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. - E1A02

When using a transceiver that displays the carrier frequency of phone signals, which of the following displayed frequencies represents the lowest frequency at which a properly adjusted LSB emission will be totally within the band?

Select	Answer
A	1 kHz above the lower band edge
B	3 kHz above the lower band edge
C	300 Hz above the lower band edge
D	The exact lower band edge

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

3. - E1C05

When may an automatically controlled station originate third party communications?

Select	Answer
A	Never
B	When agreed upon by the sending or receiving station
C	Only when transmitting RTTY or data emissions
D	When approved by the National Telecommunication and Information Administration

4. - E1D08

Which VHF amateur service bands have frequencies available for space stations?

Select	Answer
A	2 meters and 1.25 meters
B	2 meters
C	6 meters and 2 meters
D	6 meters, 2 meters, and 1.25 meters

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. - E1F06

Under what circumstances might the FCC issue a Special Temporary Authority (STA) to an amateur station?

Select	Answer
A	To provide for experimental amateur communications
B	To provide temporary operation while awaiting normal licensing
C	To allow regular operation on Land Mobile channels
D	To provide additional spectrum for personal use

7. - E2A13

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

Select	Answer
A	LEO
B	Geomagnetic
C	HEO
D	Geostationary

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	10 KHz
B	3 KHz
C	15 KHz
D	20 KHz

9. - E2C01

Which of the following is true about contest operating?

Select	Answer
A	It is mandatory to transmit the call sign of the station being worked as part of every transmission to that station
B	Every contest requires a signal report in the exchange
C	Operators are permitted to make contacts even if they do not submit a log
D	Interference to other amateurs is unavoidable and therefore acceptable

10. - E2D07

What digital protocol is used by APRS?

Select	Answer
A	PACTOR
B	802.11
C	AMTOR
D	AX.25

11. - E2E04

What is indicated when one of the ellipses in an FSK crossed-ellipse display suddenly disappears?

Select	Answer
A	Selective fading has occurred
B	The receiver has drifted 5 kHz from the desired receive frequency
C	One of the signal filters is saturated
D	The mark and space signal have been inverted

12. - E3A06

Which of the following is required for microwave propagation via rain scatter?

Select	Answer
A	The rain must be within radio range of both stations
B	Rain droplets must be within the E layer
C	Rain droplets must be electrically charged
D	All of these choices are correct

13. - E3B12

What is the primary characteristic of chordal hop propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Propagation away from the great circle bearing between stations
B	Successive ionospheric reflections without an intermediate reflection from the ground
C	Signals reflected back toward the transmitting station
D	Propagation across the geomagnetic equator

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	Modeling a radio wave's path through the ionosphere
C	Evaluating high voltage sources for X-Rays
D	Determining the radiation pattern from an array of antennas

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

16. - E4B01

Which of the following factors most affects the accuracy of a frequency counter?

Select	Answer
A	Input attenuator accuracy
B	Time base accuracy
C	Decade divider accuracy
D	Temperature coefficient of the logic

17. - E4C07

What does the MDS of a receiver represent?

Select	Answer
A	The maximum detectable spectrum
B	The multiplex distortion stability
C	The minimum discernible signal
D	The meter display sensitivity

18. - E4D11

Why are third-order intermodulation products created within a receiver of particular interest compared to other products?

Select	Answer
A	Third-order products are an indication of poor image rejection
B	The third-order intercept is much higher than other orders
C	Third-order intermodulation produces three products for every input signal within the band of interest
D	The third-order product of two signals which are in the band of interest is also likely to be within the band

19. - E4E05

How can noise from an electric motor be suppressed?

Select	Answer
A	By installing a bypass capacitor in series with the motor leads
B	By installing a brute-force AC-line filter in series with the motor leads
C	By using a ground-fault current interrupter in the circuit used to power the motor
D	By installing a high pass filter in series with the motor's power leads

20. - E5A04

What is the magnitude of the impedance of a circuit with a resistor, an inductor and a capacitor all in parallel, at resonance?

Select	Answer
A	Approximately equal to inductive reactance
B	Low, as compared to the circuit resistance
C	Approximately equal to circuit resistance
D	Approximately equal to capacitive reactance

21. - E5B07

What is the phase angle between the voltage across and the current through a series RLC circuit if XC is 500 ohms, R is 1 kilohm, and XL is 250 ohms?

Select	Answer
A	68.2 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
B	68.2 degrees with the voltage leading the current
C	14.0 degrees with the voltage leading the current
D	14.0 degrees with the voltage lagging the current

22. - E5C02

How are impedances described in polar coordinates?

Select	Answer
A	By phase angle and amplitude
B	By Y and G values
C	By X and R values
D	By real and imaginary parts

23. - E5D03

What is microstrip?

Select	Answer
A	Short lengths of coax mounted on printed circuit boards to minimize time delay between microwave circuits
B	Precision printed circuit conductors above a ground plane that provide constant impedance interconnects at microwave frequencies
C	Lightweight transmission line made of common zip cord
D	Miniature coax used for low power applications

24. - E6A16

What are the majority charge carriers in N-type semiconductor material?

Select	Answer
A	Free neutrons
B	Free electrons
C	Free protons
D	Holes

25. - E6B10

In Figure E6-3, what is the schematic symbol for a light-emitting diode?

Select	Answer
A	5
B	7
C	6
D	1

26. - E6C07

What best describes a pull-up or pull-down resistor?

Select	Answer
A	A resistor connected to the positive or negative supply line used to establish a voltage when an input or output is an open circuit
B	A resistor in a keying circuit used to reduce key clicks
C	A resistor connected to an op-amp output that only functions when the logic output is false
D	A resistor that insures that an oscillator frequency does not drive lower over time

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

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 frequency-determining unit for a transmitter or receiver
C	A display that uses a glowing liquid to remain brightly lit in dim light
D	A display utilizing a crystalline liquid and polarizing filters which becomes opaque when voltage is applied

30. - E7A02

What is the function of a decade counter digital IC?

Select	Answer
A	It decodes a decimal number for display on a seven segment LED display
B	It produces ten output pulses for every input pulse
C	It produces one output pulse for every ten input pulses
D	It adds two decimal numbers together

31. - E7B01

For what portion of a signal cycle does a Class AB amplifier operate?

Select	Answer
A	Less than 180 degrees
B	Exactly 180 degrees
C	The entire cycle
D	More than 180 degrees but less than 360 degrees

32. - E7C15

What is a crystal lattice filter?

Select	Answer
A	A filter with wide bandwidth and shallow skirts made using quartz crystals
B	An audio filter made with four quartz crystals that resonate at 1kHz intervals
C	A filter with narrow bandwidth and steep skirts made using quartz crystals
D	A power supply filter made with interlaced 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 allow for remote control of the power supply
C	To allow the filter capacitors to charge gradually
D	To compensate for variations of the incoming line voltage

34. - E7E06

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

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

35. - E7F06

What is the minimum number of bits required for an analog-to-digital converter to sample a signal with a range of 1 volt at a resolution of 1 millivolt?

Select	Answer
A	4 bits
B	6 bits
C	10 bits
D	8 bits

36. - E7G09

What will be the output voltage of the circuit shown in Figure E7-4 if R1 is 1000 ohms, RF is 10,000 ohms, and 0.23 volts DC is applied to the input?

Select	Answer
A	2.3 volts
B	-2.3 volts
C	0.23 volts
D	-0.23 volts

37. - E7H13

Which of the following is a technique for providing highly accurate and stable oscillators needed for microwave transmission and reception?

Select	Answer
A	Use a rubidium stabilized reference oscillator
B	Use a GPS signal reference
C	All of these choices are correct
D	Use a temperature-controlled high Q dielectric resonator

38. - E8A10

What is the purpose of a low pass filter used in conjunction with a digital-to-analog converter?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	Remove harmonics from the output caused by the discrete analog levels generated
C	Improve accuracy by removing out of sequence codes from the input
D	Lower the input bandwidth to increase the effective resolution

39. - E8B08

What describes Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing?

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

40. - E8C11

What is the relationship between symbol rate and baud?

Select	Answer
A	Symbol rate is only used for packet-based modes
B	Baud is only used for RTTY
C	Baud is twice the symbol rate
D	They are the same

41. - E8D08

What parameter might indicate that excessively high input levels are causing distortion in an AFSK signal?

Select	Answer
A	Baud rate
B	Signal to noise ratio
C	Intermodulation Distortion (IMD)
D	Repeat Request Rate (RRR)

42. - E9A12

How much gain does an antenna have compared to a 1/2-wavelength dipole when it has 6 dB gain over an isotropic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	2.79 dB
B	8.15 dB
C	3.85 dB
D	6.0 dB

43. - E9B14

What type of information can be obtained by submitting the details of a proposed new antenna to a modeling program?

Select	Answer
A	SWR vs frequency charts
B	Polar plots of the far field elevation and azimuth patterns
C	Antenna gain
D	All of these choices are correct

44. - E9C13

What is the main effect of placing a vertical antenna over an imperfect ground?

Select	Answer
A	It changes the impedance angle of the matching network
B	It causes increased SWR
C	It reduces losses in the radiating portion of the antenna
D	It reduces low-angle radiation

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

46. - E9E02

What is the name of an antenna matching system that matches an unbalanced feed line to an antenna by feeding the driven element both at the center of the element and at a fraction of a wavelength to one side of center?

Select	Answer
A	The delta match
B	The stub match
C	The epsilon match
D	The gamma match

47. - E9F13

What impedance does a 1/4 wavelength transmission line present to a generator when the line is shorted at the far end?

Select	Answer
A	Very high impedance
B	The same as the characteristic impedance of the transmission line
C	Very low impedance
D	The same as the generator output impedance

48. - E9G06

On the Smith chart shown in Figure E9-3, what is the name for the large outer circle on which the reactance arcs terminate?

Select	Answer
A	Polar axis
B	Impedance axis
C	Reactance axis
D	Prime axis

49. - E9H10

How can the output voltage of a multiple turn receiving loop antenna be increased?

Select	Answer
A	By winding adjacent turns in opposing directions
B	By reducing the permeability of the loop shield
C	By increasing the number of wire turns in the loop and reducing the area of the loop structure
D	By increasing either the number of wire turns in the loop or the area of the loop structure or both

50. - E0A06

Why are there separate electric (E) and magnetic (H) field MPE limits?

Select	Answer
A	The body reacts to electromagnetic radiation from both the E and H fields
B	All of these choices are correct
C	Ground reflections and scattering make the field impedance vary with location
D	E field and H field radiation intensity peaks can occur at different locations

Figure E6-3

Figure E7-4

Figure E9-3