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

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1. - E1A11

Which of the following describes authorization or licensing required when operating an amateur station aboard a U.S.-registered vessel in international waters?

Select	Answer
A	Any amateur license with an FCC Marine or Aircraft endorsement
B	An unrestricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit
C	Any FCC-issued amateur license
D	Only General class or higher amateur licenses

2. - E1B06

Which of the following additional rules apply if you are installing an amateur station antenna at a site at or near a public use airport?

Select	Answer
A	You may have to notify the Federal Aviation Administration and register it with the FCC as required by Part 17 of FCC rules
B	No special rules apply if your antenna structure will be less than 300 feet in height
C	You must obtain a construction permit from the airport zoning authority
D	You must file an Environmental Impact Statement with the EPA before construction begins

3. - E1C12

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

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

4. - E1D07

Which amateur service HF bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

Select	Answer
A	All HF bands
B	Only the 40 m, 30 m, 20 m, 15 m, 12 m and 10 m bands
C	Only the 40 m, 20 m, 17 m, 15 m, 12 m and 10 m bands
D	Only the 40 m, 20 m, 17 m, 15 m and 10 m bands

5. - E1E11

What must the VE team do if an examinee scores a passing grade on all examination elements needed for an upgrade or new license?

Select	Answer
A	Issue the examinee the new or upgrade license
B	Three VEs must certify that the examinee is qualified for the license grant and that they have complied with the administering VE requirements
C	All these choices are correct
D	Photocopy all examination documents and forward them to the FCC for processing

6. - E1F09

Which of the following conditions apply when transmitting spread spectrum emission?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	The transmitting station must be in an area regulated by the FCC or in a country that permits SS emissions
C	The transmission must not be used to obscure the meaning of any communication
D	A station transmitting SS emission must not cause harmful interference to other stations employing other authorized emissions

7. - E2A13

What type of satellite appears to stay in one position in the sky?

Select	Answer
A	Geomagnetic
B	HEO
C	LEO
D	Geostationary

8. - E2B01

How many times per second is a new frame transmitted in a fast-scan (NTSC) television system?

Select	Answer
A	60
B	30
C	120
D	90

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

10. - E2D11

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

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

11. - E2E06

What is the most common data rate used for HF packet?

Select	Answer
A	110 baud
B	300 baud
C	48 baud
D	1200 baud

12. - E3A12

What is the cause of auroral activity?

Select	Answer
A	The interaction in the E layer of charged particles from the Sun with the Earth's magnetic field
B	The interaction in the F2 layer between the solar wind and the Van Allen belt
C	A low sunspot level combined with tropospheric ducting
D	Meteor showers concentrated in the extreme northern and southern latitudes

13. - E3B13

Why is chordal hop propagation desirable?

Select	Answer
A	Signals travel faster along ionospheric chords
B	Atmospheric noise is lower in the direction of chordal hop propagation
C	The signal experiences less loss along the path compared to normal skip propagation
D	The MUF for chordal hop propagation is much lower than for normal skip propagation

14. - E3C08

What does the space weather term G5 mean?

Select	Answer
A	An extreme geomagnetic storm
B	Moderate solar wind
C	Very low solar activity
D	Waning sunspot numbers

15. - E4A08

Which of the following instrument would be best for measuring the SWR of a beam antenna?

Select	Answer
A	An antenna analyzer
B	An ohmmeter
C	A spectrum analyzer
D	A Q meter

16. - E4B08

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

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

17. - E4C01

What is an effect of excessive phase noise in the local oscillator section of a receiver?

Select	Answer
A	It can cause strong signals on nearby frequencies to interfere with reception of weak signals
B	It reduces receiver sensitivity
C	It decreases receiver third-order intermodulation distortion dynamic range
D	It limits the receiver's ability to receive strong signals

18. - E4D02

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

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

19. - E4E10

What is a common characteristic of interference caused by a touch controlled electrical device?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	The interfering signal sounds like AC hum on an AM receiver or a carrier modulated by 60 Hz hum on a SSB or CW receiver
C	The interfering signal can be several kHz in width and usually repeats at regular intervals across a HF band
D	The interfering signal may drift slowly across the HF spectrum

20. - E5A10

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

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

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	A time factor of one
C	One exponential period
D	One time constant

22. - E5C08

What coordinate system is often used to display the phase angle of a circuit containing resistance, inductive and/or capacitive reactance?

Select	Answer
A	Maidenhead grid
B	Elliptical coordinates
C	Faraday grid
D	Polar coordinates

23. - E5D09

What happens to reactive power in an AC circuit that has both ideal inductors and ideal capacitors?

Select	Answer
A	It is repeatedly exchanged between the associated magnetic and electric fields, but is not dissipated
B	It is dissipated in the formation of inductive and capacitive fields
C	It is dissipated as heat in the circuit
D	It is dissipated as kinetic energy in the circuit

24. - E6A08

What term indicates the frequency at which the grounded-base current gain of a transistor has decreased to 0.7 of the gain obtainable at 1 kHz?

Select	Answer
A	Beta cutoff frequency
B	Alpha cutoff frequency
C	Alpha rejection frequency
D	Corner frequency

25. - E6B11

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

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

26. - E6C01

What is the function of hysteresis in a comparator?

Select	Answer
A	To cause the output to change states continually
B	To allow the comparator to be used with AC input signal
C	To prevent input noise from causing unstable output signals
D	To increase the sensitivity

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	Clipper capacitor
B	Snubber capacitor
C	Feedback capacitor
D	Trimmer capacitor

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	MMICs require no operating bias
D	Directly to the bias voltage (VCC IN) lead

29. - E6F12

What absorbs the energy from light falling on a photovoltaic cell?

Select	Answer
A	Holes
B	Photons
C	Protons
D	Electrons

30. - E7A04

How many flip-flops are required to divide a signal frequency by 4?

Select	Answer
A	2
B	4
C	1
D	8

31. - E7B15

What is one way to prevent thermal runaway in a bipolar transistor amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	Neutralization
C	Select transistors with high beta
D	Use a resistor in series with the emitter

32. - E7C11

Which of the following is the common name for a filter network which is equivalent to two L-networks connected back-to-back with the two inductors in series and the capacitors in shunt at the input and output?

Select	Answer
A	Omega
B	Pi
C	Pi-L
D	Cascode

33. - E7D06

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

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

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	The two input frequencies along with their sum and difference frequencies
C	Two and four times the original frequency
D	1.414 and 0.707 times the input frequency

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	Mixing products are converted to voltages and subtracted by adder circuits
C	A frequency synthesizer removes the unwanted sidebands
D	Combine signals with a quadrature phase relationship

36. - E7G01

What is the typical output impedance of an integrated circuit op-amp?

Select	Answer
A	100 ohms
B	1000 ohms
C	Very low
D	Very high

37. - E7H06

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

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

38. - E8A07

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

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

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	3000
B	0.3
C	1000
D	3

40. - E8C08

How does ARQ accomplish error correction?

Select	Answer
A	If errors are detected, redundant data is substituted
B	Special polynomial codes provide automatic correction
C	If errors are detected, a retransmission is requested
D	Special binary codes provide automatic correction

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. - E9A16

What is the effective radiated power relative to a dipole of a repeater station with 200 watts transmitter power output, 4 dB feed line loss, 3.2 dB duplexer loss, 0.8 dB circulator loss, and 10 dBd antenna gain?

Select	Answer
A	300 watts
B	126 watts
C	2000 watts
D	317 watts

43. - E9B05

What type of antenna pattern over real ground is shown in Figure E9-2?

Select	Answer
A	Azimuth
B	Polarization
C	Radiation resistance
D	Elevation

44. - E9C10

Which of the following describes a Zepp antenna?

Select	Answer
A	An end fed dipole antenna
B	A vertical array capable of quickly changing the direction of maximum radiation by changing phasing lines
C	A dipole constructed from zip cord
D	An omni-directional antenna commonly used for satellite communications

45. - E9D10

What happens to feed point impedance at the base of a fixed length HF mobile antenna as the frequency of operation is lowered?

Select	Answer
A	The radiation resistance increases and the capacitive reactance decreases
B	The radiation resistance decreases and the capacitive reactance increases
C	The radiation resistance increases and the capacitive reactance increases
D	The radiation resistance decreases and the capacitive reactance decreases

46. - E9E04

What is the purpose of the series capacitor in a gamma-type antenna matching network?

Select	Answer
A	To provide DC isolation between the feed line and the antenna
B	To cancel the inductive reactance of the matching network
C	To transform the antenna impedance to a higher value
D	To provide a rejection notch that prevents the radiation of harmonics

47. - E9F03

Why is the physical length of a coaxial cable transmission line shorter than its electrical length?

Select	Answer
A	Skin effect is less pronounced in the coaxial cable
B	The surge impedance is higher in a parallel feed line
C	Electrical signals move more slowly in a coaxial cable than in air
D	The characteristic impedance is higher in a parallel feed line

48. - E9G01

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

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

49. - E9H06

What is the triangulation method of direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	A fixed receiving station uses three different antennas to plot the location of the signal source
B	A fixed receiving station plots three headings to the signal source
C	Antenna headings from several different receiving locations are used to locate the signal source
D	The geometric angles of sky waves from the source are used to determine its position

50. - E0A02

When evaluating RF exposure levels from your station at a neighbor's home, what must you do?

Select	Answer
A	Make sure signals from your station are less than the uncontrolled MPE limits
B	Advise your neighbors of the results of your tests
C	Make sure signals from your station are less than the controlled MPE limits
D	You need only evaluate exposure levels on your own property

Figure E7-3

Figure E9-2