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	An unrestricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit
B	Only General class or higher amateur licenses
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	1.0
B	0.5
C	2.0
D	3.0

3. - E1C02

What is meant by automatic control of a station?

Select	Answer
A	Remotely controlling a station's antenna pattern through a directional control link
B	A station operating with its output power controlled automatically
C	The use of devices and procedures for control so that the control operator does not have to be present at a control point
D	The use of a control link between a control point and a locally controlled station

4. - E1D04

What is an Earth station in the amateur satellite service?

Select	Answer
A	An amateur station that is not able to communicate using amateur satellites
B	An amateur station that transmits telemetry consisting of measurement of upper atmosphere
C	An amateur station within 50 km of the Earth's surface intended for communications with amateur stations by means of objects in space
D	Any amateur station on the surface of the Earth

5. - E1E01

What is the minimum number of qualified VEs required to administer an Element 4 amateur operator license examination?

Select	Answer
A	5
B	2
C	4
D	3

6. - E1F07

When may an amateur station send a message to a business?

Select	Answer
A	When transmitting international third-party communications
B	When the control operator is employed by the FCC or another government agency
C	When the total money involved does not exceed $25
D	When neither the amateur nor his or her employer has a pecuniary interest in the communications

7. - E2A03

What is the orbital period of an Earth satellite?

Select	Answer
A	The point of minimum height of a satellite's orbit
B	The point of maximum height of a satellite's orbit
C	The time it takes for a satellite to travel from perigee to apogee
D	The time it takes for a satellite to complete one revolution around the Earth

8. - E2B16

Which is a video standard used by North American Fast Scan ATV stations?

Select	Answer
A	NTSC
B	PAL
C	Scottie
D	DRM

9. - E2C01

Which of the following is true about contest operating?

Select	Answer
A	Every contest requires a signal report in the exchange
B	It is mandatory to transmit the call sign of the station being worked as part of every transmission to that station
C	Interference to other amateurs is unavoidable and therefore acceptable
D	Operators are permitted to make contacts even if they do not submit a log

10. - E2D11

Which of the following data are used by the APRS network to communicate your location?

Select	Answer
A	Latitude and longitude
B	Time and frequency
C	Radio direction finding spectrum analysis
D	Polar coordinates

11. - E2E11

What is the difference between direct FSK and audio FSK?

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

12. - E3A09

Which of the following frequency range is most suited for meteor scatter communications?

Select	Answer
A	28 MHz - 148 MHz
B	1.8 MHz - 1.9 MHz
C	10 MHz - 14 MHz
D	220 MHz - 450 MHz

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 stations at the same latitude
C	Propagation between two mid-latitude points at approximately the same distance north and south of the magnetic equator
D	Propagation between any two points located on the magnetic equator

14. - E3C08

What does the space weather term G5 mean?

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

15. - E4A15

What is an advantage of a period-measuring frequency counter over a direct-count type?

Select	Answer
A	It can run on battery power for remote measurements
B	It can directly measure the modulation index of an FM transmitter
C	It provides improved resolution of low-frequency signals within a comparable time period
D	It does not require an expensive high-precision time base

16. - E4B01

Which of the following factors most affects the accuracy of a frequency counter?

Select	Answer
A	Temperature coefficient of the logic
B	Decade divider accuracy
C	Time base accuracy
D	Input attenuator accuracy

17. - E4C03

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

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

18. - E4D09

What is the purpose of the preselector in a communications receiver?

Select	Answer
A	To provide a range of AGC time constants
B	To allow selection of the optimum RF amplifier device
C	To increase rejection of unwanted signals
D	To store often-used frequencies

19. - E4E10

What is a common characteristic of interference caused by a touch controlled electrical device?

Select	Answer
A	The interfering signal can be several kHz in width and usually repeats at regular intervals across a HF band
B	The interfering signal sounds like AC hum on an AM receiver or a carrier modulated by 60 Hz hum on a SSB or CW receiver
C	All of these choices are correct
D	The interfering signal may drift slowly across the HF spectrum

20. - E5A12

What is the half-power bandwidth of a parallel resonant circuit that has a resonant frequency of 3.7 MHz and a Q of 118?

Select	Answer
A	218.3 kHz
B	436.6 kHz
C	31.4 kHz
D	15.7 kHz

21. - E5B12

What is admittance?

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

22. - E5C15

Which point in Figure E5-2 best represents the impedance of a series circuit consisting of a 300 ohm resistor and an 18 microhenry inductor at 3.505 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	Point 8
B	Point 7
C	Point 3
D	Point 1

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	252 W
B	1.42 mW
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 very low frequency RF circuits
C	In high-current rectifier circuits
D	In microwave circuits

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

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. - E6D04

Which materials are commonly used as a slug core in a variable inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Cobalt and aluminum
B	Polystyrene and polyethylene
C	Ferrite and brass
D	Teflon and Delrin

28. - E6E12

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

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

29. - E6F06

Which of these materials is affected the most by photoconductivity?

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

30. - E7A08

What logical operation does an OR gate perform?

Select	Answer
A	It produces logic "1" at its output if all inputs are logic "0"
B	It only produces logic "0" at its output when all inputs are logic "1"
C	It produces logic "0" at its output if all inputs are logic "1"
D	It produces logic "1" at its output if any or all inputs are logic "1"

31. - E7B08

How can an RF power amplifier be neutralized?

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

32. - E7C07

What kind of filter would you use to attenuate an interfering carrier signal while receiving an SSB transmission?

Select	Answer
A	A band-pass filter
B	A Pi-network filter
C	A notch filter
D	An all-pass filter

33. - E7D10

What is the primary reason that a high-frequency switching type high voltage power supply can be both less expensive and lighter in weight than a conventional power supply?

Select	Answer
A	It uses a large power factor compensation capacitor to create free power from the unused portion of the AC cycle
B	The inverter design does not require any output filtering
C	The high frequency inverter design uses much smaller transformers and filter components for an equivalent power output
D	It uses a diode bridge rectifier for increased output

34. - E7E11

Which type of detector is used for demodulating SSB signals?

Select	Answer
A	Product detector
B	Phase detector
C	Phase comparator
D	Discriminator

35. - E7F17

What do the letters I and Q in I/Q Modulation represent?

Select	Answer
A	Inactive and Quiescent
B	Instantaneous and Quenched
C	Instantaneous and Quasi-stable
D	In-phase and Quadrature

36. - E7G08

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

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

37. - E7H06

Which of the following oscillator circuits are commonly used in VFOs?

Select	Answer
A	Pierce and Zener
B	Negative feedback and balanced feedback
C	Colpitts and Hartley
D	Armstrong and deForest

38. - E8A09

How many levels can an analog-to-digital converter with 8 bit resolution encode?

Select	Answer
A	8 multiplied by the gain of the input amplifier
B	8
C	256 divided by the gain of the input amplifier
D	256

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	Quieting index
B	FM compressibility
C	Modulation index
D	Percentage of modulation

40. - E8C02

What is the definition of symbol rate in a digital transmission?

Select	Answer
A	The number of characters carried per second by the station-to-station link
B	The number of control characters in a message packet
C	The rate at which the waveform of a transmitted signal changes to convey information
D	The duration of each bit in a message sent over the air

41. - E8D04

What is the primary effect of extremely short rise or fall time on a CW signal?

Select	Answer
A	The generation of key clicks
B	Limits data speed
C	More difficult to copy
D	The generation of RF harmonics

42. - E9A17

What is the effective radiated power of a repeater station with 200 watts transmitter power output, 2 dB feed line loss, 2.8 dB duplexer loss, 1.2 dB circulator loss, and 7 dBi antenna gain?

Select	Answer
A	159 watts
B	632 watts
C	252 watts
D	63.2 watts

43. - E9B12

What is the far field of an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	The region where radiated field strengths are obstructed by objects of reflection
B	The region of the ionosphere where radiated power is not refracted
C	The region where radiated power dissipates over a specified time period
D	The region where the shape of the antenna pattern is independent of distance

44. - E9C06

What is the effect of a terminating resistor on a rhombic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It changes the radiation pattern from horizontal to vertical polarization
B	It decreases the ground loss
C	It changes the radiation pattern from bidirectional to unidirectional
D	It reflects the standing waves on the antenna elements back to the transmitter

45. - E9D12

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

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

46. - E9E12

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

Select	Answer
A	It ensures that each driven element operates in concert with the others to create the desired antenna pattern
B	It makes sure the antenna has a low-angle radiation 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. - E9F10

What impedance does a 1/8 wavelength transmission line present to a generator when the line is shorted at the far end?

Select	Answer
A	An inductive reactance
B	A capacitive reactance
C	The same as the characteristic impedance of the line
D	The same as the input impedance to the final generator stage

48. - E9G04

What are the two families of circles and arcs that make up a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Resistance and voltage
B	Voltage and impedance
C	Reactance and voltage
D	Resistance and reactance

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	All of these choices are correct
C	Low loss coax transmission line is essential for good performance
D	They must be erected at least 1/2 wavelength above the ground to attain good directivity

50. - E0A08

What does SAR measure?

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

Figure E5-2