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

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1. - E1A09

What is the first action you should take if your digital message forwarding station inadvertently forwards a communication that violates FCC rules?

Select	Answer
A	Notify the nearest FCC Field Engineer's office
B	Discontinue forwarding all messages
C	Notify the originating station that the communication does not comply with FCC rules
D	Discontinue forwarding the communication as soon as you become aware of it

2. - E1B05

What is the National Radio Quiet Zone?

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

3. - E1C06

Which of the following statements concerning remotely controlled amateur stations is true?

Select	Answer
A	A control operator need not be present at the control point
B	Repeater and auxiliary stations may not be remotely controlled
C	A control operator must be present at the control point
D	Only Extra Class operators may be the control operator of a remote station

4. - E1D05

What class of licensee is authorized to be the control operator of a space station?

Select	Answer
A	Any class with appropriate operator privileges
B	Only Amateur Extra Class
C	Only General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class
D	All except Technician Class

5. - E1E12

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

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

6. - E1F02

What privileges are authorized in the U.S. to persons holding an amateur service license granted by the Government of Canada?

Select	Answer
A	All privileges of the Extra Class license
B	None, they must obtain a U.S. license
C	Full privileges, up to and including those of the Extra Class License, on the 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter bands
D	The operating terms and conditions of the Canadian amateur service license, not to exceed U.S. Extra Class privileges

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

8. - E2B05

Which of the following is an advantage of using vestigial sideband for standard fast- scan TV transmissions?

Select	Answer
A	The vestigial sideband contains chroma information
B	Vestigial sideband reduces bandwidth while allowing for simple video detector circuitry
C	Vestigial sideband provides high frequency emphasis to sharpen the picture
D	The vestigial sideband carries the audio information

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	Because the DX station may be transmitting on a frequency that is prohibited to some responding stations
C	To improve operating efficiency by reducing interference
D	To separate the calling stations from the DX station

10. - E2D02

Which of the following is a good technique for making meteor scatter contacts?

Select	Answer
A	All of these choices are correct
B	Short transmission with rapidly repeated call signs and signal reports
C	15 second timed transmission sequences with stations alternating based on location
D	Use of high speed CW or digital modes

11. - E2E01

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

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

12. - E3A14

From the contiguous 48 states, in which approximate direction should an antenna be pointed to take maximum advantage of aurora propagation?

Select	Answer
A	South
B	North
C	East
D	West

13. - E3B10

What is the cause of gray-line propagation?

Select	Answer
A	In darkness, solar absorption drops greatly while atmospheric ionization remains steady
B	At twilight and sunrise, D-layer absorption is low while E-layer and F-layer propagation remains high
C	At mid-afternoon, the Sun heats the ionosphere decreasing radio wave refraction and the MUF
D	At midday, the Sun super heats the ionosphere causing increased refraction of radio waves

14. - E3C07

Which of the following descriptors indicates the greatest solar flare intensity?

Select	Answer
A	Class A
B	Class X
C	Class M
D	Class B

15. - E4A12

Which of the following procedures is an important precaution to follow when connecting a spectrum analyzer to a transmitter output?

Select	Answer
A	Attenuate the transmitter output going to the spectrum analyzer
B	Use high quality double shielded coaxial cables to reduce signal losses
C	All of these choices are correct
D	Match the antenna to the load

16. - E4B05

If a frequency counter with a specified accuracy of +/- 10 ppm reads 146,520,000 Hz, what is the most the actual frequency being measured could differ from the reading?

Select	Answer
A	146.52 kHz
B	1465.20 Hz
C	146.52 Hz
D	10 Hz

17. - E4C08

An SDR receiver is overloaded when input signals exceed what level?

Select	Answer
A	The maximum count value of the analog-to-digital converter
B	One-half the maximum sampling buffer size
C	One-half the maximum sample rate
D	The reference voltage of the analog-to-digital converter

18. - E4D13

Which of the following can cause receiver desensitization?

Select	Answer
A	Audio gain adjusted too low
B	Strong adjacent channel signals
C	Squelch gain misadjusted
D	Audio bias adjusted too high

19. - E4E08

What type of signal is picked up by electrical wiring near a radio antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A common-mode signal at the frequency of the radio transmitter
B	Harmonics of the AC power line frequency
C	An electrical-sparking signal
D	A differential-mode signal at the AC power line frequency

20. - E5A01

What can cause the voltage across reactances in series to be larger than the voltage applied to them?

Select	Answer
A	Resonance
B	Capacitance
C	Resistance
D	Conductance

21. - E5B01

What is the term for the time required for the capacitor in an RC circuit to be charged to 63.2% of the applied voltage?

Select	Answer
A	One time constant
B	A time factor of one
C	An exponential rate of one
D	One exponential period

22. - E5C17

Which point on Figure E5-2 best represents the impedance of a series circuit consisting of a 300 ohm resistor, a 0.64-microhenry inductor and an 85-picofarad capacitor at 24.900 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	Point 8
B	Point 5
C	Point 1
D	Point 3

23. - E5D07

What determines the strength of the magnetic field around a conductor?

Select	Answer
A	The resistance divided by the current
B	The diameter of the conductor
C	The amount of current flowing through the conductor
D	The ratio of the current to the resistance

24. - E6A03

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

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

25. - E6B13

What type of bias is required for an LED to emit light?

Select	Answer
A	Inductive bias
B	Reverse bias
C	Forward bias
D	Zero bias

26. - E6C04

What is the primary advantage of tri-state logic?

Select	Answer
A	Ability to connect many device outputs to a common bus
B	High speed operation
C	Low power consumption
D	More efficient arithmetic operations

27. - E6D16

What is the common name for a capacitor connected across a transformer secondary that is used to absorb transient voltage spikes?

Select	Answer
A	Snubber capacitor
B	Clipper capacitor
C	Trimmer capacitor
D	Feedback capacitor

28. - E6E07

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

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

29. - E6F03

What is the most common configuration of an optoisolator or optocoupler?

Select	Answer
A	A frequency modulated helium-neon laser
B	An LED and a phototransistor
C	An amplitude modulated helium-neon laser
D	A lens and a photomultiplier

30. - E7A10

What is a truth table?

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

31. - E7B17

Why are odd-order rather than even-order intermodulation distortion products of concern in linear power amplifiers?

Select	Answer
A	Because they maintain the sidebands, thus causing multiple duplicate signals
B	Because they are relatively far in frequency from the desired signal
C	Because they are relatively close in frequency to the desired signal
D	Because they invert the sidebands causing distortion

32. - E7C06

What are the distinguishing features of an elliptical filter?

Select	Answer
A	Gradual passband rolloff with minimal stop band ripple
B	Extremely flat response over its pass band with gradually rounded stop band corners
C	Extremely sharp cutoff with one or more notches in the stop band
D	Gradual passband rolloff with extreme stop band ripple

33. - E7D09

What is the main reason to use a charge controller with a solar power system?

Select	Answer
A	Matching of day and night charge rates
B	Control of electrolyte levels during battery discharge
C	Prevention of battery damage due to overcharge
D	Prevention of battery undercharge

34. - E7E02

What is the function of a reactance modulator?

Select	Answer
A	To produce AM signals by using an electrically variable inductance or capacitance
B	To produce PM signals by using an electrically variable resistance
C	To produce PM signals by using an electrically variable inductance or capacitance
D	To produce AM signals by using an electrically variable resistance

35. - E7F17

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

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

36. - E7G06

Which of the following is the most appropriate use of an op-amp active filter?

Select	Answer
A	As an audio filter in a receiver
B	As a low-pass filter used between a transmitter and a transmission line
C	As a high-pass filter used to block RFI at the input to receivers
D	For smoothing power supply output

37. - E7H14

What is a phase-locked loop circuit?

Select	Answer
A	An electronic servo loop consisting of a phase detector, a low-pass filter, a voltage-controlled oscillator, and a stable reference oscillator
B	An electronic servo loop consisting of a ratio detector, reactance modulator, and voltage-controlled oscillator
C	An electronic circuit also known as a monostable multivibrator
D	An electronic circuit consisting of a precision push-pull amplifier with a differential input

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 sawtooth wave
C	A square wave
D	A cosine wave

39. - E8B05

What is the deviation ratio of an FM-phone signal having a maximum frequency swing of plus-or-minus 5 kHz when the maximum modulation frequency is 3 kHz?

Select	Answer
A	60
B	0.6
C	0.167
D	1.67

40. - E8C09

Which is the name of a digital code where each preceding or following character changes by only one bit?

Select	Answer
A	Excess 3 code
B	Binary Coded Decimal Code
C	Gray code
D	Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code

41. - E8D09

What is considered a good minimum IMD level for an idling PSK signal?

Select	Answer
A	+10 dB
B	-30 dB
C	+15 dB
D	-20 dB

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

43. - E9B07

How does the total amount of radiation emitted by a directional gain antenna compare with the total amount of radiation emitted from an isotropic antenna, assuming each is driven by the same amount of power?

Select	Answer
A	They are the same
B	The radiation from the isotropic antenna is 2.15 dB stronger than that from the directional antenna
C	The total amount of radiation from the directional antenna is stronger by its front-to-back ratio
D	The total amount of radiation from the directional antenna is increased by the gain of the antenna

44. - E9C09

What is a G5RV antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A phased array antenna consisting of multiple loops
B	A wide band dipole using shorted coaxial cable for the radiating elements and fed with a 4:1 balun
C	A multi-band dipole antenna fed with coax and a balun through a selected length of open wire transmission line
D	A multi-band trap antenna

45. - E9D02

How can linearly polarized Yagi antennas be used to produce circular polarization?

Select	Answer
A	Stack two Yagis fed in phase to form an array with the respective elements in parallel planes
B	Arrange two Yagis perpendicular to each other with the driven elements at the same point on the boom fed 90 degrees out of phase
C	Arrange two Yagis collinear to each other with the driven elements fed 180 degrees out of phase
D	Stack two Yagis fed 90 degrees out of phase to form an array with the respective elements in parallel planes

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 1/2 wavelength shorted stub of 75 ohm cable in parallel with the 50 ohm cable where it attaches to the antenna
B	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
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. - E9F12

What impedance does a 1/4 wavelength transmission line present to a generator when the line is open at the far end?

Select	Answer
A	The same as the characteristic impedance of the line
B	Very low impedance
C	The same as the input impedance to the generator
D	Very high impedance

48. - E9G03

Which of the following is often determined using a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Impedance and SWR values in transmission lines
B	Trigonometric functions
C	Satellite azimuth and elevation bearings
D	Beam headings and radiation patterns

49. - E9H11

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

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

50. - E0A07

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

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

Figure E5-2