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

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1. - E0A08

What does SAR measure?

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

2. - E1A10

If an amateur station is installed aboard a ship or aircraft, what condition must be met before the station is operated?

Select	Answer
A	The amateur station operator must agree not to transmit when the main radio of the ship or aircraft is in use
B	Its operation must be approved by the master of the ship or the pilot in command of the aircraft
C	The amateur operator must have an FCC Marine or Aircraft endorsement on his or her amateur license
D	The amateur station must have a power supply that is completely independent of the main ship or aircraft power supply

3. - E1B06

Which of the following additional rules apply if you are installing an amateur station antenna at a site at or near a public use airport?

Select	Answer
A	You must file an Environmental Impact Statement with the EPA before construction begins
B	You may have to notify the Federal Aviation Administration and register it with the FCC as required by Part 17 of the FCC rules
C	You must submit engineering drawings to the FAA
D	You must obtain a construction permit from the airport zoning authority

4. - E1C14

How long must an operator wait after filing a notification with the Utilities Technology Council (UTC) before operating on the 2200 meter or 630 meter band?

Select	Answer
A	Operators must not operate until approval is received
B	Operations may commence immediately, and may continue unless interference is reported by the UTC
C	Operators may not operate until a test signal has been transmitted in coordination with the local power company
D	Operators may operate after 30 days, providing they have not been told that their station is within 1 km of PLC systems using those frequencies

5. - E1D04

Which of the following is required in the identification transmissions from a balloon-borne telemetry station?

Select	Answer
A	The station's six-character Maidenhead grid locator
B	All these choices are correct
C	The output power of the balloon transmitter
D	Call sign

6. - E1E09

What may be the penalty for a VE who fraudulently administers or certifies an examination?

Select	Answer
A	Revocation of the VE's amateur station license grant and the suspension of the VE's amateur operator license grant
B	A fine of up to $1000 per occurrence
C	All these choices are correct
D	A sentence of up to one year in prison

7. - E1F04

Which of the following geographic descriptions approximately describes "Line A"?

Select	Answer
A	A line roughly parallel to and east of the U.S. Pacific coastline
B	A line roughly parallel to and north of the border between the U.S. and Mexico
C	A line roughly parallel to and west of the U.S. Atlantic coastline
D	A line roughly parallel to and south of the border between the U.S. and Canada

8. - E2A07

Which of the following types of signals can be relayed through a linear transponder?

Select	Answer
A	SSB and SSTV
B	FM and CW
C	PSK and packet
D	All these choices are correct

9. - E2B06

What is vestigial sideband modulation?

Select	Answer
A	Narrow-band FM modulation achieved by filtering one sideband from the audio before frequency modulating the carrier
B	A type of modulation in which one sideband is inverted
C	Amplitude modulation in which one complete sideband and a portion of the other are transmitted
D	Spread spectrum modulation achieved by applying FM modulation following single sideband amplitude modulation

10. - E2C08

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

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

11. - E2D03

Which of the following digital modes is especially useful for EME communications?

Select	Answer
A	PACTOR III
B	MSK144
C	JT65
D	Olivia

12. - E2E01

Which of the following types of modulation is common for data emissions below 30 MHz?

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

13. - E3A05

Tropospheric propagation of microwave signals often occurs in association with what phenomenon?

Select	Answer
A	Grayline
B	Warm and cold fronts
C	Lightning discharges
D	Sprites and jets

14. - E3B09

At what time of year is sporadic E propagation most likely to occur?

Select	Answer
A	Around the solstices, especially the winter solstice
B	Around the equinoxes, especially the fall equinox
C	Around the solstices, especially the summer solstice
D	Around the equinoxes, especially the spring equinox

15. - E3C09

How does the intensity of an X3 flare compare to that of an X2 flare?

Select	Answer
A	Four times as great
B	Twice as great
C	10 percent greater
D	50 percent greater

16. - E4A04

How is the compensation of an oscilloscope probe typically adjusted?

Select	Answer
A	A square wave is displayed and the probe is adjusted until the horizontal portions of the displayed wave are as nearly flat as possible
B	A high frequency sine wave is displayed and the probe is adjusted for maximum amplitude
C	A frequency standard is displayed and the probe is adjusted until the deflection time is accurate
D	A DC voltage standard is displayed and the probe is adjusted until the displayed voltage is accurate

17. - E4B05

What three test loads are used to calibrate an RF vector network analyzer?

Select	Answer
A	50 ohms through 1/8 wavelength, 1/4 wavelength, and 1/2 wavelength of coaxial cable
B	Short circuit, open circuit, and 50 ohms
C	50 ohms, 75 ohms, and 90 ohms
D	Short circuit, open circuit, and resonant circuit

18. - E4C08

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

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

19. - E4D07

Which of the following reduces the likelihood of receiver desensitization?

Select	Answer
A	Increase the receiver front end gain
B	Switch from fast AGC to slow AGC
C	Decrease the RF bandwidth of the receiver
D	Raise the receiver IF frequency

20. - E4E11

What could cause local AM broadcast band signals to combine to generate spurious signals in the MF or HF bands?

Select	Answer
A	You are receiving skywave signals from a distant station
B	Nearby corroded metal joints are mixing and re-radiating the broadcast signals
C	Your station receiver IF amplifier stage is defective
D	One or more of the broadcast stations is transmitting an over-modulated signal

21. - E5A03

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

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

22. - E5B11

What is the phase angle between the voltage across and the current through a series RLC circuit if XC is 25 ohms, R is 100 ohms, and XL is 50 ohms?

Select	Answer
A	14 degrees with the voltage leading the current
B	76 degrees with the voltage leading the current
C	14 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
D	76 degrees with the voltage lagging the current

23. - E5C11

Which point in Figure E5-1 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 7
B	Point 8
C	Point 3
D	Point 1

24. - E5D06

In what direction is the magnetic field oriented about a conductor in relation to the direction of electron flow?

Select	Answer
A	In the same direction as the current
B	In a circle around the conductor
C	In all directions; omni-directional
D	In a direction opposite to the current

25. - E6A08

What term indicates the frequency at which the grounded-base current gain of a transistor has decreased to 0.7 of the gain obtainable at 1 kHz?

Select	Answer
A	Alpha rejection frequency
B	Beta cutoff frequency
C	Corner frequency
D	Alpha cutoff frequency

26. - E6B07

What is the failure mechanism when a junction diode fails due to excessive current?

Select	Answer
A	Charge carrier depletion
B	Excessive junction temperature
C	Excessive inverse voltage
D	Insufficient forward voltage

27. - E6C10

In Figure E6-3, what is the schematic symbol for a NOR gate?

Select	Answer
A	4
B	2
C	1
D	3

28. - E6D06

What core material property determines the inductance of an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Reactivity
B	Resistance
C	Thermal impedance
D	Permeability

29. - E6E01

Why is gallium arsenide (GaAs) useful for semiconductor devices operating at UHF and higher frequencies?

Select	Answer
A	Lower junction voltage drop
B	Higher electron mobility
C	Lower transconductance
D	Higher noise figures

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. - E7A11

What type of logic defines "1" as a high voltage?

Select	Answer
A	Reverse Logic
B	Negative logic
C	Assertive Logic
D	Positive Logic

32. - E7B06

Which of the following amplifier types reduces even-order harmonics?

Select	Answer
A	Push-push
B	Class C
C	Push-pull
D	Class AB

33. - E7C03

What advantage does a series-L Pi-L-network have over a series-L Pi-network for impedance matching between the final amplifier of a vacuum-tube transmitter and an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	Greater transformation range
B	Does not require a capacitor
C	Higher efficiency
D	Greater harmonic suppression

34. - E7D15

What is the purpose of a step-start circuit in a high-voltage power supply?

Select	Answer
A	To allow the filter capacitors to charge gradually
B	To allow for remote control of the power supply
C	To compensate for variations of the incoming line voltage
D	To provide a dual-voltage output for reduced power applications

35. - E7E01

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

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

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 least twice the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal
C	At four times 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. - E7G11

What absolute voltage gain can be expected from the circuit in Figure E7-3 when R1 is 3300 ohms and RF is 47 kilohms?

Select	Answer
A	0.07
B	28
C	14
D	7

38. - E7H07

How can an oscillator's microphonic responses be reduced?

Select	Answer
A	Reduce noise on the oscillator's power supply
B	Increase the bias voltage
C	Mechanically isolate the oscillator circuitry from its enclosure
D	Use NP0 capacitors

39. - E8A11

Which of the following is a measure of the quality of an analog-to-digital converter?

Select	Answer
A	Peak envelope power
B	Power factor
C	Total harmonic distortion
D	Reciprocal mixing

40. - E8B11

What is digital time division multiplexing?

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

41. - E8C01

How is Forward Error Correction implemented?

Select	Answer
A	By transmitting a special algorithm to the receiving station along with the data characters
B	By transmitting extra data that may be used to detect and correct transmission errors
C	By varying the frequency shift of the transmitted signal according to a predefined algorithm
D	By the receiving station repeating each block of three data characters

42. - E8D05

What is the most common method of reducing key clicks?

Select	Answer
A	Reduce keying waveform rise and fall times
B	Increase keying waveform rise and fall times
C	Low-pass filters at the transmitter output
D	High-pass filters at the transmitter output

43. - E9A04

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

Select	Answer
A	Transmission line length
B	Antenna height
C	The settings of an antenna tuner at the transmitter
D	The input power level

44. - E9B01

In the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-1, what is the beamwidth?

Select	Answer
A	50 degrees
B	75 degrees
C	25 degrees
D	30 degrees

45. - E9C03

What is the radiation pattern of two 1/4-wavelength vertical antennas spaced 1/2-wavelength apart and fed in phase?

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

46. - E9D03

Where should a high Q loading coil be placed to minimize losses in a shortened vertical antenna?

Select	Answer
A	At a voltage node
B	As low as possible on the vertical radiator
C	As close to the transmitter as possible
D	Near the center of the vertical radiator

47. - E9E04

What is the purpose of the series capacitor in a gamma-type antenna matching network?

Select	Answer
A	To cancel the inductive reactance of the matching network
B	To transform the antenna impedance to a higher value
C	To provide a rejection notch that prevents the radiation of harmonics
D	To provide DC isolation between the feed line and the antenna

48. - E9F11

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

Select	Answer
A	An inductive reactance
B	A capacitive reactance
C	Infinite
D	The same as the characteristic impedance of the line

49. - E9G04

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

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

50. - E9H01

When constructing a Beverage antenna, which of the following factors should be included in the design to achieve good performance at the desired frequency?

Select	Answer
A	It should be configured as a four-sided loop
B	It should be one or more wavelengths long
C	It must be mounted more than 1 wavelength above ground
D	Its overall length must not exceed 1/4 wavelength

Figure E5-1

Figure E6-3

Figure E7-3

Figure E9-1