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

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1. - E0A05

What is one of the potential hazards of operating in the amateur radio microwave bands?

Select	Answer
A	The high gain antennas commonly used can result in high exposure levels
B	The extremely high frequency energy can damage the joints of antenna structures
C	Microwaves are ionizing radiation
D	Microwaves often travel long distances by ionospheric reflection

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

3. - E1B07

To what type of regulations does PRB-1 apply?

Select	Answer
A	Use of wireless devices in vehicles
B	Homeowners associations
C	State and local zoning
D	FAA tower height limits

4. - E1C08

What is the maximum permissible duration of a remotely controlled station's transmissions if its control link malfunctions?

Select	Answer
A	30 seconds
B	10 minutes
C	5 minutes
D	3 minutes

5. - E1D01

What is the definition of telemetry?

Select	Answer
A	Two-way transmissions in excess of 1000 feet
B	One-way transmission of measurements at a distance from the measuring instrument
C	One-way transmission that initiates, modifies, or terminates the functions of a device at a distance
D	Two-way transmissions of data

6. - E1E02

Who does Part 97 task with maintaining the pools of questions for all U.S. amateur license examinations?

Select	Answer
A	The VEs
B	The FCC
C	The ARRL
D	The VECs

7. - E1F04

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

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

8. - E2A09

What do the terms L band and S band specify regarding satellite communications?

Select	Answer
A	The 23 centimeter and 13 centimeter bands
B	FM and Digital Store-and-Forward systems
C	The 2 meter and 70 centimeter bands
D	Which sideband to use

9. - E2B03

How is an interlaced scanning pattern generated in a fast-scan (NTSC) television system?

Select	Answer
A	By scanning odd numbered lines in one field and even numbered lines in the next
B	By scanning lines from left to right in one field and right to left in the next
C	By scanning each field from bottom to top
D	By scanning two fields simultaneously

10. - E2C10

Why might a DX station state that they are listening on another frequency?

Select	Answer
A	To separate the calling stations from the DX station
B	To improve operating efficiency by reducing interference
C	All these choices are correct
D	Because the DX station may be transmitting on a frequency that is prohibited to some responding stations

11. - E2D09

What type of modulation is used for JT65 contacts?

Select	Answer
A	IEEE 802.11
B	Multi-tone AFSK
C	PSK
D	RTTY

12. - E2E09

Which of the following HF digital modes uses variable-length coding for bandwidth efficiency?

Select	Answer
A	RTTY
B	MT63
C	PACTOR
D	PSK31

13. - E3A08

When a meteor strikes the Earth's atmosphere, a cylindrical region of free electrons is formed at what layer of the ionosphere?

Select	Answer
A	The E layer
B	The F2 layer
C	The D layer
D	The F1 layer

14. - E3B11

At what time of day can sporadic E propagation occur?

Select	Answer
A	Only around sunset and sunrise
B	Only around sunset
C	Only in hours of darkness
D	Any time

15. - E3C04

What does the value of Bz (B sub Z) represent?

Select	Answer
A	Direction and strength of the interplanetary magnetic field
B	Geomagnetic field stability
C	Critical frequency for vertical transmissions
D	Duration of long-delayed echoes

16. - E4A04

How is the compensation of an oscilloscope probe typically adjusted?

Select	Answer
A	A high frequency sine wave is displayed and the probe is adjusted for maximum amplitude
B	A square wave is displayed and the probe is adjusted until the horizontal portions of the displayed wave are as nearly flat as possible
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	Short circuit, open circuit, and resonant circuit
D	50 ohms, 75 ohms, and 90 ohms

18. - E4C10

What is an advantage of having a variety of receiver IF bandwidths from which to select?

Select	Answer
A	Multiple frequencies can be received simultaneously if desired
B	The noise figure of the RF amplifier can be adjusted to match the modulation type, thus increasing receiver sensitivity
C	Receiver power consumption can be reduced when wider bandwidth is not required
D	Receive bandwidth can be set to match the modulation bandwidth, maximizing signal-to-noise ratio and minimizing interference

19. - E4D05

What transmitter frequencies would cause an intermodulation-product signal in a receiver tuned to 146.70 MHz when a nearby station transmits on 146.52 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	146.88 MHz and 146.34 MHz
B	146.34 MHz and 146.61 MHz
C	173.35 MHz and 139.40 MHz
D	146.10 MHz and 147.30 MHz

20. - E4E01

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

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

21. - E5A13

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

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

22. - E5B09

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

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

23. - E5C10

Which point on Figure E5-1 best represents the impedance of a series circuit consisting of a 400-ohm resistor and a 38-picofarad capacitor at 14 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	Point 4
B	Point 2
C	Point 5
D	Point 6

24. - E5D05

What is the power factor of an RL circuit having a 30-degree phase angle between the voltage and the current?

Select	Answer
A	0.577
B	0.5
C	1.73
D	0.866

25. - E6A09

What is a depletion-mode FET?

Select	Answer
A	Any FET for which holes are the majority carriers
B	Any FET without a channel
C	An FET that exhibits a current flow between source and drain when no gate voltage is applied
D	An FET that has no current flow between source and drain when no gate voltage is applied

26. - E6B01

What is the most useful characteristic of a Zener diode?

Select	Answer
A	A negative resistance region
B	An internal capacitance that varies with the applied voltage
C	A constant voltage drop under conditions of varying current
D	A constant current drop under conditions of varying voltage

27. - E6C01

What is the function of hysteresis in a comparator?

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

28. - E6D10

What is a primary advantage of using a toroidal core instead of a solenoidal core in an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Toroidal cores have lower Q characteristics
B	Toroidal cores make it easier to couple the magnetic energy into other components
C	Toroidal cores exhibit greater hysteresis
D	Toroidal cores confine most of the magnetic field within the core material

29. - E6E10

What advantage does surface-mount technology offer at RF compared to using through-hole components?

Select	Answer
A	Shorter circuit-board traces
B	Components have less parasitic inductance and capacitance
C	All these choices are correct
D	Smaller circuit area

30. - E6F09

What is the efficiency of a photovoltaic cell?

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

31. - E7A08

What logical operation does an OR gate perform?

Select	Answer
A	It only produces logic 0 at its output when all inputs are logic 1
B	It produces logic 0 at its output if all inputs are logic 1
C	It produces logic 1 at its output if any or all inputs are logic 1
D	It produces logic 1 at its output if all inputs are logic 0

32. - E7B14

Why are switching amplifiers more efficient than linear amplifiers?

Select	Answer
A	Switching amplifiers operate at higher voltages
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 use push-pull circuits

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	L-networks cannot perform impedance transformation
C	The Q of Pi-networks can be controlled
D	Pi-networks are more stable

34. - E7D09

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

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

35. - E7E05

What circuit is added to an FM transmitter to boost the higher audio frequencies?

Select	Answer
A	A de-emphasis network
B	A heterodyne suppressor
C	A heterodyne enhancer
D	A pre-emphasis network

36. - E7F08

What is the function of decimation?

Select	Answer
A	Removing unnecessary significant digits
B	Reducing the effective sample rate by removing samples
C	Attenuating the signal
D	Converting data to binary code decimal form

37. - E7G08

How does the gain of an ideal operational amplifier vary with frequency?

Select	Answer
A	It decreases logarithmically with increasing frequency
B	It does not vary with frequency
C	It decreases linearly with increasing frequency
D	It increases linearly with increasing frequency

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	All these choices are correct
D	Use a GPS signal reference

39. - E8A03

What type of wave does a Fourier analysis show to be made up of sine waves of a given fundamental frequency plus all its harmonics?

Select	Answer
A	A sine wave
B	A cosine wave
C	A square wave
D	A sawtooth wave

40. - E8B02

How does the modulation index of a phase-modulated emission vary with RF carrier frequency?

Select	Answer
A	It does not depend on the RF carrier frequency
B	It increases as the RF carrier frequency increases
C	It decreases as the RF carrier frequency increases
D	It varies with the square root of the RF carrier frequency

41. - E8C08

How does ARQ accomplish error correction?

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

42. - E8D05

What is the most common method of reducing key clicks?

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

43. - E9A10

Which of the following improves the efficiency of a ground-mounted quarter-wave vertical antenna?

Select	Answer
A	Installing a radial system
B	All these choices are correct
C	Shortening the radiating element
D	Isolating the coax shield from ground

44. - E9B02

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

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

45. - E9C12

Which of the following describes an Extended Double Zepp antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A portable antenna erected using two push support poles
B	An end-fed folded dipole antenna
C	A wideband vertical antenna constructed from precisely tapered aluminum tubing
D	A center-fed 1.25-wavelength antenna (two 5/8-wave elements in phase)

46. - E9D11

Which of the following conductors would be best for minimizing losses in a station's RF ground system?

Select	Answer
A	Wide flat copper strap
B	Stranded wire
C	Solid wire
D	Resistive wire, such as spark plug wire

47. - 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	Insert a 1/2 wavelength piece of 300-ohm twinlead in series between the antenna terminals and the 50-ohm feed cable
B	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
C	Connect a 1/2 wavelength shorted stub of 75-ohm cable in parallel with the 50-ohm cable where it attaches to the antenna
D	Connect a 1/4-wavelength open stub of 300-ohm twinlead in parallel with the coaxial feed line where it connects to the antenna

48. - E9F07

How does ladder line compare to small-diameter coaxial cable such as RG-58 at 50 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	Smaller reflection coefficient
B	Lower loss
C	Lower velocity factor
D	Higher SWR

49. - E9G05

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

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

50. - E9H09

What is a Pennant antenna?

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

Figure E5-1

Figure E9-1