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

2. - E1A06

Where must the carrier frequency of a CW signal be set to comply with FCC rules for 60 meter operation?

Select	Answer
A	On any frequency where the signal's sidebands are within the channel
B	At the lowest frequency of the channel
C	At the highest frequency of the channel
D	At the center frequency of the channel

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. - E1C05

When may an automatically controlled station originate third party communications?

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

5. - E1D04

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

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

6. - E1E07

What should a VE do if a candidate fails to comply with the examiner's instructions during an amateur operator license examination?

Select	Answer
A	Immediately terminate everyone's examination and close the session
B	Warn the candidate that continued failure to comply will result in termination of the examination
C	Immediately terminate the candidate's examination
D	Allow the candidate to complete the examination, but invalidate the results

7. - E1F03

Under what circumstances may a dealer sell an external RF power amplifier capable of operation below 144 MHz if it has not been granted FCC certification?

Select	Answer
A	It was imported from a manufacturer in a country that does not require certification of RF power amplifiers
B	The equipment dealer assembled it from a kit
C	It was imported from a manufacturer in another country and was certificated by that country's government
D	It was purchased in used condition from an amateur operator and is sold to another amateur operator for use at that operator's station

8. - E2A12

What is the purpose of digital store-and-forward functions on an amateur radio satellite?

Select	Answer
A	To upload operational software for the transponder
B	To delay download of telemetry between satellites
C	To store digital messages in the satellite for later download by other stations
D	To relay messages between satellites

9. - E2B09

What hardware, other than a receiver with SSB capability and a suitable computer, is needed to decode SSTV using Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM)?

Select	Answer
A	No other hardware is needed
B	A special notch filter to remove synchronization pulses
C	A special front end limiter
D	A special IF converter

10. - E2C05

What is the function of a DX QSL Manager?

Select	Answer
A	To relay calls to and from a DX station
B	To run a net to allow many stations to contact a rare DX station
C	To handle the receiving and sending of confirmation cards for a DX station
D	To allocate frequencies for DXpeditions

11. - E2D06

Which of the following describes a method of establishing EME contacts?

Select	Answer
A	High-speed CW identification to avoid fading
B	Judging optimum transmission times by monitoring beacons reflected from the moon
C	Time synchronous transmissions alternately from each station
D	Storing and forwarding digital messages

12. - E2E12

How do ALE stations establish contact?

Select	Answer
A	ALE radios send a constant tone code to establish a frequency for future use
B	ALE radios activate when they hear their signal echoed by back scatter
C	ALE constantly scans a list of frequencies, activating the radio when the designated call sign is received
D	ALE radios monitor an internet site for the frequency they are being paged on

13. - E3A13

Which of these emission modes is best for auroral propagation?

Select	Answer
A	SSB
B	CW
C	FM
D	RTTY

14. - E3B10

Why is chordal hop propagation desirable?

Select	Answer
A	The signal experiences less loss compared to multi-hop using Earth as a reflector
B	The MUF for chordal hop propagation is much lower than for normal skip propagation
C	Atmospheric noise is lower in the direction of chordal hop propagation
D	Signals travel faster along ionospheric chords

15. - E3C10

What does the 304A solar parameter measure?

Select	Answer
A	UV emissions at 304 angstroms, correlated to the solar flux index
B	The solar emission at 304 GHz, correlated to x-ray flare levels
C	The ratio of x-ray flux to radio flux, correlated to sunspot number
D	The solar wind velocity at 304 degrees from the solar equator, correlated to solar activity

16. - E4A02

Which of the following parameters does a spectrum analyzer display on the vertical and horizontal axes?

Select	Answer
A	SWR and time
B	RF amplitude and time
C	SWR and frequency
D	RF amplitude and frequency

17. - E4B07

What do the subscripts of S parameters represent?

Select	Answer
A	The relative time between measurements
B	Relative quality of the data
C	Frequency order of the measurements
D	The port or ports at which measurements are made

18. - E4C03

What is the term for the suppression in an FM receiver of one signal by another stronger signal on the same frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Frequency discrimination
B	Capture effect
C	Desensitization
D	Cross-modulation interference

19. - E4D02

Which of the following describes problems caused by poor dynamic range in a receiver?

Select	Answer
A	Cross-modulation of the desired signal and insufficient audio power to operate the speaker
B	Oscillator instability and severe audio distortion of all but the strongest received signals
C	Oscillator instability requiring frequent retuning and loss of ability to recover the opposite sideband
D	Spurious signals caused by cross-modulation and desensitization from strong adjacent signals

20. - E4E07

Which of the following can cause shielded cables to radiate or receive interference?

Select	Answer
A	Tying all ground connections to a common point resulting in differential-mode currents in the shield
B	Low inductance ground connections at both ends of the shield
C	Common-mode currents on the shield and conductors
D	Use of braided shielding material

21. - E5A04

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

Select	Answer
A	Approximately equal to circuit resistance
B	Approximately equal to inductive reactance
C	High compared to the circuit resistance
D	Low 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	Take the reciprocal of the magnitude and change the sign of the angle
C	Square the magnitude and subtract 90 degrees from the angle
D	Take the square root of the magnitude and add 180 degrees to the angle

23. - E5C05

What is the name of the diagram used to show the phase relationship between impedances at a given frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Venn diagram
B	Near field diagram
C	Far field diagram
D	Phasor diagram

24. - E5D14

What is reactive power?

Select	Answer
A	Power consumed in wire resistance in an inductor
B	Power consumed in circuit Q
C	Power lost because of capacitor leakage
D	Wattless, nonproductive power

25. - E6A07

Which of the following indicates that a silicon NPN junction transistor is biased on?

Select	Answer
A	Base-to-emitter resistance of approximately 0.6 to 0.7 ohms
B	Base-to-emitter voltage of approximately 0.6 to 0.7 volts
C	Base-to-emitter voltage of approximately 6 to 7 volts
D	Base-to-emitter resistance of approximately 6 to 7 ohms

26. - E6B11

What is used to control the attenuation of RF signals by a PIN diode?

Select	Answer
A	Reverse voltage larger than the RF signal
B	Forward DC bias current
C	A sub-harmonic pump signal
D	Capacitance of an RF coupling capacitor

27. - E6C06

Why do CMOS digital integrated circuits have high immunity to noise on the input signal or power supply?

Select	Answer
A	Bandwidth is very limited
B	The input switching threshold is about one-half the power supply voltage
C	Large bypass capacitance is inherent
D	The input switching threshold is about two times the power supply voltage

28. - E6D13

What is the primary cause of inductor self-resonance?

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

29. - E6E02

Which of the following device packages is a through-hole type?

Select	Answer
A	Ball grid array
B	PLCC
C	SOT
D	DIP

30. - E6F03

What is the most common configuration of an optoisolator or optocoupler?

Select	Answer
A	A frequency modulated helium-neon laser
B	An LED and a phototransistor
C	A lens and a photomultiplier
D	An amplitude modulated helium-neon laser

31. - E7A05

Which of the following is a circuit that continuously alternates between two states without an external clock?

Select	Answer
A	Astable multivibrator
B	J-K flip-flop
C	T flip-flop
D	Monostable multivibrator

32. - E7B16

What is the effect of intermodulation products in a linear power amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	Low efficiency
B	Creation of parasitic oscillations
C	Transmission of spurious signals
D	All these choices are correct

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

34. - E7D07

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

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

35. - E7E10

How does a diode envelope detector function?

Select	Answer
A	By breakdown of the Zener voltage
B	By rectification and filtering of RF signals
C	By sensing the change of reactance in the diode with respect to frequency
D	By mixing signals with noise in the transition region of the diode

36. - E7F01

What is meant by direct digital conversion as applied to software defined radios?

Select	Answer
A	Software is converted from source code to object code during operation of the receiver
B	Incoming RF is converted to a control voltage for a voltage controlled oscillator
C	Incoming RF is digitized by an analog-to-digital converter without being mixed with a local oscillator signal
D	A switching mixer is used to generate I and Q signals directly from the RF input

37. - E7G08

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

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

38. - E7H10

What information is contained in the lookup table of a direct digital synthesizer (DDS)?

Select	Answer
A	Frequently used receiver and transmitter frequencies
B	The phase relationship between a reference oscillator and the output waveform
C	Amplitude values that represent the desired waveform
D	The phase relationship between a voltage-controlled oscillator and the output waveform

39. - E8A06

What is the approximate ratio of PEP-to-average power in a typical single-sideband phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	100 to 1
B	1 to 1
C	25 to 1
D	2.5 to 1

40. - E8B08

What describes Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	A digital modulation technique using subcarriers at frequencies chosen to avoid intersymbol interference
B	A bandwidth compression technique using Fourier transforms
C	A frequency modulation technique that uses non-harmonically related frequencies
D	A digital mode for narrow-band, slow-speed transmissions

41. - E8C05

What is the approximate bandwidth of a 13-WPM International Morse Code transmission?

Select	Answer
A	52 Hz
B	26 Hz
C	13 Hz
D	104 Hz

42. - E8D07

What is a common cause of overmodulation of AFSK signals?

Select	Answer
A	Excessive numbers of retries
B	Ground loops
C	Bit errors in the modem
D	Excessive transmit audio levels

43. - E9A11

Which of the following factors determines ground losses for a ground-mounted vertical antenna operating in the 3 MHz to 30 MHz range?

Select	Answer
A	Soil conductivity
B	Take-off angle
C	Distance from the transmitter
D	The standing wave ratio

44. - E9B06

What is the elevation angle of peak response in the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-2?

Select	Answer
A	75 degrees
B	25 degrees
C	7.5 degrees
D	45 degrees

45. - E9C12

Which of the following describes an Extended Double Zepp antenna?

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

46. - E9D04

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

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

47. - E9E08

What is a use for a Wilkinson divider?

Select	Answer
A	It divides the operating frequency of a transmitter signal so it can be used on a lower frequency band
B	It is used to divide power equally between two 50-ohm loads while maintaining 50-ohm input impedance
C	It is used to feed low-impedance loads from a high-impedance source
D	It is used to feed high-impedance antennas from a low-impedance source

48. - E9F09

What is the approximate physical length of a foam polyethylene dielectric coaxial transmission line that is electrically 1/4 wavelength long at 7.2 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	10.4 meters
B	5.2 meters
C	6.9 meters
D	8.3 meters

49. - E9G10

What do the arcs on a Smith chart represent?

Select	Answer
A	Points with constant reactance
B	Points with constant resistance
C	Frequency
D	SWR

50. - E9H04

What is an advantage of placing a grounded electrostatic shield around a small loop direction-finding antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It eliminates tracking errors caused by strong out-of-band signals
B	It eliminates unbalanced capacitive coupling to the surroundings, improving the nulls
C	It adds capacitive loading, increasing the bandwidth of the antenna
D	It increases signal strength by providing a better match to the feed line

Figure E7-2

Figure E9-2