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

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1. - E1A05

What is the maximum power output permitted on the 60 meter band?

Select	Answer
A	50 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to a dipole
B	100 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to an isotropic radiator
C	50 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to an isotropic radiator
D	100 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to the gain of a half-wave dipole

2. - E1B08

What limitations may the FCC place on an amateur station if its signal causes interference to domestic broadcast reception, assuming that the receivers involved are of good engineering design?

Select	Answer
A	The amateur station must cease operation
B	The amateur station must avoid transmitting during certain hours on frequencies that cause the interference
C	The amateur station must cease operation on all frequencies below 30 MHz
D	The amateur station must cease operation on all frequencies above 30 MHz

3. - E1C03

How do the control operator responsibilities of a station under automatic control differ from one under local control?

Select	Answer
A	Under local control there is no control operator
B	Under automatic control the control operator is not required to be present at the control point
C	Under automatic control there is no control operator
D	Under local control a control operator is not required to be present at a control point

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	Only those of Amateur Extra Class operators
C	Any amateur station, subject to the privileges of the class of operator license held by the control operator
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	5
B	4
C	2
D	3

6. - E1F03

Under what circumstances may a dealer sell an external RF power amplifier capable of operation below 144 MHz if it has not been granted FCC certification?

Select	Answer
A	The equipment dealer assembled it from a kit
B	It was imported from a manufacturer in a country that does not require certification of RF power amplifiers
C	It was purchased in used condition from an amateur operator and is sold to another amateur operator for use at that operator's station
D	It was imported from a manufacturer in another country and was certificated by that country's government

7. - E2A01

What is the direction of an ascending pass for an amateur satellite?

Select	Answer
A	From north to south
B	From east to west
C	From west to east
D	From south to north

8. - E2B10

Which of the following is an acceptable bandwidth for Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) based voice or SSTV digital transmissions made on the HF amateur bands?

Select	Answer
A	20 KHz
B	3 KHz
C	15 KHz
D	10 KHz

9. - E2C02

Which of the following best describes the term self-spotting in regards to HF contest operating?

Select	Answer
A	The generally prohibited practice of posting one's own call sign and frequency on a spotting network
B	An automatic method for rapidly zero beating or tuning to a station's frequency before calling that station
C	The acceptable practice of manually posting the call signs of stations on a spotting network
D	A manual technique for rapidly zero beating or tuning to a station's frequency before calling that station

10. - E2D06

Which of the following describes a method of establishing EME contacts?

Select	Answer
A	High speed CW identification to avoid fading
B	Storing and forwarding digital messages
C	Time synchronous transmissions alternately from each station
D	Judging optimum transmission times by monitoring beacons reflected from the Moon

11. - E2E01

Which type of modulation is common for data emissions below 30 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	Pulse modulation
B	DTMF tones modulating an FM signal
C	Spread spectrum
D	FSK

12. - E3A03

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

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

13. - E3B11

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

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

14. - E3C10

What does the 304A solar parameter measure?

Select	Answer
A	The solar emission at 304 GHz, correlated to X-Ray flare levels
B	UV emissions at 304 angstroms, correlated to solar flux index
C	The ratio of X-Ray flux to radio flux, correlated to sunspot number
D	The solar wind velocity at 304 degrees from the solar equator, correlated to solar activity

15. - E4A11

Which of the following is good practice when using an oscilloscope probe?

Select	Answer
A	Never use a high impedance probe to measure a low impedance circuit
B	All of these choices are correct
C	Keep the signal ground connection of the probe as short as possible
D	Never use a DC-coupled probe to measure an AC circuit

16. - E4B12

What is the significance of voltmeter sensitivity expressed in ohms per volt?

Select	Answer
A	The full scale reading of the voltmeter multiplied by its ohms per volt rating will indicate the input impedance of the voltmeter
B	When used as a galvanometer, the reading in volts multiplied by the ohms per volt rating will determine the power drawn by the device under test
C	When used as an ammeter, the full scale reading in amps divided by ohms per volt rating will determine the size of shunt needed
D	When used as an ohmmeter, the reading in ohms divided by the ohms per volt rating will determine the voltage applied to the circuit

17. - E4C10

Which of the following is a desirable amount of selectivity for an amateur RTTY HF receiver?

Select	Answer
A	2400 Hz
B	6000 Hz
C	100 Hz
D	300 Hz

18. - E4D07

Which describes the most significant effect of an off-frequency signal when it is causing cross-modulation interference to a desired signal?

Select	Answer
A	The off-frequency unwanted signal is heard in addition to the desired signal
B	The desired signal can no longer be heard
C	A large increase in background noise
D	A reduction in apparent signal strength

19. - E4E15

Which of the following can cause shielded cables to radiate or receive interference?

Select	Answer
A	Low inductance ground connections at both ends of the shield
B	Common mode currents on the shield and conductors
C	Use of braided shielding material
D	Tying all ground connections to a common point resulting in differential mode currents in the shield

20. - E5A02

What is resonance in an electrical circuit?

Select	Answer
A	The frequency at which the capacitive reactance equals the inductive reactance
B	The frequency at which the reactive impedance equals the resistive impedance
C	The lowest frequency that will pass current
D	The highest frequency that will pass current

21. - E5B08

What is the phase angle between the voltage across and the current through a series RLC circuit if XC is 100 ohms, R is 100 ohms, and XL is 75 ohms?

Select	Answer
A	14 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
B	14 degrees with the voltage leading the current
C	76 degrees with the voltage leading the current
D	76 degrees with the voltage lagging the current

22. - E5C17

Which point on Figure E5-2 best represents the impedance of a series circuit consisting of a 300 ohm resistor, a 0.64-microhenry inductor and an 85-picofarad capacitor at 24.900 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	Point 5
B	Point 8
C	Point 3
D	Point 1

23. - E5D17

How many watts are consumed in a circuit having a power factor of 0.6 if the input is 200VAC at 5 amperes?

Select	Answer
A	200 watts
B	600 watts
C	1000 watts
D	1600 watts

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	Insulator impurity
C	N-type impurity
D	Donor impurity

25. - E6B06

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

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

26. - E6C14

What is the primary advantage of using a Programmable Gate Array (PGA) in a logic circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Complex logic functions can be created in a single integrated circuit
B	Many similar gates are less expensive than a mixture of gate types
C	All of these choices are correct
D	A PGA contains its own internal power supply

27. - E6D01

How many turns will be required to produce a 5-microhenry inductor using a powdered-iron toroidal core that has an inductance index (A L) value of 40 microhenrys/100 turns?

Select	Answer
A	141 turns
B	13 turns
C	35 turns
D	79 turns

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

29. - E6F07

What is a solid state relay?

Select	Answer
A	A relay using transistors to drive the relay coil
B	A mechanical relay that latches in the on or off state each time it is pulsed
C	A passive delay line
D	A device that uses semiconductors to implement the functions of an electromechanical relay

30. - E7A08

What logical operation does an OR gate perform?

Select	Answer
A	It produces logic "1" at its output if all inputs are logic "0"
B	It produces logic "1" at its output if any or all inputs are logic "1"
C	It only produces logic "0" at its output when all inputs are logic "1"
D	It produces logic "0" at its output if all inputs are logic "1"

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 maintain the sidebands, thus causing multiple duplicate signals
D	Because they invert the sidebands causing distortion

32. - E7C03

What advantage does a Pi-L-network have over a regular Pi-network for impedance matching between the final amplifier of a vacuum-tube transmitter and an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	Higher efficiency
B	Greater transformation range
C	Greater harmonic suppression
D	Lower losses

33. - E7D06

What is the purpose of Q1 in the circuit shown in Figure E7-3?

Select	Answer
A	It increases the current-handling capability of the regulator
B	It provides negative feedback to improve regulation
C	It provides D1 with current
D	It provides a constant load for the voltage source

34. - E7E10

How does a diode detector function?

Select	Answer
A	By rectification and filtering of RF signals
B	By sensing the change of reactance in the diode with respect to frequency
C	By breakdown of the Zener voltage
D	By mixing signals with noise in the transition region of the diode

35. - E7F08

What is the function of decimation with regard to digital filters?

Select	Answer
A	Reducing the effective sample rate by removing samples
B	Attenuating the signal
C	Converting data to binary code decimal form
D	Removing unnecessary significant digits

36. - E7G08

How does the gain of an ideal operational amplifier vary with frequency?

Select	Answer
A	It decreases linearly with increasing frequency
B	It decreases logarithmically with increasing frequency
C	It does not vary with frequency
D	It increases linearly with increasing frequency

37. - E7H06

Which of the following oscillator circuits are commonly used in VFOs?

Select	Answer
A	Colpitts and Hartley
B	Armstrong and deForest
C	Negative feedback and balanced feedback
D	Pierce and Zener

38. - E8A07

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

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

39. - E8B08

What describes Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	A bandwidth compression technique using Fourier transforms
B	A frequency modulation technique which uses non-harmonically related frequencies
C	A digital modulation technique using subcarriers at frequencies chosen to avoid intersymbol interference
D	A digital mode for narrow band, slow speed transmissions

40. - E8C03

When performing phase shift keying, why is it advantageous to shift phase precisely at the zero crossing of the RF carrier?

Select	Answer
A	It improves carrier suppression
B	All of these choices are correct
C	This results in the least possible transmitted bandwidth for the particular mode
D	It is easier to demodulate with a conventional, non-synchronous detector

41. - E8D09

What is considered a good minimum IMD level for an idling PSK signal?

Select	Answer
A	+10 dB
B	+15 dB
C	-30 dB
D	-20 dB

42. - E9A14

What is meant by the radiation resistance of an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	The resistance in the atmosphere that an antenna must overcome to be able to radiate a signal
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 combined losses of the antenna elements and feed line

43. - E9B11

What is a disadvantage of decreasing the number of wire segments in an antenna model below the guideline of 10 segments per half-wavelength?

Select	Answer
A	The antenna will become mechanically unstable
B	The resulting design will favor radiation of harmonic energy
C	The computed feed point impedance may be incorrect
D	Ground conductivity will not be accurately modeled

44. - E9C15

How does the radiation pattern of a horizontally polarized 3-element beam antenna vary with its height above ground?

Select	Answer
A	The horizontal beam width increases with height
B	The main lobe takeoff angle increases with increasing height
C	The horizontal beam width decreases with height
D	The main lobe takeoff angle decreases with increasing height

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 resistive wire, such as spark plug wire
B	A single 12 gauge or 10 gauge stainless steel wire
C	A wide flat copper strap
D	A cable with six or seven 18 gauge conductors in parallel

46. - E9E12

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

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

47. - E9F10

What impedance does a 1/8 wavelength transmission line present to a generator when the line is shorted at the far end?

Select	Answer
A	An inductive reactance
B	The same as the characteristic impedance of the line
C	The same as the input impedance to the final generator stage
D	A capacitive reactance

48. - E9G04

What are the two families of circles and arcs that make up a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Voltage and impedance
B	Resistance and voltage
C	Resistance and reactance
D	Reactance and voltage

49. - E9H09

Which of the following describes the construction of a receiving loop antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A small coil of wire tightly wound around a toroidal ferrite core
B	One or more turns of wire wound in the shape of a large open coil
C	A vertical antenna coupled to a feed line through an inductive loop of wire
D	A large circularly polarized antenna

50. - E0A08

What does SAR measure?

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

Figure E5-2

Figure E7-3