US Amateur Radio - Amateur Extra (Element 4, 2020-2024) Practice Test

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1. - E0A01

What is the primary function of an external earth connection or ground rod?

Select	Answer
A	Reduce received noise
B	Lightning protection
C	Reduce RFI to telephones and home entertainment systems
D	Reduce RF current flow between pieces of equipment

2. - 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	3 kHz above the lower band edge
B	300 Hz above the lower band edge
C	The exact lower band edge
D	1 kHz above the lower band edge

3. - E1B11

What does PRB-1 require of regulations affecting amateur radio?

Select	Answer
A	Amateur radio operations must be permitted in any private residence
B	Use of wireless devices in a vehicle is exempt from regulation
C	No limitations may be placed on antenna size or placement
D	Reasonable accommodations of amateur radio must be made

4. - E1C05

When may an automatically controlled station originate third party communications?

Select	Answer
A	When agreed upon by the sending or receiving station
B	Never
C	When approved by the National Telecommunication and Information Administration
D	Only when transmitting RTTY or data emissions

5. - E1D06

What is the maximum permitted transmitter output power when operating a model craft by telecommand?

Select	Answer
A	5 watts
B	100 watts
C	1 watt
D	2 watts

6. - E1E04

Which of the following best describes the Volunteer Examiner accreditation process?

Select	Answer
A	The prospective VE obtains accreditation from the FCC
B	The procedure by which a VEC confirms that the VE applicant meets FCC requirements to serve as an examiner
C	Each General, Advanced and Amateur Extra Class operator is automatically accredited as a VE when the license is granted
D	The amateur operator applying must pass a VE examination administered by the FCC Enforcement Bureau

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

8. - E2A04

What is meant by the term mode? as applied to an amateur radio satellite?

Select	Answer
A	The satellite's uplink and downlink frequency bands
B	Whether the satellite is in a low earth or geostationary orbit
C	Whether the satellite is in a polar or equatorial orbit
D	The satellite's orientation with respect to the Earth

9. - E2B08

What technique allows commercial analog TV receivers to be used for fast-scan TV operations on the 70 cm band?

Select	Answer
A	Transmitting on channels shared with cable TV
B	Using USB and demodulating the signal with a computer sound card
C	Using converted satellite TV dishes
D	Transmitting on the abandoned TV channel 2

10. - E2C12

What technique do individual nodes use to form a mesh network?

Select	Answer
A	Custom code plugs for the local trunking systems
B	Discovery and link establishment protocols
C	Acting as store-and-forward digipeaters
D	Forward error correction and Viterbi codes

11. - E2D08

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

Select	Answer
A	Acknowledgement
B	Connect
C	Unnumbered Information
D	Disconnect

12. - E2E11

What is the difference between direct FSK and audio FSK?

Select	Answer
A	Direct FSK applies the data signal to the transmitter VFO, while AFSK transmits tones via phone
B	Only direct FSK can be decoded by computer
C	Direct FSK can transmit faster baud rates
D	Direct FSK occupies less bandwidth

13. - E3A09

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

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

14. - E3B03

What is the best time of day for transequatorial propagation?

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

15. - E3C01

What does the radio communication term "ray tracing" describe?

Select	Answer
A	The process in which an electronic display presents a pattern
B	Determining the radiation pattern from an array of antennas
C	Modeling a radio wave's path through the ionosphere
D	Evaluating high voltage sources for x-rays

16. - E4A08

Which of the following measures SWR?

Select	Answer
A	An ohmmeter
B	A spectrum analyzer
C	An antenna analyzer
D	A Q meter

17. - E4B10

Which of the following methods measures intermodulation distortion in an SSB transmitter?

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

18. - E4C13

How does a narrow-band roofing filter affect receiver performance?

Select	Answer
A	It improves intelligibility by using low Q circuitry to reduce ringing
B	It improves sensitivity by reducing front end noise
C	All these choices are correct
D	It improves dynamic range by attenuating strong signals near the receive frequency

19. - E4D04

Which of the following may reduce or eliminate intermodulation interference in a repeater caused by another transmitter operating in close proximity?

Select	Answer
A	A band-pass filter in the feed line between the transmitter and receiver
B	Utilizing a Class D final amplifier
C	Utilizing a Class C final amplifier
D	A properly terminated circulator at the output of the repeater's transmitter

20. - E4E01

What problem can occur when using an automatic notch filter (ANF) to remove interfering carriers while receiving CW signals?

Select	Answer
A	Ringing in the DSP filter will completely remove the spaces between the CW characters
B	Any nearby signal passing through the DSP system will overwhelm the desired signal
C	Removal of the CW signal as well as the interfering carrier
D	Received CW signals will appear to be modulated at the DSP clock frequency

21. - E5A03

What is the magnitude of the impedance of a series RLC circuit at resonance?

Select	Answer
A	Approximately equal to circuit resistance
B	Approximately equal to inductive reactance
C	Approximately equal to capacitive reactance
D	High, as compared to the circuit resistance

22. - E5B03

How is impedance in polar form converted to an equivalent admittance?

Select	Answer
A	Take the reciprocal of the angle and change the sign of the magnitude
B	Square the magnitude and subtract 90 degrees from the angle
C	Take the square root of the magnitude and add 180 degrees to the angle
D	Take the reciprocal of the magnitude and change the sign of the angle

23. - E5C01

Which of the following represents capacitive reactance in rectangular notation?

Select	Answer
A	+jX
B	Omega
C	Delta
D	-jX

24. - E5D03

What is microstrip?

Select	Answer
A	Precision printed circuit conductors above a ground plane that provide constant impedance interconnects at microwave frequencies
B	Lightweight transmission line made of common zip cord
C	Miniature coax used for low power applications
D	Short lengths of coax mounted on printed circuit boards to minimize time delay between microwave circuits

25. - E6A06

What is the beta of a bipolar junction transistor?

Select	Answer
A	The switching speed
B	The breakdown voltage of the base to collector junction
C	The change in collector current with respect to base current
D	The frequency at which the current gain is reduced to 0.707

26. - E6B04

What type of semiconductor device is designed for use as a voltage-controlled capacitor?

Select	Answer
A	Varactor diode
B	Silicon-controlled rectifier
C	Zener diode
D	Tunnel diode

27. - E6C01

What is the function of hysteresis in a comparator?

Select	Answer
A	To cause the output to change states continually
B	To allow the comparator to be used with AC input signals
C	To prevent input noise from causing unstable output signals
D	To increase the sensitivity

28. - E6D01

Why should core saturation of an impedance matching transformer be avoided?

Select	Answer
A	Magnetic flux would increase with frequency
B	RF susceptance would increase
C	Temporary changes of the core permeability could result
D	Harmonics and distortion could result

29. - E6E03

Which of the following materials is likely to provide the highest frequency of operation when used in MMICs?

Select	Answer
A	Silicon
B	Silicon dioxide
C	Silicon nitride
D	Gallium nitride

30. - E6F06

Which of these materials is most commonly used to create photoconductive devices?

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

31. - E7A03

Which of the following can divide the frequency of a pulse train by 2?

Select	Answer
A	An OR gate
B	A flip-flop
C	A multiplexer
D	An XOR gate

32. - E7B07

Which of the following is a likely result when a Class C amplifier is used to amplify a single-sideband phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	Increased overall intelligibility
B	Reduced intermodulation products
C	Signal inversion
D	Signal distortion and excessive bandwidth

33. - E7C12

What is one advantage of a Pi-matching network over an L-matching network consisting of a single inductor and a single capacitor?

Select	Answer
A	Pi-networks provide balanced input and output
B	Pi-networks are more stable
C	The Q of Pi-networks can be controlled
D	L-networks cannot perform impedance transformation

34. - 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	Prevention of battery undercharge
C	Control of electrolyte levels during battery discharge
D	Prevention of battery damage due to overcharge

35. - E7E01

Which of the following can be used to generate FM phone emissions?

Select	Answer
A	A reactance modulator on the oscillator
B	A balanced modulator on the oscillator
C	A reactance modulator on the final amplifier
D	A balanced modulator on the audio amplifier

36. - E7F06

What is the minimum number of bits required for an analog-to-digital converter to sample a signal with a range of 1 volt at a resolution of 1 millivolt?

Select	Answer
A	8 bits
B	6 bits
C	10 bits
D	4 bits

37. - E7G06

What is the gain-bandwidth of an operational amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	The frequency at which the amplifier's offset voltage is zero
B	The gain of the amplifier at a filter's cutoff frequency
C	The maximum frequency for a filter circuit using that type of amplifier
D	The frequency at which the open-loop gain of the amplifier equals one

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

39. - E8A09

How many different input levels can be encoded by an analog-to-digital converter with 8-bit resolution?

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

40. - E8B01

What is the modulation index of an FM signal?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of frequency deviation to modulating signal frequency
B	The bandwidth of the transmitted signal divided by the modulating signal frequency
C	The ratio of modulating signal amplitude to frequency deviation
D	The type of modulation used by the transmitter

41. - E8C08

How does ARQ accomplish error correction?

Select	Answer
A	If errors are detected, a retransmission is requested
B	Special binary codes provide automatic correction
C	If errors are detected, redundant data is substituted
D	Special polynomial codes provide automatic correction

42. - 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	Phase compandored spread spectrum
C	Binary phase-shift keying
D	Direct sequence

43. - E9A08

What is antenna bandwidth?

Select	Answer
A	The frequency range over which an antenna satisfies a performance requirement
B	Antenna length divided by the number of elements
C	The angle between the half-power radiation points
D	The angle formed between two imaginary lines drawn through the element ends

44. - E9B03

In the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-1, what is the front-to-side ratio?

Select	Answer
A	14 dB
B	24 dB
C	18 dB
D	12 dB

45. - E9C07

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

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

46. - E9D07

What is an advantage of using top loading in a shortened HF vertical antenna?

Select	Answer
A	Greater structural strength
B	Lower Q
C	Higher losses
D	Improved radiation efficiency

47. - E9E06

Which of these feed line impedances would be suitable for constructing a quarter-wave Q-section for matching a 100-ohm loop to 50-ohm feed line?

Select	Answer
A	75 ohms
B	50 ohms
C	62 ohms
D	450 ohms

48. - E9F06

What is the approximate physical length of an air-insulated, parallel conductor transmission line that is electrically 1/2 wavelength long at 14.10 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	10.6 meters
B	7.0 meters
C	13.3 meters
D	8.5 meters

49. - E9G05

Which of the following is a common use for a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Determine the loss/100 feet of a transmission line, given the velocity factor and conductor materials
B	Determine the impedance of a transmission line, given the physical dimensions
C	Determine the gain of an antenna given the physical and electrical parameters
D	Determine the length and position of an impedance matching stub

50. - E9H11

What feature of a cardioid pattern antenna makes it useful for direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	A very sharp peak
B	A very sharp single null
C	High radiation angle
D	Broadband response

Figure E9-1