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

2. - E1B01

Which of the following constitutes a spurious emission?

Select	Answer
A	An amateur station transmission made at random without the proper call sign identification
B	An emission outside its necessary bandwidth that can be reduced or eliminated without affecting the information transmitted
C	A signal transmitted to prevent its detection by any station other than the intended recipient
D	Any transmitted signal that unintentionally interferes with another licensed radio station

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	You must bring a copy of FCC Public Notice DA 11-221
C	You must identify in the official language of the country in which you are operating
D	The U.S. embassy must approve of your operation

4. - E1D10

Which amateur stations are eligible to be telecommand stations?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	Any amateur station designated by NASA
C	Any amateur station so designated by the space station licensee, subject to the privileges of the class of operator license held by the control operator
D	Any amateur station so designated by the ITU

5. - E1E07

What should a VE do if a candidate fails to comply with the examiner's instructions during an amateur operator license examination?

Select	Answer
A	Immediately terminate everyone's examination and close the session
B	Warn the candidate that continued failure to comply will result in termination of the examination
C	Immediately terminate the candidate's examination
D	Allow the candidate to complete the examination, but invalidate the results

6. - E1F10

What is the maximum permitted transmitter peak envelope power for an amateur station transmitting spread spectrum communications?

Select	Answer
A	10 W
B	1.5 kW
C	1 W
D	1.5 W

7. - E2A05

What do the letters in a satellite's mode designator specify?

Select	Answer
A	The location of the ground control station
B	The uplink and downlink frequency ranges
C	The polarization of uplink and downlink signals
D	Power limits for uplink and downlink transmissions

8. - E2B12

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

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

9. - E2C08

Which of the following contacts may be confirmed through the U.S. QSL bureau system?

Select	Answer
A	Repeater contacts between U.S. club members
B	Contacts using tactical call signs
C	Special event contacts between stations in the U.S.
D	Contacts between a U.S. station and a non-U.S. station

10. - E2D08

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

Select	Answer
A	Disconnect
B	Acknowledgement
C	Unnumbered Information
D	Connect

11. - E2E03

How is the timing of JT65 contacts organized?

Select	Answer
A	By exchanging ACK/NAK packets
B	It depends on the lunar phase
C	Alternating transmissions at 1 minute intervals
D	Stations take turns on alternate days

12. - E3A03

When scheduling EME contacts, which of these conditions will generally result in the least path loss?

Select	Answer
A	When the MUF is above 30 MHz
B	When the Moon is full
C	When the Moon is at perigee
D	When the Moon is at apogee

13. - E3B03

What is the best time of day for transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Morning
B	Late at night
C	Noon
D	Afternoon or early evening

14. - E3C05

What orientation of Bz (B sub z) increases the likelihood that incoming particles from the Sun will cause disturbed conditions?

Select	Answer
A	Eastward
B	Northward
C	Westward
D	Southward

15. - E4A04

What determines the upper frequency limit for a computer soundcard-based oscilloscope program?

Select	Answer
A	Analog-to-digital conversion speed of the soundcard
B	Amount of memory on the soundcard
C	All of these choices are correct
D	Q of the interface of the interface circuit

16. - E4B14

What happens if a dip meter is too tightly coupled to a tuned circuit being checked?

Select	Answer
A	Cross modulation occurs
B	Intermodulation distortion occurs
C	A less accurate reading results
D	Harmonics are generated

17. - E4C16

Which of the following is caused by missing codes in an SDR receiver's analog-to-digital converter?

Select	Answer
A	Loss of sensitivity
B	Distortion
C	Overload
D	Excess output level

18. - E4D07

Which describes the most significant effect of an off-frequency signal when it is causing cross-modulation interference to a desired signal?

Select	Answer
A	The desired signal can no longer be heard
B	The off-frequency unwanted signal is heard in addition to the desired signal
C	A reduction in apparent signal strength
D	A large increase in background noise

19. - E4E03

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

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

20. - E5A05

What is the magnitude of the current at the input of a series RLC circuit as the frequency goes through resonance?

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

21. - E5B10

What is the relationship between the current through an inductor and the voltage across an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Voltage and current are 180 degrees out of phase
B	Voltage leads current by 90 degrees
C	Current leads voltage by 90 degrees
D	Voltage and current are in phase

22. - E5C04

Which of the following represents a capacitive reactance in polar coordinates?

Select	Answer
A	A negative phase angle
B	A positive real part
C	A negative real part
D	A positive phase angle

23. - E5D14

What is reactive power?

Select	Answer
A	Power lost because of capacitor leakage
B	Power consumed in wire resistance in an inductor
C	Wattless, nonproductive power
D	Power consumed in circuit Q

24. - E6A03

Why does a PN-junction diode not conduct current when reverse biased?

Select	Answer
A	Holes in P-type material and electrons in the N-type material are separated by the applied voltage, widening the depletion region
B	Excess holes in P-type material combine with the electrons in N-type material, converting the entire diode into an insulator
C	Only N-type semiconductor material can conduct current
D	Only P-type semiconductor material can conduct current

25. - E6B11

What is used to control the attenuation of RF signals by a PIN diode?

Select	Answer
A	Capacitance of an RF coupling capacitor
B	Forward DC bias current
C	Reverse voltage larger than the RF signal
D	A sub-harmonic pump signal

26. - E6C10

In Figure E6-5, what is the schematic symbol for a NOR gate?

Select	Answer
A	2
B	3
C	4
D	1

27. - E6D10

What is a primary advantage of using a toroidal core instead of a solenoidal core in an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Toroidal cores confine most of the magnetic field within the core material
B	Toroidal cores make it easier to couple the magnetic energy into other components
C	Toroidal cores have lower Q characteristics
D	Toroidal cores exhibit greater hysteresis

28. - E6E07

Which of the following is typically used to construct a MMIC-based microwave amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	Wave-soldering construction
B	Ground-plane construction
C	Microstrip construction
D	Point-to-point construction

29. - E6F12

What absorbs the energy from light falling on a photovoltaic cell?

Select	Answer
A	Electrons
B	Photons
C	Holes
D	Protons

30. - E7A05

Which of the following is a circuit that continuously alternates between two states without an external clock?

Select	Answer
A	J-K flip-flop
B	T flip-flop
C	Monostable multivibrator
D	Astable multivibrator

31. - E7B15

What is one way to prevent thermal runaway in a bipolar transistor amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	Use a resistor in series with the emitter
C	Neutralization
D	Select transistors with high beta

32. - E7C05

Which filter type is described as having ripple in the passband and a sharp cutoff?

Select	Answer
A	A Chebyshev filter
B	A passive op-amp filter
C	An active LC filter
D	A Butterworth filter

33. - E7D13

What is the equation for calculating power dissipation by a series connected linear voltage regulator?

Select	Answer
A	Input voltage multiplied by input current
B	Voltage difference from input to output multiplied by output current
C	Output voltage multiplied by output current
D	Input voltage divided by output current

34. - E7E07

What is meant by the term baseband in radio communications?

Select	Answer
A	The frequency components present in the modulating signal
B	The basic oscillator frequency in an FM transmitter that is multiplied to increase the deviation and carrier frequency
C	The lowest frequency band that the transmitter or receiver covers
D	The unmodulated bandwidth of the transmitted signal

35. - E7F09

Why is an anti-aliasing digital filter required in a digital decimator?

Select	Answer
A	It removes low frequency signal components to eliminate the need for DC restoration
B	It peaks the response of the decimator, improving bandwidth
C	It removes high-frequency signal components which would otherwise be reproduced as lower frequency components
D	It notches out the sampling frequency to avoid sampling errors

36. - E7G10

What absolute voltage gain can be expected from the circuit in Figure E7-4 when R1 is 1800 ohms and RF is 68 kilohms?

Select	Answer
A	76
B	1
C	38
D	0.03

37. - E7H12

Which of the following must be done to insure that a crystal oscillator provides the frequency specified by the crystal manufacturer?

Select	Answer
A	Bias the crystal at a specified voltage
B	Provide the crystal with a specified parallel capacitance
C	Bias the crystal at a specified current
D	Provide the crystal with a specified parallel inductance

38. - E8A08

Why would a direct or flash conversion analog-to-digital converter be useful for a software defined radio?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	Very high speed allows digitizing high frequencies
C	Very low power consumption decreases frequency drift
D	Immunity to out of sequence coding reduces spurious responses

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

40. - E8C10

What is an advantage of Gray code in digital communications where symbols are transmitted as multiple bits

Select	Answer
A	It increases security
B	It has more resolution than simple binary
C	It facilitates error detection
D	It has more possible states than simple binary

41. - E8D04

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

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

42. - E9A04

Which of the following factors may affect the feed point impedance of an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	Transmission-line length
B	Sunspot activity and time of day
C	The settings of an antenna tuner at the transmitter
D	Antenna height, conductor length/diameter ratio and location of nearby conductive objects

43. - E9B10

What is the principle of a Method of Moments analysis?

Select	Answer
A	A wire is modeled as a single sine-wave current generator
B	A wire is modeled as a series of points, each having a distinct location in space
C	A wire is modeled as a series of segments, each having a distinct value of voltage across it
D	A wire is modeled as a series of segments, each having a uniform value of current

44. - E9C13

What is the main effect of placing a vertical antenna over an imperfect ground?

Select	Answer
A	It causes increased SWR
B	It reduces low-angle radiation
C	It reduces losses in the radiating portion of the antenna
D	It changes the impedance angle of the matching network

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

46. - E9E10

Which of these choices is an effective way to match an antenna with a 100 ohm feed point impedance to a 50 ohm coaxial cable feed line?

Select	Answer
A	Connect a 1/4-wavelength open stub of 300 ohm twin-lead in parallel with the coaxial feed line where it connects to the antenna
B	Connect 1/2 wavelength shorted stub of 75 ohm cable in parallel with the 50 ohm cable where it attaches to the antenna
C	Insert a 1/4-wavelength piece of 75 ohm coaxial cable transmission line in series between the antenna terminals and the 50 ohm feed cable
D	Insert a 1/2 wavelength piece of 300 ohm twin-lead in series between the antenna terminals and the 50 ohm feed cable

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	Velocity factor
B	Surge impedance
C	Standing wave ratio
D	Characteristic impedance

48. - E9G06

On the Smith chart shown in Figure E9-3, what is the name for the large outer circle on which the reactance arcs terminate?

Select	Answer
A	Reactance axis
B	Polar axis
C	Prime axis
D	Impedance axis

49. - E9H11

What characteristic of a cardioid pattern antenna is useful for direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	A very sharp peak
B	A very sharp single null
C	High-radiation angle
D	Broad band response

50. - E0A02

When evaluating RF exposure levels from your station at a neighbor's home, what must you do?

Select	Answer
A	Make sure signals from your station are less than the uncontrolled MPE limits
B	Make sure signals from your station are less than the controlled MPE limits
C	Advise your neighbors of the results of your tests
D	You need only evaluate exposure levels on your own property

Figure E6-5

Figure E7-4

Figure E9-3