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

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1. - E0A08

What does SAR measure?

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

2. - E1A08

If a station in a message forwarding system inadvertently forwards a message that is in violation of FCC rules, who is primarily accountable for the rules violation?

Select	Answer
A	The control operator of the packet bulletin board station
B	The control operators of all the stations in the system not authenticating the source from which they accept communications
C	The control operators of all the stations in the system
D	The control operator of the originating station

3. - E1B09

Which amateur stations may be operated under RACES rules?

Select	Answer
A	Any FCC-licensed amateur station participating in the Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS)
B	Any FCC-licensed amateur station certified by the responsible civil defense organization for the area served
C	Only those club stations licensed to Amateur Extra Class operators
D	Any FCC-licensed amateur station except a Technician Class

4. - E1C03

How do the control operator responsibilities of a station under automatic control differ from one under local control?

Select	Answer
A	Under automatic control there is no control operator
B	Under local control a control operator is not required to be present at a control point
C	Under local control there is no control operator
D	Under automatic control the control operator is not required to be present at the control point

5. - E1D03

What is a space telecommand station?

Select	Answer
A	An amateur station that transmits communications to initiate, modify or terminate functions of a space station
B	An amateur station located on the surface of the Earth for communication with other Earth stations by means of Earth satellites
C	An amateur station that receives telemetry from a satellite or balloon more than 50 kilometers above the surface of the Earth
D	An amateur station located in a satellite or a balloon more than 50 kilometers above the surface of the Earth

6. - E1E10

What must the administering VEs do after the administration of a successful examination for an amateur operator license?

Select	Answer
A	They must submit the application document to the coordinating VEC according to the coordinating VEC instructions
B	They must collect and send the documents to the NCVEC for grading
C	They must collect and send the documents to the FCC according to instructions
D	They must collect and submit the documents to the coordinating VEC for grading

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 produce full legal output when driven by not more than 5 watts of mean RF input 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 satisfy the FCC's spurious emission standards when operated at the lesser of 1500 watts or its full output power

8. - E2A03

How is the signal inverted by an inverting linear transponder?

Select	Answer
A	The signal is detected and remodulated on the reverse sideband
B	The signal is reduced to I and Q components and the Q component is filtered out
C	The signal is passed through a mixer and the difference rather than the sum is transmitted
D	The signal is passed through a non-linear filter

9. - E2B07

What is the name of the signal component that carries color information in NTSC video?

Select	Answer
A	Chroma
B	Luminance
C	Spectral intensity
D	Hue

10. - E2C02

Which of the following best describes the term self-spotting? in connection with HF contest operating?

Select	Answer
A	The acceptable practice of manually posting the call signs of stations on a spotting network
B	A manual technique for rapidly zero beating or tuning to a station's frequency before calling that station
C	The often-prohibited practice of posting one's own call sign and frequency on a spotting network
D	An automatic method for rapidly zero beating or tuning to a station's frequency before calling that station

11. - E2D01

Which of the following digital modes is designed for meteor scatter communications?

Select	Answer
A	APRS
B	Hellschreiber
C	WSPR
D	MSK144

12. - E2E02

What do the letters FEC mean as they relate to digital operation?

Select	Answer
A	Final Error Correction
B	Forward Error Correction
C	Fatal Error Correction
D	First Error Correction

13. - E3A02

What characterizes libration fading of an EME signal?

Select	Answer
A	A gradual loss of signal as the sun rises
B	A slow change in the pitch of the CW signal
C	A fluttery irregular fading
D	The returning echo is several hertz lower in frequency than the transmitted signal

14. - E3B01

What is transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Propagation between points located on the magnetic equator
B	Propagation between a point on the equator and its antipodal point
C	Propagation between points at the same latitude
D	Propagation between two mid-latitude points at approximately the same distance north and south of the magnetic equator

15. - E3C14

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

Select	Answer
A	D-region skip
B	Downward bending due to density variations in the atmosphere
C	Due to the Doppler effect
D	E-region skip

16. - E4A11

How should an antenna analyzer be connected when measuring antenna resonance and feed point impedance?

Select	Answer
A	Connect the analyzer via a high-impedance transformer to the antenna
B	Connect the antenna feed line directly to the analyzer's connector
C	Loosely couple the antenna and a dummy load to the analyzer
D	Loosely couple the analyzer near the antenna base

17. - E4B01

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

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

18. - E4C01

What is an effect of excessive phase noise in a receiver's local oscillator?

Select	Answer
A	It can affect the receiver's frequency calibration
B	It limits the receiver's ability to receive strong signals
C	It decreases receiver third-order intercept point
D	It can combine with strong signals on nearby frequencies to generate interference

19. - E4D12

What is the term for the reduction in receiver sensitivity caused by a strong signal near the received frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Cross-modulation interference
B	Quieting
C	Desensitization
D	Squelch gain rollback

20. - E4E03

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

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

21. - E5A16

What is the resonant frequency of an RLC circuit if R is 33 ohms, L is 50 microhenries and C is 10 picofarads?

Select	Answer
A	23.5 kHz
B	7.12 kHz
C	23.5 MHz
D	7.12 MHz

22. - E5B09

What is the relationship between the AC current through a capacitor and the voltage across a capacitor?

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

23. - E5C04

What coordinate system is often used to display the resistive, inductive, and/or capacitive reactance components of impedance?

Select	Answer
A	Faraday grid
B	Maidenhead grid
C	Elliptical coordinates
D	Rectangular coordinates

24. - E5D08

How many watts are consumed in a circuit having a power factor of 0.6 if the input is 200VAC at 5 amperes?

Select	Answer
A	600 watts
B	1000 watts
C	1600 watts
D	200 watts

25. - E6A06

What is the beta of a bipolar junction transistor?

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

26. - 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	Longer carrier retention time
B	Less forward voltage drop
C	More constant reverse avalanche voltage
D	Much higher reverse voltage breakdown

27. - E6C11

In Figure E6-3, what is the schematic symbol for the NOT operation (inverter)?

Select	Answer
A	5
B	6
C	2
D	4

28. - E6D13

What is the primary cause of inductor self-resonance?

Select	Answer
A	Inductive kickback
B	Inter-turn capacitance
C	The skin effect
D	Non-linear core hysteresis

29. - E6E08

How is power supplied to the most common type of MMIC?

Select	Answer
A	Through a resistor and/or RF choke connected to the amplifier output lead
B	Through a capacitor and RF choke connected to the amplifier input lead
C	Directly to the bias voltage (VCC IN) lead
D	MMICs require no operating bias

30. - E6F11

What is the approximate open-circuit voltage produced by a fully illuminated silicon photovoltaic cell?

Select	Answer
A	1.5 V
B	12 V
C	0.1 V
D	0.5 V

31. - E7A06

What is a characteristic of a monostable multivibrator?

Select	Answer
A	It stores one bit of data in either a 0 or 1 state
B	It maintains a constant output voltage, regardless of variations in the input voltage
C	It produces a continuous square wave oscillating between 1 and 0
D	It switches momentarily to the opposite binary state and then returns to its original state after a set time

32. - E7B02

What is a Class D amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	An amplifier that uses drift-mode FETs for high efficiency
B	A type of amplifier that uses switching technology to achieve high efficiency
C	A low power amplifier that uses a differential amplifier for improved linearity
D	A frequency doubling amplifier

33. - E7C02

Which of the following is a property of a T-network with series capacitors and a parallel shunt inductor?

Select	Answer
A	It is a high-pass filter
B	It is a notch filter
C	It is a band-pass filter
D	It is a low-pass filter

34. - E7D01

How does a linear electronic voltage regulator work?

Select	Answer
A	It eliminates the need for a pass transistor
B	It has a ramp voltage as its output
C	The conduction of a control element is varied to maintain a constant output voltage
D	The control element duty cycle is proportional to the line or load conditions

35. - E7E07

What is meant by the term "baseband" in radio communications?

Select	Answer
A	The unmodulated bandwidth of the transmitted signal
B	The lowest frequency band that the transmitter or receiver covers
C	The basic oscillator frequency in an FM transmitter that is multiplied to increase the deviation and carrier frequency
D	The frequency range occupied by a message signal prior to modulation

36. - E7F05

How frequently must an analog signal be sampled by an analog-to-digital converter so that the signal can be accurately reproduced?

Select	Answer
A	At the same rate as the highest frequency component of the signal
B	At four times the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal
C	At least twice the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal
D	At least half the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal

37. - E7G09

What will be the output voltage of the circuit shown in Figure E7-3 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	-2.3 volts
D	0.23 volts

38. - E7H14

What is a phase-locked loop circuit?

Select	Answer
A	An electronic circuit consisting of a precision push-pull amplifier with a differential input
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 servo loop consisting of a phase detector, a low-pass filter, a voltage-controlled oscillator, and a stable reference oscillator

39. - E8A04

What is "dither" with respect to analog-to-digital converters?

Select	Answer
A	An abnormal condition where the converter cannot settle on a value to represent the signal
B	A small amount of noise added to the input signal to allow more precise representation of a signal over time
C	An error caused by irregular quantization step size
D	A method of decimation by randomly skipping samples

40. - E8B11

What is digital time division multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	Two or more signals are quadrature modulated to increase bandwidth efficiency
B	Two or more data streams are assigned to discrete sub-carriers on an FM transmitter
C	Two or more signals are arranged to share discrete time slots of a data transmission
D	Two or more data streams share the same channel by transmitting time of transmission as the sub-carrier

41. - E8C09

Which digital code allows only one bit to change between sequential code values?

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

42. - E8D06

What is the advantage of including parity bits in ASCII characters?

Select	Answer
A	Faster transmission rate
B	The signal can overpower interfering signals
C	Foreign language characters can be sent
D	Some types of errors can be detected

43. - E9A12

How much gain does an antenna have compared to a 1/2-wavelength dipole when it has 6 dB gain over an isotropic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	8.15 dB
B	6.0 dB
C	3.85 dB
D	2.79 dB

44. - E9B10

What is the principle of a Method of Moments analysis?

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

45. - E9C02

What is the radiation pattern of two 1/4-wavelength vertical antennas spaced 1/4 wavelength apart and fed 90 degrees out of phase?

Select	Answer
A	A figure-8 end-fire along the axis of the array
B	Omni-directional
C	Cardioid
D	A figure-8 broadside to the axis of the array

46. - 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	Stack two Yagis fed 90 degrees out of phase to form an array with the respective elements in parallel planes
D	Arrange two Yagis collinear to each other with the driven elements fed 180 degrees out of phase

47. - E9E01

What system matches a higher-impedance transmission line to a lower-impedance antenna by connecting the line to the driven element in two places spaced a fraction of a wavelength each side of element center?

Select	Answer
A	The omega matching system
B	The gamma matching system
C	The stub matching system
D	The delta matching system

48. - 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	The same as the characteristic impedance of the line
B	Zero
C	An inductive reactance
D	A capacitive reactance

49. - 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	Prime axis
B	Polar axis
C	Impedance axis
D	Reactance axis

50. - E9H07

Why is RF attenuation used when direction-finding?

Select	Answer
A	To increase receiver sensitivity
B	To compensate for isotropic directivity and the antenna effect of feed lines
C	To narrow the receiver bandwidth
D	To prevent receiver overload which reduces pattern nulls

Figure E6-3

Figure E7-3

Figure E9-3