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

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1. - E0A06

Why are there separate electric (E) and magnetic (H) field MPE limits?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	The body reacts to electromagnetic radiation from both the E and H fields
C	Ground reflections and scattering make the field strength vary with location
D	E field and H field radiation intensity peaks can occur at different locations

2. - E1A05

What is the maximum power output permitted on the 60 meter band?

Select	Answer
A	50 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to a dipole
B	100 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to the gain of a half-wave dipole
C	50 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to an isotropic radiator
D	100 watts PEP effective radiated power relative to an isotropic radiator

3. - E1B04

What must be done before placing an amateur station within an officially designated wilderness area or wildlife preserve, or an area listed in the National Register of Historic Places?

Select	Answer
A	A letter of intent must be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency
B	An Environmental Assessment must be submitted to the FCC
C	A form FSD-15 must be submitted to the Department of the Interior
D	A proposal must be submitted to the National Park Service

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	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
C	Operators may not operate until a test signal has been transmitted in coordination with the local power company
D	Operations may commence immediately, and may continue unless interference is reported by the UTC

5. - E1D02

Which of the following may transmit special codes intended to obscure the meaning of messages?

Select	Answer
A	Auxiliary relay links carrying repeater audio
B	Binary control characters
C	Data containing personal information
D	Telecommand signals from a space telecommand station

6. - E1E04

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

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

7. - E1F01

On what frequencies are spread spectrum transmissions permitted?

Select	Answer
A	Only on amateur frequencies above 420 MHz
B	Only on amateur frequencies above 222 MHz
C	Only on amateur frequencies above 144 MHz
D	Only on amateur frequencies above 50 MHz

8. - E2A03

How is the signal inverted by an inverting linear transponder?

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

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

10. - E2C06

During a VHF/UHF contest, in which band segment would you expect to find the highest level of SSB or CW activity?

Select	Answer
A	At the top of each band, usually in a segment reserved for contests
B	In the middle of the band, usually 25 kHz above the national calling frequency
C	In the middle of each band, usually on the national calling frequency
D	In the weak signal segment of the band, with most of the activity near the calling frequency

11. - E2D10

How can an APRS station be used to help support a public service communications activity?

Select	Answer
A	An APRS station with an emergency medical technician can automatically transmit medical data to the nearest hospital
B	An APRS station with a Global Positioning System unit can automatically transmit information to show a mobile station's position during the event
C	All these choices are correct
D	APRS stations with General Personnel Scanners can automatically relay the participant numbers and time as they pass the check points

12. - E2E01

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

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

13. - E3A02

What characterizes libration fading of an EME signal?

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

14. - E3B06

Which of the following amateur bands most frequently provides long-path propagation?

Select	Answer
A	80 meters
B	20 meters
C	6 meters
D	10 meters

15. - E3C07

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

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

16. - E4A06

What is the effect of aliasing on a digital oscilloscope caused by setting the time base too slow?

Select	Answer
A	Excessive blanking occurs, which prevents display of the signal
B	Calibration of the vertical scale is no longer valid
C	A false, jittery low-frequency version of the signal is displayed
D	All signals will have a DC offset

17. - E4B01

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

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

18. - E4C12

Which of the following has the largest effect on an SDR receiver's dynamic range?

Select	Answer
A	RAM speed used for data storage
B	Analog-to-digital converter sample width in bits
C	Anti-aliasing input filter bandwidth
D	CPU register width in bits

19. - E4D12

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

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

20. - E4E08

What current flows equally on all conductors of an unshielded multi-conductor cable?

Select	Answer
A	Differential-mode current
B	Common-mode current
C	Reactive current only
D	Return current

21. - E5A13

What is an effect of increasing Q in a series resonant circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Fewer components are needed for the same performance
B	Parasitic effects are minimized
C	Internal voltages increase
D	Phase shift can become uncontrolled

22. - E5B07

What is the phase angle between the voltage across and the current through a series RLC circuit if XC is 500 ohms, R is 1 kilohm, and XL is 250 ohms?

Select	Answer
A	68.2 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
B	14.0 degrees with the voltage leading the current
C	68.2 degrees with the voltage leading the current
D	14.0 degrees with the voltage lagging the current

23. - E5C01

Which of the following represents capacitive reactance in rectangular notation?

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

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	1600 watts
C	200 watts
D	1000 watts

25. - 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	Only N-type semiconductor material can conduct current
C	Only P-type semiconductor material can conduct current
D	Excess holes in P-type material combine with the electrons in N-type material, converting the entire diode into an insulator

26. - E6B05

What characteristic of a PIN diode makes it useful as an RF switch?

Select	Answer
A	Low junction capacitance
B	Ability to dissipate large amounts of power
C	Reverse bias controls its forward voltage drop
D	Extremely high reverse breakdown voltage

27. - E6C10

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

Select	Answer
A	4
B	1
C	3
D	2

28. - E6D01

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

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

29. - E6E01

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

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

30. - E6F09

What is the efficiency of a photovoltaic cell?

Select	Answer
A	Cost per kilowatt-hour generated
B	The relative fraction of light that is converted to current
C	The open-circuit voltage divided by the short-circuit current under full illumination
D	The output RF power divided by the input DC power

31. - E7A09

What logical operation is performed by an exclusive NOR gate?

Select	Answer
A	It produces logic 1 at its output only if all inputs are logic 1
B	It produces logic 0 at its output only if all inputs are logic 0
C	It produces logic 0 at its output if only one input is logic 1
D	It produces logic 1 at its output if only one input is logic 1

32. - E7B14

Why are switching amplifiers more efficient than linear amplifiers?

Select	Answer
A	Switching amplifiers use push-pull circuits
B	Linear amplifiers have high gain resulting in higher harmonic content
C	The power transistor is at saturation or cutoff most of the time
D	Switching amplifiers operate at higher voltages

33. - E7C09

What is a crystal lattice filter?

Select	Answer
A	A filter using lattice-shaped quartz crystals for high-Q performance
B	A filter with narrow bandwidth and steep skirts made using quartz crystals
C	A power supply filter made with interlaced quartz crystals
D	An audio filter made with four quartz crystals that resonate at 1 kHz intervals

34. - E7D07

What is the purpose of C2 in the circuit shown in Figure E7-2?

Select	Answer
A	To provide fixed DC bias for Q1
B	It is a brute force filter for the output
C	To self-resonate at the hum frequency
D	It bypasses rectifier output ripple around D1

35. - E7E04

What is one way a single-sideband phone signal can be generated?

Select	Answer
A	By driving a product detector with a DSB signal
B	By using a loop modulator followed by a mixer
C	By using a balanced modulator followed by a filter
D	By using a reactance modulator followed by a mixer

36. - E7F03

What type of digital signal processing filter is used to generate an SSB signal?

Select	Answer
A	An elliptical filter
B	A notch filter
C	A Hilbert-transform filter
D	An adaptive filter

37. - E7G07

What magnitude of voltage gain can be expected from the circuit in Figure E73 when R1 is 10 ohms and RF is 470 ohms?

Select	Answer
A	24
B	94
C	47
D	0.21

38. - E7H09

What type of frequency synthesizer circuit uses a phase accumulator, lookup table, digital to analog converter, and a low-pass anti-alias filter?

Select	Answer
A	A direct digital synthesizer
B	A phase-locked loop synthesizer
C	A hybrid synthesizer
D	A diode-switching matrix synthesizer

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	Reciprocal mixing
C	Total harmonic distortion
D	Power factor

40. - E8B10

What is frequency division multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	The transmitted signal is divided into packets of information
B	Two or more information streams are merged into a baseband, which then modulates the transmitter
C	Two or more information streams are merged into a digital combiner, which then pulse position modulates the transmitter
D	The transmitted signal jumps from band to band at a predetermined rate

41. - E8C06

What is the bandwidth of a 170-hertz shift, 300-baud ASCII transmission?

Select	Answer
A	1.0 kHz
B	0.1 Hz
C	0.3 kHz
D	0.5 kHz

42. - E8D03

How does the spread spectrum technique of frequency hopping work?

Select	Answer
A	The frequency of the transmitted signal is changed very rapidly according to a pseudorandom sequence also used by the receiving station
B	If interference is detected by the receiver it will signal the transmitter to change frequencies
C	If interference is detected by the receiver it will signal the transmitter to wait until the frequency is clear
D	A binary bit stream is used to shift the phase of an RF carrier very rapidly in a pseudorandom sequence

43. - E9A07

What is the effective isotropic radiated power of a repeater station with 200 watts transmitter power output, 2 dB feed line loss, 2.8 dB duplexer loss, 1.2 dB circulator loss, and 7 dBi antenna gain?

Select	Answer
A	63.2 watts
B	632 watts
C	252 watts
D	159 watts

44. - E9B02

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

Select	Answer
A	36 dB
B	14 dB
C	18 dB
D	24 dB

45. - E9C14

How does the performance of a horizontally polarized antenna mounted on the side of a hill compare with the same antenna mounted on flat ground?

Select	Answer
A	The main lobe takeoff angle increases in the downhill direction
B	The horizontal beamwidth increases in the uphill direction
C	The horizontal beamwidth decreases in the downhill direction
D	The main lobe takeoff angle decreases in the downhill direction

46. - E9D04

Why should an HF mobile antenna loading coil have a high ratio of reactance to resistance?

Select	Answer
A	To swamp out harmonics
B	To minimize losses
C	To minimize the Q
D	To lower the radiation angle

47. - E9E09

Which of the following is used to shunt-feed a grounded tower at its base?

Select	Answer
A	Double-bazooka match
B	Gamma match
C	All these choices are correct
D	Hairpin match

48. - E9F04

What impedance does a 1/2-wavelength transmission line present to a generator when the line is shorted at the far end?

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

49. - E9G01

Which of the following can be calculated using a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Impedance along transmission lines
B	Radiation resistance
C	Antenna radiation pattern
D	Radio propagation

50. - E9H09

What is a Pennant antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A stealth antenna built to look like a flagpole
B	A form of rhombic antenna terminated in a variable capacitor to provide frequency diversity
C	A four-element, high-gain vertical array invented by George Pennant
D	A small, vertically oriented receiving antenna consisting of a triangular loop terminated in approximately 900 ohms

Figure E6-3

Figure E7-2

Figure E9-1