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

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1. - E1A04

With your transceiver displaying the carrier frequency of phone signals, you hear a DX station calling CQ on 3.601 MHz LSB. Is it legal to return the call using lower sideband on the same frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Yes, because the displayed frequency is within the 75 meter phone band segment
B	Yes, because the DX station initiated the contact
C	No, U.S. stations are not permitted to use phone emissions below 3.610 MHz
D	No, the sideband will extend beyond the edge of the phone band segment

2. - E1B08

What limitations may the FCC place on an amateur station if its signal causes interference to domestic broadcast reception, assuming that the receivers involved are of good engineering design?

Select	Answer
A	The amateur station must cease operation on all frequencies below 30 MHz
B	The amateur station must cease operation
C	The amateur station must cease operation on all frequencies above 30 MHz
D	The amateur station must avoid transmitting during certain hours on frequencies that cause the interference

3. - E1C07

What is meant by local control?

Select	Answer
A	Controlling a station through a local auxiliary link
B	Direct manipulation of the transmitter by a control operator
C	Controlling a repeater using a portable handheld transceiver
D	Automatically manipulating local station controls

4. - E1D09

Which UHF amateur service bands have frequencies available for a space station?

Select	Answer
A	70 cm only
B	33 cm and 13 cm
C	70 cm and 13 cm
D	70 cm and 33 cm

5. - E1E12

What must the VE team do with the application form if the examinee does not pass the exam?

Select	Answer
A	Maintain the application form with the VEC's records
B	Send the application form to the FCC and inform the FCC of the grade
C	Destroy the application form
D	Return the application document to the examinee

6. - E1F11

Which of the following best describes one of the standards that must be met by an external RF power amplifier if it is to qualify for a grant of FCC certification?

Select	Answer
A	It must produce full legal output when driven by not more than 5 watts of mean RF input power
B	It must exhibit a gain of 0 dB or less over its full output range
C	It must be capable of external RF switching between its input and output networks
D	It must satisfy the FCC's spurious emission standards when operated at the lesser of 1500 watts or its full output power

7. - E2A11

What type of antenna can be used to minimize the effects of spin modulation and Faraday rotation?

Select	Answer
A	A linearly polarized antenna
B	An isotropic antenna
C	A circularly polarized antenna
D	A log-periodic dipole array

8. - E2B15

What signals SSTV receiving equipment to begin a new picture line?

Select	Answer
A	A two-tone signal
B	Specific tone amplitudes
C	Elapsed time
D	Specific tone frequencies

9. - E2C10

Why might a DX station state that they are listening on another frequency?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	To improve operating efficiency by reducing interference
C	To separate the calling stations from the DX station
D	Because the DX station may be transmitting on a frequency that is prohibited to some responding stations

10. - E2D07

What digital protocol is used by APRS?

Select	Answer
A	AMTOR
B	802.11
C	AX.25
D	PACTOR

11. - E2E06

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

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

12. - E3A15

What is an electromagnetic wave?

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

13. - E3B11

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

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

14. - E3C14

Why does the radio-path horizon distance exceed the geometric horizon?

Select	Answer
A	Downward bending due to aurora refraction
B	E-region skip
C	D-region skip
D	Downward bending due to density variations in the atmosphere

15. - E4A02

Which of the following parameters would a spectrum analyzer display on the vertical and horizontal axes?

Select	Answer
A	RF amplitude and time
B	SWR and frequency
C	SWR and time
D	RF amplitude and frequency

16. - E4B10

Which of the following describes a method to measure intermodulation distortion in an SSB transmitter?

Select	Answer
A	Modulate the transmitter with two harmonically related audio frequencies and observe the RF output with a logic analyzer
B	Modulate the transmitter with two harmonically related audio frequencies and observe the RF output with a peak reading wattmeter
C	Modulate the transmitter with two non-harmonically related audio frequencies and observe the RF output with a spectrum analyzer
D	Modulate the transmitter with two non-harmonically related radio frequencies and observe the RF output with a spectrum analyzer

17. - E4C14

What transmit frequency might generate an image response signal in a receiver tuned to 14.300 MHz and which uses a 455 kHz IF frequency?

Select	Answer
A	14.755 MHz
B	13.845 MHz
C	15.210 MHz
D	14.445 MHz

18. - E4D03

How can intermodulation interference between two repeaters occur?

Select	Answer
A	When the repeaters are in close proximity and the signals mix in the final amplifier of one or both transmitters
B	When the repeaters are in close proximity and the signals cause feedback in the final amplifier of one or both transmitters
C	When the signals from the transmitters are reflected out of phase from airplanes passing overhead
D	When the signals from the transmitters are reflected in phase from airplanes passing overhead

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 loud AC hum in the audio output of your station receiver
C	A clicking noise at intervals of a few seconds
D	A whining type noise that continually pulses off and on

20. - E5A15

Which of the following can increase Q for inductors and capacitors?

Select	Answer
A	Lower losses
B	Lower reactance
C	Higher self-resonant frequency
D	Lower self-resonant frequency

21. - E5B06

What is susceptance?

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

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

23. - E5D18

How many watts are consumed in a circuit having a power factor of 0.71 if the apparent power is 500VA?

Select	Answer
A	1.42 mW
B	252 W
C	704 W
D	355 W

24. - E6A01

In what application is gallium arsenide used as a semiconductor material in preference to germanium or silicon?

Select	Answer
A	In high-power audio circuits
B	In high-current rectifier circuits
C	In microwave circuits
D	In very low frequency RF circuits

25. - E6B05

What characteristic of a PIN diode makes it useful as an RF switch or attenuator?

Select	Answer
A	A large region of intrinsic material
B	Reverse bias controls its forward voltage drop
C	Ability to dissipate large amounts of power
D	Extremely high reverse breakdown voltage

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 IC input can be damaged
D	The comparator changes its output state

27. - E6D11

How many turns will be required to produce a 1-mH inductor using a core that has an inductance index (A L) value of 523 millihenrys/1000 turns?

Select	Answer
A	229 turns
B	4 turns
C	43 turns
D	2 turns

28. - E6E01

Which of the following is true of a charge-coupled device (CCD)?

Select	Answer
A	It samples an analog signal and passes it in stages from the input to the output
B	It is used in a battery charger circuit
C	It is a CMOS analog-to-digital converter
D	Its phase shift changes rapidly with frequency

29. - E6F06

Which of these materials is affected the most by photoconductivity?

Select	Answer
A	A liquid semiconductor
B	An ordinary metal
C	A heavy metal
D	A crystalline semiconductor

30. - E7A06

What is a characteristic of a monostable multivibrator?

Select	Answer
A	It produces a continuous square wave oscillating between 1 and 0
B	It stores one bit of data in either a 0 or 1 state
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. - E7B08

How can an RF power amplifier be neutralized?

Select	Answer
A	By feeding an in-phase component of the output back to the input
B	By feeding a 180-degree out-of-phase portion of the output back to the input
C	By reducing the driving power
D	By increasing the driving power

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	An automatic notch filter
C	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
D	A variable bandwidth crystal lattice filter

33. - E7D16

When several electrolytic filter capacitors are connected in series to increase the operating voltage of a power supply filter circuit, why should resistors be connected across each capacitor?

Select	Answer
A	To equalize, as much as possible, the voltage drop across each capacitor
B	All of these choices are correct
C	To provide a safety bleeder to discharge the capacitors when the supply is off
D	To provide a minimum load current to reduce voltage excursions at light loads

34. - E7E10

How does a diode detector function?

Select	Answer
A	By rectification and filtering of RF signals
B	By sensing the change of reactance in the diode with respect to frequency
C	By mixing signals with noise in the transition region of the diode
D	By breakdown of the Zener voltage

35. - E7F16

How might the sampling rate of an existing digital signal be adjusted by a factor of 3/4?

Select	Answer
A	Interpolate by a factor of three, then decimate by a factor of four
B	Add 3 to each input value and subtract 4 from each output value
C	Change the gain by a factor of 3/4
D	Multiply each sample value by a factor of 3/4

36. - E7G09

What will be the output voltage of the circuit shown in Figure E7-4 if R1 is 1000 ohms, RF is 10,000 ohms, and 0.23 volts DC is applied to the input?

Select	Answer
A	-2.3 volts
B	0.23 volts
C	-0.23 volts
D	2.3 volts

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

38. - E8A06

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

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

39. - E8B09

What is meant by deviation ratio?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of the carrier center frequency to the audio modulating frequency
B	The ratio of the highest audio modulating frequency to the average audio modulating frequency
C	The ratio of the maximum carrier frequency deviation to the highest audio modulating frequency
D	The ratio of the audio modulating frequency to the center carrier frequency

40. - E8C04

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

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

41. - E8D07

What is a common cause of overmodulation of AFSK signals?

Select	Answer
A	Bit errors in the modem
B	Excessive transmit audio levels
C	Excessive numbers of retries
D	Ground loops

42. - E9A11

Which of the following factors determines ground losses for a ground-mounted vertical antenna operating in the 3 MHz to 30 MHz range?

Select	Answer
A	Distance from the transmitter
B	Soil conductivity
C	The standing wave ratio
D	Take-off angle

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	1
C	7
D	3

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	72 ohms
D	450 ohms

45. - E9D04

Why should an HF mobile antenna loading coil have a high ratio of reactance to resistance?

Select	Answer
A	To swamp out harmonics
B	To minimize losses
C	To minimize the Q
D	To maximize losses

46. - E9E02

What is the name of an antenna matching system that matches an unbalanced feed line to an antenna by feeding the driven element both at the center of the element and at a fraction of a wavelength to one side of center?

Select	Answer
A	The delta match
B	The epsilon match
C	The stub match
D	The gamma match

47. - E9F16

Which of the following is a significant difference between foam dielectric coaxial cable and solid dielectric cable, assuming all other parameters are the same?

Select	Answer
A	Foam dielectric has lower loss per unit of length
B	Foam dielectric has lower safe operating voltage limits
C	All of these choices are correct
D	Foam dielectric has higher velocity factor

48. - E9G02

What type of coordinate system is used in a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Resistance circles and reactance arcs
B	Resistance lines and reactance chords
C	Voltage lines and current chords
D	Voltage circles and current arcs

49. - E9H02

Which is generally true for low band (160 meter and 80 meter) receiving antennas?

Select	Answer
A	Atmospheric noise is so high that gain over a dipole is not important
B	They must be erected at least 1/2 wavelength above the ground to attain good directivity
C	All of these choices are correct
D	Low loss coax transmission line is essential for good performance

50. - E0A07

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

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

Figure E7-4

Figure E9-2