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

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

3. - E1C05

When may an automatically controlled station originate third party communications?

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

4. - E1D06

Which of the following is a requirement of a space station?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	The space station must be capable of terminating transmissions by telecommand when directed by the FCC
C	The space station must cease all transmissions after 5 years
D	The space station must be capable of changing its orbit whenever such a change is ordered by NASA

5. - E1E08

To which of the following examinees may a VE not administer an examination?

Select	Answer
A	Friends of the VE
B	All of these choices are correct
C	Relatives of the VE as listed in the FCC rules
D	Employees of the VE

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

7. - E2A12

What is one way to predict the location of a satellite at a given time?

Select	Answer
A	By means of the Doppler data for the specified satellite
B	By subtracting the mean anomaly from the orbital inclination
C	By adding the mean anomaly to the orbital inclination
D	By calculations using the Keplerian elements for the specified satellite

8. - E2B09

What hardware, other than a receiver with SSB capability and a suitable computer, is needed to decode SSTV using Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM)?

Select	Answer
A	A special IF converter
B	A special front end limiter
C	A special notch filter to remove synchronization pulses
D	No other hardware is needed

9. - E2C12

What might help to restore contact when DX signals become too weak to copy across an entire HF band a few hours after sunset?

Select	Answer
A	Wait 90 minutes or so for the signal degradation to pass
B	Wait 24 hours before attempting another communication on the band
C	Switch to a lower frequency HF band
D	Switch to a higher frequency HF band

10. - E2D03

Which of the following digital modes is especially useful for EME communications?

Select	Answer
A	FSK441
B	Olivia
C	PACTOR III
D	JT65

11. - E2E09

Which of the following HF digital modes uses variable-length coding for bandwidth efficiency?

Select	Answer
A	MT63
B	PSK31
C	PACTOR
D	RTTY

12. - E3A17

What is meant by circularly polarized electromagnetic waves?

Select	Answer
A	Waves produced by a loop antenna
B	Waves that circle the Earth
C	Waves with an electric field bent into a circular shape
D	Waves with a rotating electric field

13. - E3B03

What is the best time of day for transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Late at night
B	Morning
C	Afternoon or early evening
D	Noon

14. - E3C01

What does the term ray tracing describe in regard to radio communications?

Select	Answer
A	Determining the radiation pattern from an array of antennas
B	Evaluating high voltage sources for X-Rays
C	The process in which an electronic display presents a pattern
D	Modeling a radio wave's path through the ionosphere

15. - E4A05

What might be an advantage of a digital vs an analog oscilloscope?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	Manipulation of time base after trace capture
C	Storage of traces for future reference
D	Automatic amplitude and frequency numerical readout

16. - E4B14

What happens if a dip meter is too tightly coupled to a tuned circuit being checked?

Select	Answer
A	Harmonics are generated
B	Intermodulation distortion occurs
C	Cross modulation occurs
D	A less accurate reading results

17. - E4C06

A CW receiver with the AGC off has an equivalent input noise power density of -174 dBm/Hz. What would be the level of an unmodulated carrier input to this receiver that would yield an audio output SNR of 0 dB in a 400 Hz noise bandwidth?

Select	Answer
A	-174 dBm
B	-164 dBm
C	-148 dBm
D	-155 dBm

18. - E4D06

What is the term for unwanted signals generated by the mixing of two or more signals?

Select	Answer
A	Amplifier desensitization
B	Adjacent channel interference
C	Intermodulation interference
D	Neutralization

19. - E4E14

What is one type of electrical interference that might be caused by the operation of a nearby personal computer?

Select	Answer
A	The appearance of unstable modulated or unmodulated signals at specific frequencies
B	A whining type noise that continually pulses off and on
C	A clicking noise at intervals of a few seconds
D	A loud AC hum in the audio output of your station receiver

20. - E5A06

What is the magnitude of the circulating current within the components of a parallel LC circuit at resonance?

Select	Answer
A	It is at a minimum
B	It equals 2 multiplied by Pi, multiplied by frequency, multiplied by inductance
C	It is at a maximum
D	It equals 1 divided by the quantity 2 times Pi, multiplied by the square root of inductance L multiplied by capacitance C

21. - E5B04

What is the time constant of a circuit having two 220 microfarad capacitors and two 1 megohm resistors, all in parallel?

Select	Answer
A	55 seconds
B	110 seconds
C	220 seconds
D	440 seconds

22. - E5C05

What is the name of the diagram used to show the phase relationship between impedances at a given frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Venn diagram
B	Far field diagram
C	Phasor diagram
D	Near field diagram

23. - E5D10

How can the true power be determined in an AC circuit where the voltage and current are out of phase?

Select	Answer
A	By multiplying the reactive power times the power factor
B	By dividing the apparent power by the power factor
C	By multiplying the apparent power times the power factor
D	By dividing the reactive power by the power factor

24. - E6A10

In Figure E6-2, what is the schematic symbol for an N-channel dual-gate MOSFET?

Select	Answer
A	5
B	4
C	6
D	2

25. - E6B04

What type of semiconductor device is designed for use as a voltage-controlled capacitor?

Select	Answer
A	Zener diode
B	Tunnel diode
C	Silicon-controlled rectifier
D	Varactor diode

26. - E6C11

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

Select	Answer
A	4
B	6
C	5
D	2

27. - E6D07

What is the usable frequency range of inductors that use toroidal cores, assuming a correct selection of core material for the frequency being used?

Select	Answer
A	From approximately 10 Hz to no more than 3000 kHz
B	From less than 20 Hz to approximately 300 MHz
C	From about 100 kHz to at least 1000 GHz
D	From a few kHz to no more than 30 MHz

28. - E6E02

Which of the following device packages is a through-hole type?

Select	Answer
A	Ball grid array
B	SOT
C	DIP
D	PLCC

29. - E6F12

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

Select	Answer
A	Holes
B	Photons
C	Electrons
D	Protons

30. - E7A10

What is a truth table?

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

31. - E7B09

Which of the following describes how the loading and tuning capacitors are to be adjusted when tuning a vacuum tube RF power amplifier that employs a Pi-network output circuit?

Select	Answer
A	The loading capacitor is adjusted to minimum plate current while alternately adjusting the tuning capacitor for maximum allowable plate current
B	The tuning capacitor is adjusted for minimum plate current, and the loading capacitor is adjusted for maximum permissible plate current
C	The tuning capacitor is set to maximum capacitance and the loading capacitor is adjusted for minimum plate permissible current
D	The loading capacitor is set to maximum capacitance and the tuning capacitor is adjusted for minimum allowable plate current

32. - E7C09

What is a Jones filter as used as part of an HF receiver IF stage?

Select	Answer
A	A special filter that emphasizes image responses
B	A filter that removes impulse noise E7C10 (B) Which of the following filters would be the best choice for use in a 2 meter repeater duplexer? A. A crystal filter B. A cavity filter C. A DSP filter D. An L-C filter
C	An automatic notch filter
D	A variable bandwidth crystal lattice filter

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 a constant load for the voltage source
C	It provides negative feedback to improve regulation
D	It provides D1 with current

34. - E7E12

What is a frequency discriminator stage in a FM receiver?

Select	Answer
A	A circuit for detecting FM signals
B	An automatic band-switching circuit
C	An FM generator circuit
D	A circuit for filtering two closely adjacent signals

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 notches out the sampling frequency to avoid sampling errors
C	It removes low frequency signal components to eliminate the need for DC restoration
D	It removes high-frequency signal components which would otherwise be reproduced as lower frequency components

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 output voltage of the op-amp minus its input voltage
D	The difference between the output voltage of the op-amp and the input voltage required in the immediately following stage

37. - E7H02

Which describes a microphonic?

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

38. - E8A06

What is the approximate ratio of PEP-to-average power in a typical single-sideband phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	1 to 1
B	25 to 1
C	2.5 to 1
D	100 to 1

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	3
D	3000

40. - E8C02

What is the definition of symbol rate in a digital transmission?

Select	Answer
A	The duration of each bit in a message sent over the air
B	The number of control characters in a message packet
C	The number of characters carried per second by the station-to-station link
D	The rate at which the waveform of a transmitted signal changes to convey information

41. - E8D02

What spread spectrum communications technique uses a high speed binary bit stream to shift the phase of an RF carrier?

Select	Answer
A	Direct sequence
B	Frequency hopping
C	Phase compandored spread spectrum
D	Binary phase-shift keying

42. - E9A10

Which of the following choices is a way to improve the efficiency of a ground-mounted quarter-wave vertical antenna?

Select	Answer
A	Isolate the coax shield from ground
B	Reduce the diameter of the radiating element
C	Shorten the radiating element
D	Install a good radial system

43. - E9B08

How can the approximate beam-width in a given plane of a directional antenna be determined?

Select	Answer
A	Draw two imaginary lines through the ends of the elements and measure the angle between the lines
B	Note the two points where the signal strength of the antenna is 3 dB less than maximum and compute the angular difference
C	Measure the ratio of the signal strengths of the radiated power lobes from the front and rear of the antenna
D	Measure the ratio of the signal strengths of the radiated power lobes from the front and side of the antenna

44. - E9C01

What is the radiation pattern of two 1/4-wavelength vertical antennas spaced 1/2-wavelength apart and fed 180 degrees out of phase?

Select	Answer
A	A figure-8 oriented along the axis of the array
B	A figure-8 broadside to the axis of the array
C	Omni-directional
D	Cardioid

45. - E9D05

What is a disadvantage of using a multiband trapped antenna?

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

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. - E9F15

What impedance does a 1/2 wavelength transmission line present to a generator when the line is open at the far end?

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

48. - E9G03

Which of the following is often determined using a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Beam headings and radiation patterns
B	Trigonometric functions
C	Satellite azimuth and elevation bearings
D	Impedance and SWR values in transmission lines

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 small coil of wire tightly wound around a toroidal ferrite core
D	A large circularly polarized antenna

50. - E0A07

How may dangerous levels of carbon monoxide from an emergency generator be detected?

Select	Answer
A	Only with a carbon monoxide detector
B	By the yellowish appearance of the gas
C	Any ordinary smoke detector can be used
D	By the odor

Figure E6-2

Figure E6-5

Figure E7-3