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. - E1A13

Who must be in physical control of the station apparatus of an amateur station aboard any vessel or craft that is documented or registered in the United States?

Select	Answer
A	Only a person named in an amateur station license grant
B	Only a person with an FCC Marine Radio
C	Any person holding an FCC issued amateur license or who is authorized for alien reciprocal operation
D	Any person named in an amateur station license grant or a person holding an unrestricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit

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	You must file an Environmental Impact Statement with the EPA before construction begins
C	You must obtain a construction permit from the airport zoning authority
D	No special rules apply if your antenna structure will be less than 300 feet in height

3. - E1C13

Which of the following is required in order to operate in accordance with CEPT rules in foreign countries where permitted?

Select	Answer
A	You must append "/CEPT" to your call sign
B	The U.S. embassy must approve of your operation
C	You must identify in the official language of the country in which you are operating
D	You must bring a copy of FCC Public Notice DA 11-221

4. - E1D07

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

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

5. - E1E06

Who is responsible for the proper conduct and necessary supervision during an amateur operator license examination session?

Select	Answer
A	Each administering VE
B	The VEC coordinating the session
C	The FCC
D	The VE session manager

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 imported from a manufacturer in a country that does not require certification of RF power amplifiers
B	It was purchased in used condition from an amateur operator and is sold to another amateur operator for use at that operator's station
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. - E2A02

What is the direction of a descending pass for an amateur satellite?

Select	Answer
A	From east to west
B	From south to north
C	From west to east
D	From north to south

8. - E2B12

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

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

9. - E2C07

What is the Cabrillo format?

Select	Answer
A	A standard for submission of electronic contest logs
B	A method of exchanging information during a contest QSO
C	The rules of order for meetings between contest sponsors
D	The most common set of contest rules

10. - E2D06

Which of the following describes a method of establishing EME contacts?

Select	Answer
A	Judging optimum transmission times by monitoring beacons reflected from the Moon
B	Time synchronous transmissions alternately from each station
C	Storing and forwarding digital messages
D	High speed CW identification to avoid fading

11. - E2E06

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

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

12. - E3A02

What characterizes libration fading of an EME signal?

Select	Answer
A	A fluttery irregular fading
B	A slow change in the pitch of the CW signal
C	A gradual loss of signal as the Sun rises
D	The returning echo is several Hertz lower in frequency than the transmitted signal

13. - E3B01

What is transequatorial propagation?

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

14. - E3C10

What does the 304A solar parameter measure?

Select	Answer
A	The solar wind velocity at 304 degrees from the solar equator, correlated to solar activity
B	The solar emission at 304 GHz, correlated to X-Ray flare levels
C	The ratio of X-Ray flux to radio flux, correlated to sunspot number
D	UV emissions at 304 angstroms, correlated to solar flux index

15. - E4A09

When using a computer's soundcard input to digitize signals, what is the highest frequency signal that can be digitized without aliasing?

Select	Answer
A	It depends on how the data is stored internally
B	The same as the sample rate
C	One-half the sample rate
D	One-tenth the sample rate

16. - E4B15

Which of the following can be used as a relative measurement of the Q for a series-tuned circuit?

Select	Answer
A	The resonant frequency of the circuit
B	The bandwidth of the circuit's frequency response
C	The inductance to capacitance ratio
D	The frequency shift

17. - E4C17

Which of the following has the largest effect on an SDR receiver's linearity?

Select	Answer
A	CPU register width in bits
B	Anti-aliasing input filter bandwidth
C	RAM speed used for data storage
D	Analog-to-digital converter sample width in bits

18. - E4D12

What is the term for the reduction in receiver sensitivity caused by a strong signal near the received frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Desensitization
B	Quieting
C	Cross-modulation interference
D	Squelch gain rollback

19. - E4E03

Which of the following signals might a receiver noise blanker be able to remove from desired signals?

Select	Answer
A	Signals which appear across a wide bandwidth
B	Signals which appear at one IF but not another
C	Signals which are constant at all IF levels
D	Signals which have a sharply peaked frequency distribution

20. - E5A11

What is the half-power bandwidth of a parallel resonant circuit that has a resonant frequency of 7.1 MHz and a Q of 150?

Select	Answer
A	47.3 kHz
B	157.8 Hz
C	315.6 Hz
D	23.67 kHz

21. - E5B11

What is the phase angle between the voltage across and the current through a series RLC circuit if XC is 25 ohms, R is 100 ohms, and XL is 50 ohms?

Select	Answer
A	14 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
B	14 degrees with the voltage leading the current
C	76 degrees with the voltage leading the current
D	76 degrees with the voltage lagging the current

22. - E5C11

What do the two numbers that are used to define a point on a graph using rectangular coordinates represent?

Select	Answer
A	The magnitude and phase of the point
B	The tangent and cotangent values
C	The coordinate values along the horizontal and vertical axes
D	The sine and cosine values

23. - E5D16

What is the power factor of an R-L circuit having a 30 degree phase angle between the voltage and the current?

Select	Answer
A	1.73
B	0.5
C	0.577
D	0.866

24. - E6A06

What is the beta of a bipolar junction transistor?

Select	Answer
A	The change in collector current with respect to base current
B	The switching speed of the transistor
C	The breakdown voltage of the base to collector junction
D	The frequency at which the current gain is reduced to 1

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	Enhanced carrier retention time
C	Less forward voltage drop
D	Controlled reverse avalanche voltage

26. - E6C14

What is the primary advantage of using a Programmable Gate Array (PGA) in a logic circuit?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	A PGA contains its own internal power supply
C	Complex logic functions can be created in a single integrated circuit
D	Many similar gates are less expensive than a mixture of gate types

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

28. - E6E10

What is the packaging technique in which leadless components are soldered directly to circuit boards?

Select	Answer
A	Direct soldering
B	Surface mount
C	Virtual lead mounting
D	Stripped 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 utilizing a crystalline liquid and polarizing filters which becomes opaque when voltage is applied
D	A display that uses a glowing liquid to remain brightly lit in dim light

30. - E7A11

What type of logic defines "1" as a high voltage?

Select	Answer
A	Negative logic
B	Positive Logic
C	Assertive Logic
D	Reverse Logic

31. - E7B14

Why are switching amplifiers more efficient than linear amplifiers?

Select	Answer
A	Linear amplifiers have high gain resulting in higher harmonic content
B	Switching amplifiers use push-pull circuits
C	The power transistor is at saturation or cut off most of the time, resulting in low power dissipation
D	Switching amplifiers operate at higher voltages

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	Cascode
C	Pi-L
D	Pi

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 the filter capacitors to charge gradually
C	To compensate for variations of the incoming line voltage
D	To allow for remote control of the power supply

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

35. - E7F08

What is the function of decimation with regard to digital filters?

Select	Answer
A	Attenuating the signal
B	Removing unnecessary significant digits
C	Converting data to binary code decimal form
D	Reducing the effective sample rate by removing samples

36. - E7G11

What absolute voltage gain can be expected from the circuit in Figure E7-4 when R1 is 3300 ohms and RF is 47 kilohms?

Select	Answer
A	14
B	28
C	7
D	0.07

37. - E7H02

Which describes a microphonic?

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

38. - E8A02

What type of wave has a rise time significantly faster than its fall time (or vice versa)?

Select	Answer
A	A square wave
B	A sine wave
C	A sawtooth wave
D	A cosine wave

39. - E8B06

What is the deviation ratio of an FM-phone signal having a maximum frequency swing of plus or minus 7.5 kHz when the maximum modulation frequency is 3.5 kHz?

Select	Answer
A	2.14
B	0.47
C	47
D	0.214

40. - E8C08

How does ARQ accomplish error correction?

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

41. - E8D03

How does the spread spectrum technique of frequency hopping work?

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

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	6.0 dB
B	2.79 dB
C	3.85 dB
D	8.15 dB

43. - E9B03

In the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-1, what is the front-to-side ratio?

Select	Answer
A	12 dB
B	14 dB
C	18 dB
D	24 dB

44. - E9C09

What is a G5RV antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A multi-band trap antenna
B	A multi-band dipole antenna fed with coax and a balun through a selected length of open wire transmission line
C	A phased array antenna consisting of multiple loops
D	A wide band dipole using shorted coaxial cable for the radiating elements and fed with a 4:1 balun

45. - E9D11

Which of the following types of conductors would be best for minimizing losses in a station's RF ground system?

Select	Answer
A	A cable with six or seven 18 gauge conductors in parallel
B	A resistive wire, such as spark plug wire
C	A wide flat copper strap
D	A single 12 gauge or 10 gauge stainless steel wire

46. - E9E07

What term best describes the interactions at the load end of a mismatched transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	Reflection coefficient
B	Dielectric constant
C	Characteristic impedance
D	Velocity factor

47. - E9F04

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

Select	Answer
A	0.10
B	0.66
C	2.70
D	0.30

48. - E9G11

How are the wavelength scales on a Smith chart calibrated?

Select	Answer
A	In fractions of transmission line electrical frequency
B	In fractions of antenna electrical wavelength
C	In fractions of transmission line electrical wavelength
D	In fractions of antenna electrical frequency

49. - E9H08

What is the function of a sense antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It allows DF antennas to receive signals at different vertical angles
B	It modifies the pattern of a DF antenna array to provide a null in one direction
C	It increases the sensitivity of a DF antenna array
D	It provides diversity reception that cancels multipath signals

50. - E0A07

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

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

Figure E7-4

Figure E9-1