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. - E1A14

What is the maximum bandwidth for a data emission on 60 meters?

Select	Answer
A	1.5 kHz
B	170 Hz
C	60 Hz
D	2.8 kHz

2. - E1B10

What frequencies are authorized to an amateur station operating under RACES rules?

Select	Answer
A	All amateur service frequencies authorized to the control operator
B	Specific segments in the amateur service MF, HF, VHF and UHF bands
C	Specific local government channels
D	Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) channels

3. - E1C10

What types of amateur stations may automatically retransmit the radio signals of other amateur stations?

Select	Answer
A	Only auxiliary, repeater or space stations
B	Only auxiliary, beacon or space stations
C	Only earth stations, repeater stations or model craft
D	Only beacon, repeater or space stations

4. - E1D11

Which amateur stations are eligible to operate as Earth stations?

Select	Answer
A	Only those of Amateur Extra Class operators
B	Only those of General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators
C	Any amateur station, subject to the privileges of the class of operator license held by the control operator
D	Any amateur station whose licensee has filed a pre-space notification with the FCC's International Bureau

5. - E1E14

For which types of out-of-pocket expenses do the Part 97 rules state that VEs and VECs may be reimbursed?

Select	Answer
A	Teaching an amateur operator license examination preparation course
B	Preparing, processing, administering and coordinating an examination for an amateur radio license
C	Providing amateur operator license examination preparation training materials
D	No expenses are authorized for reimbursement

6. - E1F06

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

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

7. - E2A12

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

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

8. - E2B12

How are analog SSTV images typically transmitted on the HF bands?

Select	Answer
A	Varying tone frequencies representing the video are transmitted using single sideband
B	Video is converted to equivalent ASCII representation
C	Video is converted to equivalent Baudot representation
D	Varying tone frequencies representing the video are transmitted using PSK

9. - E2C05

What is the function of a DX QSL Manager?

Select	Answer
A	To handle the receiving and sending of confirmation cards for a DX station
B	To relay calls to and from a DX station
C	To allocate frequencies for DXpeditions
D	To run a net to allow many stations to contact a rare DX station

10. - E2D10

How can an APRS station be used to help support a public service communications activity?

Select	Answer
A	APRS stations with General Personnel Scanners can automatically relay the participant numbers and time as they pass the check points
B	An APRS station with an emergency medical technician can automatically transmit medical data to the nearest hospital
C	All of these choices are correct
D	An APRS station with a GPS unit can automatically transmit information to show a mobile station's position during the event

11. - E2E03

How is the timing of JT65 contacts organized?

Select	Answer
A	Stations take turns on alternate days
B	It depends on the lunar phase
C	Alternating transmissions at 1 minute intervals
D	By exchanging ACK/NAK packets

12. - E3A15

What is an electromagnetic wave?

Select	Answer
A	A wave consisting of two magnetic fields at right angles to each other
B	A wave consisting of two electric fields at parallel right angles to each other
C	A wave of alternating current, in the core of an electromagnet
D	A wave consisting of an electric field and a magnetic field oscillating at right angles to each other

13. - E3B01

What is transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Propagation between two continents by way of ducts along the magnetic equator
B	Propagation between two mid-latitude points at approximately the same distance north and south of the magnetic equator
C	Propagation between two stations at the same latitude
D	Propagation between any two points located on the magnetic equator

14. - E3C02

What is indicated by a rising A or K index?

Select	Answer
A	An increase in the critical frequency
B	Decreasing disruption of the geomagnetic field
C	Higher levels of solar UV radiation
D	Increasing disruption of the geomagnetic field

15. - E4A04

What determines the upper frequency limit for a computer soundcard-based oscilloscope program?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	Analog-to-digital conversion speed of the soundcard
C	Q of the interface of the interface circuit
D	Amount of memory on the soundcard

16. - E4B04

If a frequency counter with a specified accuracy of +/- 0.1 ppm reads 146,520,000 Hz, what is the most the actual frequency being measured could differ from the reading?

Select	Answer
A	0.1 MHz
B	1.4652 kHz
C	1.4652 Hz
D	14.652 Hz

17. - E4C04

How is the noise figure of a receiver defined?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of thermal noise to atmospheric noise
B	The ratio of the noise bandwidth in Hertz to the theoretical bandwidth of a resistive network
C	The ratio in dB of the noise generated by the receiver to the theoretical minimum noise
D	The ratio of atmospheric noise to phase noise

18. - E4D11

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

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

19. - E4E02

Which of the following types of receiver noise can often be reduced with a DSP noise filter?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	Broadband white noise
C	Ignition noise
D	Power line noise

20. - E5A17

What is the result of increasing the Q of an impedance-matching circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Matching bandwidth is decreased
B	Matching bandwidth is increased
C	Matching range is increased
D	It has no effect on impedance matching

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	A time factor of one
B	One exponential period
C	One time constant
D	An exponential rate of one

22. - E5C06

What does the impedance 50-j25 represent?

Select	Answer
A	25 ohms resistance in series with 50 ohms inductive reactance
B	50 ohms resistance in series with 25 ohms inductive reactance
C	25 ohms resistance in series with 50 ohms capacitive reactance
D	50 ohms resistance in series with 25 ohms capacitive reactance

23. - E5D07

What determines the strength of the magnetic field around a conductor?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of the current to the resistance
B	The resistance divided by the current
C	The amount of current flowing through the conductor
D	The diameter of the conductor

24. - E6A12

Why do many MOSFET devices have internally connected Zener diodes on the gates?

Select	Answer
A	To reduce the chance of the gate insulation being punctured by static discharges or excessive voltages
B	To keep the gate voltage within specifications and prevent the device from overheating
C	To protect the substrate from excessive voltages
D	To provide a voltage reference for the correct amount of reverse-bias gate voltage

25. - E6B12

What is one common use for PIN diodes?

Select	Answer
A	As a high voltage rectifier
B	As an RF switch
C	As a constant voltage source
D	As a constant current source

26. - E6C02

What happens when the level of a comparator's input signal crosses the threshold?

Select	Answer
A	The comparator enters latch-up
B	The feedback loop becomes unstable
C	The comparator changes its output state
D	The IC input can be damaged

27. - E6D17

Why should core saturation of a conventional impedance matching transformer be avoided?

Select	Answer
A	Harmonics and distortion could result
B	RF susceptance would increase
C	Temporary changes of the core permeability could result
D	Magnetic flux would increase with frequency

28. - E6E06

What characteristics of the MMIC make it a popular choice for VHF through microwave circuits?

Select	Answer
A	Plate current that is controlled by a control grid
B	Nearly infinite gain, very high input impedance, and very low output impedance
C	The ability to retrieve information from a single signal even in the presence of other strong signals
D	Controlled gain, low noise figure, and constant input and output impedance over the specified frequency range

29. - E6F05

Which describes an optical shaft encoder?

Select	Answer
A	A device which measures the strength of a beam of light using analog to digital conversion
B	A digital encryption device often used to encrypt spacecraft control signals
C	A device for generating RTTY signals by means of a rotating light source
D	A device which detects rotation of a control by interrupting a light source with a patterned wheel

30. - E7A06

What is a characteristic of a monostable multivibrator?

Select	Answer
A	It stores one bit of data in either a 0 or 1 state
B	It switches momentarily to the opposite binary state and then returns to its original state after a set time
C	It produces a continuous square wave oscillating between 1 and 0
D	It maintains a constant output voltage, regardless of variations in the input voltage

31. - E7B04

Where on the load line of a Class A common emitter amplifier would bias normally be set?

Select	Answer
A	Approximately half-way between saturation and cutoff
B	Where the load line intersects the voltage axis
C	At a point where the load line intersects the zero bias current curve
D	At a point where the bias resistor equals the load resistor

32. - E7C14

Which mode is most affected by non-linear phase response in a receiver IF filter?

Select	Answer
A	Single-Sideband voice
B	Meteor scatter
C	Digital
D	Video

33. - E7D07

What is the purpose of C2 in the circuit shown in Figure E7-3?

Select	Answer
A	To self-resonate at the hum frequency
B	It is a brute force filter for the output
C	To provide fixed DC bias for Q1
D	It bypasses hum around D1

34. - E7E12

What is a frequency discriminator stage in a FM receiver?

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

35. - E7F15

Which of the following is an advantage of a Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter vs an Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) digital filter?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	FIR filters delay all frequency components of the signal by the same amount
C	FIR filters can respond faster to impulses
D	FIR filters are easier to implement for a given set of passband rolloff requirements

36. - E7G01

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

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

37. - E7H02

Which describes a microphonic?

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

38. - E8A05

What would be the most accurate way of measuring the RMS voltage of a complex waveform?

Select	Answer
A	By using a grid dip meter
B	By measuring the heating effect in a known resistor
C	By using an absorption wave meter
D	By measuring the voltage with a D'Arsonval meter

39. - E8B07

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing is a technique used for which type of amateur communication?

Select	Answer
A	EME
B	High speed digital modes
C	Extremely low-power contacts
D	OFDM signals are not allowed on amateur bands

40. - E8C08

How does ARQ accomplish error correction?

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

41. - E8D03

How does the spread spectrum technique of frequency hopping work?

Select	Answer
A	A pseudo-random binary bit stream is used to shift the phase of an RF carrier very rapidly in a particular sequence
B	If interference is detected by the receiver it will signal the transmitter to wait until the frequency is clear
C	If interference is detected by the receiver it will signal the transmitter to change frequencies
D	The frequency of the transmitted signal is changed very rapidly according to a particular sequence also used by the receiving station

42. - E9A06

How does the beamwidth of an antenna vary as the gain is increased?

Select	Answer
A	It is essentially unaffected
B	It decreases
C	It increases arithmetically
D	It increases geometrically

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

44. - E9C12

Which of the following describes an extended double Zepp antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A wideband vertical antenna constructed from precisely tapered aluminum tubing
B	A portable antenna erected using two push support poles
C	An end fed folded dipole antenna
D	A center fed 1.25 wavelength antenna (two 5/8 wave elements in phase)

45. - E9D05

What is a disadvantage of using a multiband trapped antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It might radiate harmonics
B	It is too sharply directional at lower frequencies
C	It radiates the harmonics and fundamental equally well
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 ensures that each driven element operates in concert with the others to create the desired antenna pattern
C	It allows single-band antennas to operate on other bands
D	It prevents reflected power from traveling back down the feed line and causing harmonic radiation from the transmitter

47. - E9F06

What is the approximate physical length of an air-insulated, parallel conductor transmission line that is electrically one-half wavelength long at 14.10 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	20 meters
B	71 meters
C	15 meters
D	10 meters

48. - E9G07

On the Smith chart shown in Figure E9-3, what is the only straight line shown?

Select	Answer
A	The reactance axis
B	The current axis
C	The resistance axis
D	The voltage axis

49. - E9H04

What is an advantage of using a shielded loop antenna for direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	It allows stations to communicate without giving away their position
B	It eliminates tracking errors caused by strong out-of-band signals
C	It automatically cancels ignition noise in mobile installations
D	It is electro statically balanced against ground, giving better nulls

50. - E0A06

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

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

Figure E7-3

Figure E9-3