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

2. - E1B01

Which of the following constitutes a spurious emission?

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

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	Messages intended for connection to users of the maritime satellite service
D	All of these choices are correct

4. - E1D07

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

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

5. - E1E04

Which of the following best describes the Volunteer Examiner accreditation process?

Select	Answer
A	The procedure by which a VEC confirms that the VE applicant meets FCC requirements to serve as an examiner
B	The amateur operator applying must pass a VE examination administered by the FCC Enforcement Bureau
C	Each General, Advanced and Amateur Extra Class operator is automatically accredited as a VE when the license is granted
D	The prospective VE obtains accreditation from the FCC

6. - E1F01

On what frequencies are spread spectrum transmissions permitted?

Select	Answer
A	Only on amateur frequencies above 420 MHz
B	Only on amateur frequencies above 144 MHz
C	Only on amateur frequencies above 50 MHz
D	Only on amateur frequencies above 222 MHz

7. - E2A05

What do the letters in a satellite's mode designator specify?

Select	Answer
A	The uplink and downlink frequency ranges
B	Power limits for uplink and downlink transmissions
C	The location of the ground control station
D	The polarization of uplink and downlink signals

8. - E2B04

What is blanking in a video signal?

Select	Answer
A	Synchronization of the horizontal and vertical sync pulses
B	Turning off the scanning beam while it is traveling from right to left or from bottom to top
C	Transmitting a black and white test pattern
D	Turning off the scanning beam at the conclusion of a transmission

9. - E2C04

What type of transmission is most often used for a ham radio mesh network?

Select	Answer
A	Store and forward on the 440 MHz band
B	Spread spectrum in the 2.4 GHz band
C	Multiple Frequency Shift Keying in the 10 GHz band
D	Frequency division multiplex in the 24 GHz band

10. - E2D14

What is one advantage of using JT65 coding?

Select	Answer
A	Easily copied by ear if necessary
B	Uses only a 65 Hz bandwidth
C	The ability to decode signals which have a very low signal to noise ratio
D	Permits fast-scan TV transmissions over narrow bandwidth

11. - E2E06

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

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

12. - E3A12

What is the cause of auroral activity?

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

13. - E3B10

What is the cause of gray-line propagation?

Select	Answer
A	At mid-afternoon, the Sun heats the ionosphere decreasing radio wave refraction and the MUF
B	At midday, the Sun super heats the ionosphere causing increased refraction of radio waves
C	In darkness, solar absorption drops greatly while atmospheric ionization remains steady
D	At twilight and sunrise, D-layer absorption is low while E-layer and F-layer propagation remains high

14. - E3C14

Why does the radio-path horizon distance exceed the geometric horizon?

Select	Answer
A	E-region skip
B	D-region skip
C	Downward bending due to density variations in the atmosphere
D	Downward bending due to aurora refraction

15. - E4A13

How is the compensation of an oscilloscope probe typically adjusted?

Select	Answer
A	A DC voltage standard is displayed and the probe is adjusted until the displayed voltage is accurate
B	A high frequency sine wave is displayed and the probe is adjusted for maximum amplitude
C	A square wave is displayed and the probe is adjusted until the horizontal portions of the displayed wave are as nearly flat as possible
D	A frequency standard is displayed and the probe is adjusted until the deflection time is accurate

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

17. - E4C10

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

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

18. - E4D09

What is the purpose of the preselector in a communications receiver?

Select	Answer
A	To store often-used frequencies
B	To allow selection of the optimum RF amplifier device
C	To increase rejection of unwanted signals
D	To provide a range of AGC time constants

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	Tying all ground connections to a common point resulting in differential mode currents in the shield
C	Common mode currents on the shield and conductors
D	Use of braided shielding material

20. - E5A12

What is the half-power bandwidth of a parallel resonant circuit that has a resonant frequency of 3.7 MHz and a Q of 118?

Select	Answer
A	31.4 kHz
B	218.3 kHz
C	436.6 kHz
D	15.7 kHz

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 time constant
D	One exponential period

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	Faraday grid
B	Maidenhead grid
C	Elliptical coordinates
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 dissipated as kinetic energy in the circuit
B	It is repeatedly exchanged between the associated magnetic and electric fields, but is not dissipated
C	It is dissipated as heat in the circuit
D	It is dissipated in the formation of inductive and capacitive fields

24. - E6A11

In Figure E6-2, what is the schematic symbol for a P-channel junction FET?

Select	Answer
A	3
B	1
C	6
D	2

25. - E6B02

What is an important characteristic of a Schottky diode as compared to an ordinary silicon diode when used as a power supply rectifier?

Select	Answer
A	Much higher reverse voltage breakdown
B	Controlled reverse avalanche voltage
C	Enhanced carrier retention time
D	Less forward voltage drop

26. - E6C01

What is the function of hysteresis in a comparator?

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

27. - E6D15

What is current in the primary winding of a transformer called if no load is attached to the secondary?

Select	Answer
A	Excitation current
B	Magnetizing current
C	Direct current
D	Stabilizing current

28. - E6E05

Which of the following noise figure values is typical of a low-noise UHF preamplifier?

Select	Answer
A	44 dBm
B	2 dB
C	-20 dBm
D	-10 dB

29. - E6F12

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

Select	Answer
A	Holes
B	Photons
C	Electrons
D	Protons

30. - E7A07

What logical operation does a NAND gate perform?

Select	Answer
A	It produces logic "0" at its output if some but not all inputs are logic "1"
B	It produces logic "1" at its output only when all inputs are logic "1"
C	It produces logic "0" at its output only when all inputs are logic "0"
D	It produces logic "0" at its output only when all inputs are logic "1"

31. - E7B02

What is a Class D amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	An amplifier that uses drift-mode FETs for high efficiency
B	A frequency doubling amplifier
C	A type of amplifier that uses switching technology to achieve high efficiency
D	A low power amplifier that uses a differential amplifier for improved linearity

32. - E7C15

What is a crystal lattice filter?

Select	Answer
A	A power supply filter made with interlaced quartz crystals
B	A filter with narrow bandwidth and steep skirts made using quartz crystals
C	An audio filter made with four quartz crystals that resonate at 1kHz intervals
D	A filter with wide bandwidth and shallow skirts made using quartz crystals

33. - E7D15

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

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

34. - E7E06

Why is de-emphasis commonly used in FM communications receivers?

Select	Answer
A	To reduce impulse noise reception
B	For higher efficiency
C	For compatibility with transmitters using phase modulation
D	To remove third-order distortion products

35. - E7F12

What digital process is applied to I and Q signals in order to recover the baseband modulation information?

Select	Answer
A	Quadrature mixing
B	Signal conditioning
C	Fast Fourier Transform
D	Decimation

36. - E7G04

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

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

37. - E7H04

How is positive feedback supplied in a Colpitts oscillator?

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

38. - E8A04

What is "dither" with respect to analog to digital converters?

Select	Answer
A	An error caused by irregular quantization step size
B	A small amount of noise added to the input signal to allow more precise representation of a signal over time
C	A method of decimation by randomly skipping samples
D	An abnormal condition where the converter cannot settle on a value to represent the signal

39. - E8B04

What is the modulation index of an FM-phone signal having a maximum carrier deviation of plus or minus 6 kHz when modulated with a 2 kHz modulating frequency?

Select	Answer
A	3
B	2000
C	1/3
D	6000

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. - E8D11

What is one advantage of using ASCII code for data communications?

Select	Answer
A	It uses one character as a shift code to send numeric and special characters
B	It includes built in error correction features
C	It is possible to transmit both upper and lower case text
D	It contains fewer information bits per character than any other code

42. - E9A11

Which of the following factors determines ground losses for a ground-mounted vertical antenna operating in the 3 MHz to 30 MHz range?

Select	Answer
A	Distance from the transmitter
B	Soil conductivity
C	Take-off angle
D	The standing wave ratio

43. - E9B12

What is the far field of an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	The region where radiated power dissipates over a specified time period
B	The region where radiated field strengths are obstructed by objects of reflection
C	The region of the ionosphere where radiated power is not refracted
D	The region where the shape of the antenna pattern is independent of distance

44. - E9C03

What is the radiation pattern of two 1/4 wavelength vertical antennas spaced a 1/2 wavelength apart and fed in phase?

Select	Answer
A	Cardioid
B	A Figure-8 end-fire along the axis of the array
C	A Figure-8 broadside to the axis of the array
D	Omni-directional

45. - E9D09

What is the function of a loading coil used as part of an HF mobile antenna?

Select	Answer
A	To lower the losses
B	To increase the SWR bandwidth
C	To lower the Q
D	To cancel capacitive reactance

46. - E9E11

What is an effective way of matching a feed line to a VHF or UHF antenna when the impedances of both the antenna and feed line are unknown?

Select	Answer
A	Connect a parallel-resonant LC network across the antenna feed terminals
B	Connect a series-resonant LC network across the antenna feed terminals
C	Use the universal stub matching technique
D	Use a 50 ohm 1:1 balun between the antenna and feed line

47. - E9F04

What is the typical velocity factor for a coaxial cable with solid polyethylene dielectric?

Select	Answer
A	2.70
B	0.66
C	0.30
D	0.10

48. - E9G05

What type of chart is shown in Figure E9-3?

Select	Answer
A	Smith chart
B	Azimuth angle radiation pattern chart
C	Free space radiation directivity chart
D	Elevation angle radiation pattern chart

49. - E9H09

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

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

50. - E0A01

What is the primary function of an external earth connection or ground rod?

Select	Answer
A	Lightning protection
B	Reduce RFI to telephones and home entertainment systems
C	Reduce received noise
D	Reduce RF current flow between pieces of equipment

Figure E6-2

Figure E9-3