximately 104 Hz
B	Approximately 52 Hz
C	Approximately 26 Hz
D	Approximately 13 Hz

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	Harmonics on higher bands
C	High reflected power
D	Strong ALC action

42. - E9A14

What is meant by the radiation resistance of an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	The combined losses of the antenna elements and feed line
B	The value of a resistance that would dissipate the same amount of power as that radiated from an antenna
C	The specific impedance of the antenna
D	The resistance in the atmosphere that an antenna must overcome to be able to radiate a signal

43. - E9B07

How does the total amount of radiation emitted by a directional gain antenna compare with the total amount of radiation emitted from an isotropic antenna, assuming each is driven by the same amount of power?

Select	Answer
A	The total amount of radiation from the directional antenna is increased by the gain of the antenna
B	The radiation from the isotropic antenna is 2.15 dB stronger than that from the directional antenna
C	The total amount of radiation from the directional antenna is stronger by its front-to-back ratio
D	They are the same

44. - E9C12

Which of the following describes an extended double Zepp antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A wideband vertical antenna constructed from precisely tapered aluminum tubing
B	A portable antenna erected using two push support poles
C	An end fed folded dipole antenna
D	A center fed 1.25 wavelength antenna (two 5/8 wave elements in phase)

45. - E9D05

What is a disadvantage of using a multiband trapped antenna?

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

46. - E9E08

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

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

47. - E9F16

Which of the following is a significant difference between foam dielectric coaxial cable and solid dielectric cable, assuming all other parameters are the same?

Select	Answer
A	Foam dielectric has lower safe operating voltage limits
B	Foam dielectric has higher velocity factor
C	Foam dielectric has lower loss per unit of length
D	All of these choices are correct

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 resistance axis
C	The voltage axis
D	The current 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. - E0A10

What toxic material may be present in some electronic components such as high voltage capacitors and transformers?

Select	Answer
A	Polymorphic silicon
B	Polyethylene
C	Polytetrafluroethylene
D	Polychlorinated Biphenyls

Figure E5-2

Figure E6-5

Figure E7-4

Figure E9-3