US Amateur Radio - Amateur Extra (Element 4, 2016-2020) Practice Test

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

2. - E1B05

What is the National Radio Quiet Zone?

Select	Answer
A	An area in Florida surrounding Cape Canaveral
B	An area surrounding the National Radio Astronomy Observatory
C	An area in Puerto Rico surrounding the Arecibo Radio Telescope
D	An area in New Mexico surrounding the White Sands Test Area

3. - E1C03

How do the control operator responsibilities of a station under automatic control differ from one under local control?

Select	Answer
A	Under local control there is no control operator
B	Under local control a control operator is not required to be present at a control point
C	Under automatic control there is no control operator
D	Under automatic control the control operator is not required to be present at the control point

4. - E1D02

What is the amateur satellite service?

Select	Answer
A	A radio communications service using stations on Earth satellites for public service broadcast
B	A radio navigation service using satellites for the purpose of self training, intercommunication and technical studies carried out by amateurs
C	A radio communications service using amateur radio stations on satellites
D	A spacecraft launching service for amateur-built satellites

5. - E1E08

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

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

6. - E1F05

Amateur stations may not transmit in which of the following frequency segments if they are located in the contiguous 48 states and north of Line A?

Select	Answer
A	53 MHz - 54 MHz
B	222 MHz - 223 MHz
C	440 MHz - 450 MHz
D	420 MHz - 430 MHz

7. - E2A14

What technology is used to track, in real time, balloons carrying amateur radio transmitters?

Select	Answer
A	Radar
B	APRS
C	Bandwidth compressed LORAN
D	Doppler shift of beacon signals

8. - E2B06

What is vestigial sideband modulation?

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

9. - E2C02

Which of the following best describes the term self-spotting in regards to HF contest operating?

Select	Answer
A	The acceptable practice of manually posting the call signs of stations on a spotting network
B	A manual technique for rapidly zero beating or tuning to a station's frequency before calling that station
C	An automatic method for rapidly zero beating or tuning to a station's frequency before calling that station
D	The generally prohibited practice of posting one's own call sign and frequency on a spotting network

10. - E2D08

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

Select	Answer
A	Disconnect
B	Acknowledgement
C	Connect
D	Unnumbered Information

11. - E2E11

What is the difference between direct FSK and audio FSK?

Select	Answer
A	Audio FSK can be performed anywhere in the transmit chain
B	Direct FSK uses a DC-coupled data connection
C	Audio FSK has a superior frequency response
D	Direct FSK applies the data signal to the transmitter VFO

12. - E3A12

What is the cause of auroral activity?

Select	Answer
A	The interaction in the F2 layer between the solar wind and the Van Allen belt
B	The interaction in the E layer of charged particles from the Sun with the Earth's magnetic field
C	Meteor showers concentrated in the extreme northern and southern latitudes
D	A low sunspot level combined with tropospheric ducting

13. - E3B02

What is the approximate maximum range for signals using transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	5000 miles
B	2500 miles
C	1000 miles
D	7500 miles

14. - E3C03

Which of the following signal paths is most likely to experience high levels of absorption when the A index or K index is elevated?

Select	Answer
A	Transequatorial propagation
B	NVIS
C	Polar paths
D	Sporadic-E

15. - E4A01

Which of the following parameter determines the bandwidth of a digital or computer-based oscilloscope?

Select	Answer
A	Input impedance
B	Input capacitance
C	Sample resolution
D	Sampling rate

16. - E4B12

What is the significance of voltmeter sensitivity expressed in ohms per volt?

Select	Answer
A	The full scale reading of the voltmeter multiplied by its ohms per volt rating will indicate the input impedance of the voltmeter
B	When used as an ammeter, the full scale reading in amps divided by ohms per volt rating will determine the size of shunt needed
C	When used as a galvanometer, the reading in volts multiplied by the ohms per volt rating will determine the power drawn by the device under test
D	When used as an ohmmeter, the reading in ohms divided by the ohms per volt rating will determine the voltage applied to the circuit

17. - E4C01

What is an effect of excessive phase noise in the local oscillator section of a receiver?

Select	Answer
A	It can cause strong signals on nearby frequencies to interfere with reception of weak signals
B	It decreases receiver third-order intermodulation distortion dynamic range
C	It limits the receiver's ability to receive strong signals
D	It reduces receiver sensitivity

18. - E4D12

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

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

19. - E4E13

What might be the cause of a loud roaring or buzzing AC line interference that comes and goes at intervals?

Select	Answer
A	A malfunctioning illuminated advertising display
B	Arcing contacts in a thermostatically controlled device
C	All of these choices are correct
D	A defective doorbell or doorbell transformer inside a nearby residence

20. - E5A07

What is the magnitude of the current at the input of a parallel RLC circuit at resonance?

Select	Answer
A	Minimum
B	Maximum
C	L/R
D	R/L

21. - E5B06

What is susceptance?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of magnetic field to electric field
B	A measure of the efficiency of a transformer
C	The magnetic impedance of a circuit
D	The inverse of reactance

22. - E5C10

When using rectangular coordinates to graph the impedance of a circuit, what does the vertical axis represent?

Select	Answer
A	The difference between the resistive and reactive components
B	Reactive component
C	The sum of the reactive and resistive components
D	Resistive component

23. - E5D08

What type of energy is stored in an electromagnetic or electrostatic field?

Select	Answer
A	Thermodynamic energy
B	Electromechanical energy
C	Potential energy
D	Kinetic energy

24. - E6A13

What do the initials CMOS stand for?

Select	Answer
A	Common Mode Oscillating System
B	Common Mode Organic Silicon
C	Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor
D	Complementary Mica-Oxide Silicon

25. - E6B03

What special type of diode is capable of both amplification and oscillation?

Select	Answer
A	Zener
B	Point contact
C	Tunnel
D	Junction

26. - E6C08

In Figure E6-5, what is the schematic symbol for a NAND gate?

Select	Answer
A	1
B	4
C	3
D	2

27. - E6D05

What is one reason for using ferrite cores rather than powdered-iron in an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Ferrite toroids generally have lower initial permeability
B	Ferrite toroids are easier to use with surface mount technology
C	Ferrite toroids generally have better temperature stability
D	Ferrite toroids generally require fewer turns to produce a given inductance value

28. - E6E09

Which of the following component package types would be most suitable for use at frequencies above the HF range?

Select	Answer
A	Surface mount
B	Axial lead
C	Radial lead
D	TO-220

29. - E6F07

What is a solid state relay?

Select	Answer
A	A mechanical relay that latches in the on or off state each time it is pulsed
B	A relay using transistors to drive the relay coil
C	A passive delay line
D	A device that uses semiconductors to implement the functions of an electromechanical relay

30. - E7A10

What is a truth table?

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

31. - E7B12

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

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

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

33. - E7D08

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

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

34. - E7E04

What is one way a single-sideband phone signal can be generated?

Select	Answer
A	By driving a product detector with a DSB signal
B	By using a reactance modulator followed by a mixer
C	By using a balanced modulator followed by a filter
D	By using a loop modulator followed by a mixer

35. - E7F01

What is meant by direct digital conversion as applied to software defined radios?

Select	Answer
A	Incoming RF is digitized by an analog-to-digital converter without being mixed with a local oscillator signal
B	Software is converted from source code to object code during operation of the receiver
C	A switching mixer is used to generate I and Q signals directly from the RF input
D	Incoming RF is converted to a control voltage for a voltage controlled oscillator

36. - E7G08

How does the gain of an ideal operational amplifier vary with frequency?

Select	Answer
A	It decreases logarithmically with increasing frequency
B	It increases linearly with increasing frequency
C	It decreases linearly with increasing frequency
D	It does not vary with frequency

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

38. - E8A02

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

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

39. - E8B10

What describes frequency division multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	Two or more information streams are merged into a digital combiner, which then pulse position modulates the transmitter
B	The transmitted signal is divided into packets of information
C	Two or more information streams are merged into a baseband, which then modulates the transmitter
D	The transmitted signal jumps from band to band at a predetermined rate

40. - E8C05

What is the necessary bandwidth of a 13-WPM international Morse code transmission?

Select	Answer
A	Approximately 52 Hz
B	Approximately 26 Hz
C	Approximately 13 Hz
D	Approximately 104 Hz

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

42. - E9A15

What is the effective radiated power relative to a dipole of a repeater station with 150 watts transmitter power output, 2 dB feed line loss, 2.2 dB duplexer loss, and 7 dBd antenna gain?

Select	Answer
A	420 watts
B	78.7 watts
C	286 watts
D	1977 watts

43. - E9B16

How many elevation lobes appear in the forward direction of the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-2?

Select	Answer
A	4
B	3
C	1
D	7

44. - E9C07

What is the approximate feed point impedance at the center of a two-wire folded dipole antenna?

Select	Answer
A	300 ohms
B	50 ohms
C	450 ohms
D	72 ohms

45. - E9D12

Which of the following would provide the best RF ground for your station?

Select	Answer
A	A 50 ohm resistor connected to ground
B	An electrically short connection to 3 or 4 interconnected ground rods via a series RF choke
C	An electrically short connection to 3 or 4 interconnected ground rods driven into the Earth
D	An electrically short connection to a metal water pipe

46. - E9E11

What is an effective way of matching a feed line to a VHF or UHF antenna when the impedances of both the antenna and feed line are unknown?

Select	Answer
A	Connect a parallel-resonant LC network across the antenna feed terminals
B	Use a 50 ohm 1:1 balun between the antenna and feed line
C	Use the universal stub matching technique
D	Connect a series-resonant LC network across the antenna feed terminals

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	15 meters
B	20 meters
C	71 meters
D	10 meters

48. - E9G08

What is the process of normalization with regard to a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Reassigning prime center with regard to the reactance axis
B	Reassigning impedance values with regard to the prime center
C	Reassigning reactance values with regard to the resistance axis
D	Reassigning resistance values with regard to the reactance axis

49. - E9H04

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

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

50. - E0A08

What does SAR measure?

Select	Answer
A	The rate at which RF energy is absorbed by the body
B	The rate of RF energy reflected from stationary terrain
C	Synthetic Aperture Ratio of the human body
D	Signal Amplification Rating

Figure E6-5

Figure E7-1

Figure E7-3

Figure E9-2