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

2. - E1B07

What is the highest modulation index permitted at the highest modulation frequency for angle modulation below 29.0 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	3.0
B	2.0
C	1.0
D	0.5

3. - E1C09

Which of these ranges of frequencies is available for an automatically controlled repeater operating below 30 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	24.940 MHz - 24.990 MHz
B	29.500 MHz - 29.700 MHz
C	10.100 MHz - 10.150 MHz
D	18.110 MHz - 18.168 MHz

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, 2 meters, and 1.25 meters
D	6 meters and 2 meters

5. - E1E02

Where are the questions for all written U.S. amateur license examinations listed?

Select	Answer
A	In the appropriate FCC Report and Order
B	In FCC Part 97
C	In a question pool maintained by all the VECs
D	In a question pool maintained by the FCC

6. - E1F04

Which of the following geographic descriptions approximately describes "Line A"?

Select	Answer
A	A line roughly parallel to and west of the U.S. Atlantic coastline
B	A line roughly parallel to and south of the U.S.-Canadian border
C	A line roughly parallel to and east of the U.S. Pacific coastline
D	A line roughly parallel to and north of the U.S.-Mexican border and Gulf coastline

7. - E2A06

On what band would a satellite receive signals if it were operating in mode U/V?

Select	Answer
A	29.5 MHz - 29.7 MHz
B	50.0 MHz - 50.2 MHz
C	435 MHz - 438 MHz
D	144 MHz - 146 MHz

8. - E2B06

What is vestigial sideband modulation?

Select	Answer
A	Spread spectrum modulation achieved by applying FM modulation following single sideband amplitude modulation
B	Narrow-band FM modulation achieved by filtering one sideband from the audio before frequency modulating the carrier
C	Amplitude modulation in which one complete sideband and a portion of the other are transmitted
D	A type of modulation in which one sideband is inverted

9. - E2C06

During a VHF/UHF contest, in which band segment would you expect to find the highest level of activity?

Select	Answer
A	In the weak signal segment of the band, with most of the activity near the calling frequency
B	In the middle of the band, usually 25 kHz above the national calling frequency
C	In the middle of each band, usually on the national calling frequency
D	At the top of each band, usually in a segment reserved for contests

10. - E2D08

What type of packet frame is used to transmit APRS beacon data?

Select	Answer
A	Disconnect
B	Unnumbered Information
C	Acknowledgement
D	Connect

11. - E2E01

Which type of modulation is common for data emissions below 30 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	DTMF tones modulating an FM signal
B	Spread spectrum
C	Pulse modulation
D	FSK

12. - E3A02

What characterizes libration fading of an EME signal?

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

13. - E3B11

At what time of day is Sporadic-E propagation most likely to occur?

Select	Answer
A	Around sunrise
B	Any time
C	Early evening
D	Around sunset

14. - E3C08

What does the space weather term G5 mean?

Select	Answer
A	Moderate solar wind
B	Waning sunspot numbers
C	Very low solar activity
D	An extreme geomagnetic storm

15. - E4A06

What is the effect of aliasing in a digital or computer-based oscilloscope?

Select	Answer
A	All signals will have a DC offset
B	False triggering occurs
C	Calibration of the vertical scale is no longer valid
D	False signals are displayed

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	1.4652 Hz
B	14.652 Hz
C	0.1 MHz
D	1.4652 kHz

17. - E4C03

What is the term for the blocking of one FM phone signal by another, stronger FM phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	Capture effect
B	Cross-modulation interference
C	Frequency discrimination
D	Desensitization

18. - E4D08

What causes intermodulation in an electronic circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Positive feedback
B	Nonlinear circuits or devices
C	Too little gain
D	Lack of neutralization

19. - E4E06

What is a major cause of atmospheric static?

Select	Answer
A	Thunderstorms
B	Geomagnetic storms
C	Meteor showers
D	Solar radio frequency emissions

20. - E5A17

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

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

21. - E5B12

What is admittance?

Select	Answer
A	The term for the gain of a field effect transistor
B	The unit used for Q factor
C	The turns ratio of a transformer
D	The inverse of impedance

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	Polar coordinates
B	Elliptical coordinates
C	Maidenhead grid
D	Faraday grid

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

24. - E6A14

How does DC input impedance at the gate of a field-effect transistor compare with the DC input impedance of a bipolar transistor?

Select	Answer
A	They are both low impedance
B	An FET has high input impedance; a bipolar transistor has low input impedance
C	They are both high impedance
D	An FET has low input impedance; a bipolar transistor has high input impedance

25. - E6B04

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

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

26. - E6C07

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

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

27. - E6D09

What devices are commonly used as VHF and UHF parasitic suppressors at the input and output terminals of a transistor HF amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	Ferrite beads
B	Butterworth filters
C	Steel-core toroids
D	Electrolytic capacitors

28. - E6E12

Why are high-power RF amplifier ICs and transistors sometimes mounted in ceramic packages?

Select	Answer
A	High-voltage insulating ability
B	Enhanced sensitivity to light
C	To provide a low-pass frequency response
D	Better dissipation of heat

29. - E6F09

What is the efficiency of a photovoltaic cell?

Select	Answer
A	The relative fraction of light that is converted to current
B	The output RF power divided by the input DC power
C	The open-circuit voltage divided by the short-circuit current under full illumination
D	The effective payback period

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 produces a continuous square wave oscillating between 1 and 0
C	It switches momentarily to the opposite binary state and then returns to its original state after a set time
D	It maintains a constant output voltage, regardless of variations in the input voltage

31. - E7B12

What type of amplifier circuit is shown in Figure E7-1?

Select	Answer
A	Common collector
B	Emitter follower
C	Common emitter
D	Common base

32. - E7C08

Which of the following factors has the greatest effect in helping determine the bandwidth and response shape of a crystal ladder filter?

Select	Answer
A	The gain of the RF stage preceding the filter
B	The DC voltage applied to the quartz crystal
C	The relative frequencies of the individual crystals
D	The amplitude of the signals passing through the filter

33. - E7D08

What type of circuit is shown in Figure E7-3?

Select	Answer
A	Switching voltage regulator
B	Emitter follower
C	Linear voltage regulator
D	Grounded emitter amplifier

34. - E7E03

How does an analog phase modulator function?

Select	Answer
A	By varying the tuning of an amplifier tank circuit to produce PM signals
B	By varying the tuning of an amplifier tank circuit to produce AM signals
C	By varying the tuning of a microphone preamplifier to produce AM signals
D	By varying the tuning of a microphone preamplifier to produce PM signals

35. - E7F12

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

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

36. - E7G05

How can unwanted ringing and audio instability be prevented in a multi-section op-amp RC audio filter circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Restrict both gain and Q
B	Restrict Q but increase gain
C	Increase both gain and Q
D	Restrict gain but increase Q

37. - E7H10

What information is contained in the lookup table of a direct digital frequency synthesizer?

Select	Answer
A	The phase relationship between a reference oscillator and the output waveform
B	The phase relationship between a voltage-controlled oscillator and the output waveform
C	The amplitude values that represent a sine-wave output
D	The synthesizer frequency limits and frequency values stored in the radio memories

38. - E8A02

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

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

39. - E8B01

What is the term for the ratio between the frequency deviation of an RF carrier wave and the modulating frequency of its corresponding FM-phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	Modulation index
B	Percentage of modulation
C	FM compressibility
D	Quieting index

40. - E8C04

What technique is used to minimize the bandwidth requirements of a PSK31 signal?

Select	Answer
A	Use of trapezoidal data pulses
B	Zero-sum character encoding
C	Reed-Solomon character encoding
D	Use of sinusoidal data pulses

41. - E8D08

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

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

42. - E9A05

What is included in the total resistance of an antenna system?

Select	Answer
A	Radiation resistance plus space impedance
B	Transmission-line resistance plus radiation resistance
C	Radiation resistance plus ohmic resistance
D	Radiation resistance plus transmission resistance

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

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 reduces losses in the radiating portion of the antenna
C	It reduces low-angle radiation
D	It causes increased SWR

45. - E9D09

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

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

46. - E9E12

What is the primary purpose of a phasing line when used with an antenna having multiple driven elements?

Select	Answer
A	It prevents reflected power from traveling back down the feed line and causing harmonic radiation from the transmitter
B	It allows single-band antennas to operate on other bands
C	It makes sure the antenna has a low-angle radiation pattern
D	It ensures that each driven element operates in concert with the others to create the desired antenna pattern

47. - E9F08

What is the term for the ratio of the actual speed at which a signal travels through a transmission line to the speed of light in a vacuum?

Select	Answer
A	Surge impedance
B	Velocity factor
C	Standing wave ratio
D	Characteristic impedance

48. - E9G01

Which of the following can be calculated using a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Radio propagation
B	Antenna radiation pattern
C	Radiation resistance
D	Impedance along transmission lines

49. - E9H10

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

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

50. - E0A07

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

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

Figure E7-1

Figure E7-3