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

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1. - E0A10

What toxic material may be present in some electronic components such as high voltage capacitors and transformers?

Select	Answer
A	Polytetrafluoroethylene
B	Polymorphic silicon
C	Polychlorinated biphenyls
D	Polyethylene

2. - E1A01

Which of the following carrier frequencies is illegal for LSB AFSK emissions on the 17 meter band RTTY and data segment of 18.068 to 18.110 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	18.110 MHz
B	18.100 MHz
C	18.068 MHz
D	18.107 MHz

3. - E1B05

What is the National Radio Quiet Zone?

Select	Answer
A	An area in Florida surrounding Cape Canaveral
B	An area in Puerto Rico surrounding the Arecibo Radio Telescope
C	An area surrounding the National Radio Astronomy Observatory
D	An area in New Mexico surrounding the White Sands Test Area

4. - E1C12

On what portion of the 630 meter band are phone emissions permitted?

Select	Answer
A	None
B	Only the top 3 kHz
C	Only the bottom 3 kHz
D	The entire band

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. - E1E01

For which types of out-of-pocket expenses do the Part 97 rules state that VEs and VECs may be reimbursed?

Select	Answer
A	No expenses are authorized for reimbursement
B	Teaching an amateur operator license examination preparation course
C	Preparing, processing, administering, and coordinating an examination for an amateur radio operator license
D	Providing amateur operator license examination preparation training materials

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

8. - E2A05

What do the letters in a satellite's mode designator specify?

Select	Answer
A	The uplink and downlink frequency ranges
B	The polarization of uplink and downlink signals
C	The location of the ground control station
D	Power limits for uplink and downlink transmissions

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

10. - E2C05

What is the function of a DX QSL Manager?

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

11. - E2D01

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

Select	Answer
A	APRS
B	MSK144
C	WSPR
D	Hellschreiber

12. - E2E07

Which of the following is a possible reason that attempts to initiate contact with a digital station on a clear frequency are unsuccessful?

Select	Answer
A	Your transmit frequency is incorrect
B	Another station you are unable to hear is using the frequency
C	All these choices are correct
D	The protocol version you are using is not supported by the digital station

13. - E3A13

Which of these emission modes is best for auroral propagation?

Select	Answer
A	RTTY
B	FM
C	SSB
D	CW

14. - E3B09

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

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

15. - E3C03

Which of the following signal paths is most likely to experience high levels of absorption when the A index or K index is elevated?

Select	Answer
A	Polar
B	Transequatorial
C	Sporadic E
D	NVIS

16. - E4A09

Which of the following is good practice when using an oscilloscope probe?

Select	Answer
A	Never use a high-impedance probe to measure a low-impedance circuit
B	All these choices are correct
C	Never use a DC-coupled probe to measure an AC circuit
D	Keep the signal ground connection of the probe as short as possible

17. - E4B08

Which of the following can be used to measure the Q of a series-tuned circuit?

Select	Answer
A	The frequency shift
B	The bandwidth of the circuit's frequency response
C	The resonant frequency of the circuit
D	The inductance to capacitance ratio

18. - E4C05

What does a receiver noise floor of -174 dBm represent?

Select	Answer
A	The noise figure of a 1 Hz bandwidth receiver
B	The minimum detectable signal as a function of receive frequency
C	The galactic noise contribution to minimum detectable signal
D	The theoretical noise in a 1 Hz bandwidth at the input of a perfect receiver at room temperature

19. - E4D02

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

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

20. - E4E10

What might be the cause of a loud roaring or buzzing AC line interference that comes and goes at intervals?

Select	Answer
A	Arcing contacts in a thermostatically controlled device
B	All these choices are correct
C	A defective doorbell or doorbell transformer inside a nearby residence
D	A malfunctioning illuminated advertising display

21. - E5A14

What is the resonant frequency of an RLC circuit if R is 22 ohms, L is 50 microhenries and C is 40 picofarads?

Select	Answer
A	44.72 MHz
B	1.78 MHz
C	22.36 MHz
D	3.56 MHz

22. - E5B03

How is impedance in polar form converted to an equivalent admittance?

Select	Answer
A	Take the square root of the magnitude and add 180 degrees to the angle
B	Square the magnitude and subtract 90 degrees from the angle
C	Take the reciprocal of the angle and change the sign of the magnitude
D	Take the reciprocal of the magnitude and change the sign of the angle

23. - E5C08

What coordinate system is often used to display the phase angle of a circuit containing resistance, inductive and/or capacitive reactance?

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

24. - E5D10

How can the true power be determined in an AC circuit where the voltage and current are out of phase?

Select	Answer
A	By dividing the apparent power by the power factor
B	By multiplying the reactive power by the power factor
C	By dividing the reactive power by the power factor
D	By multiplying the apparent power by the power factor

25. - E6A04

What is the name given to an impurity atom that adds holes to a semiconductor crystal structure?

Select	Answer
A	Acceptor impurity
B	Insulator impurity
C	N-type impurity
D	Donor impurity

26. - E6B03

What type of bias is required for an LED to emit light?

Select	Answer
A	Zero bias
B	Forward bias
C	Reverse bias
D	Inductive bias

27. - E6C11

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

Select	Answer
A	6
B	5
C	2
D	4

28. - E6D11

Which type of core material decreases inductance when inserted into a coil?

Select	Answer
A	Ceramic
B	Powdered iron
C	Ferrite
D	Brass

29. - E6E11

What is a characteristic of DIP packaging used for integrated circuits?

Select	Answer
A	Low leakage doubly insulated package
B	A total of two rows of connecting pins placed on opposite sides of the package (Dual In-line Package)
C	Two chips in each package (Dual In Package)
D	Package mounts in a direct inverted position

30. - E6F02

What happens to the conductivity of a photoconductive material when light shines on it?

Select	Answer
A	It stays the same
B	It decreases
C	It becomes unstable
D	It increases

31. - E7A08

What logical operation does an OR gate perform?

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

32. - E7B05

What can be done to prevent unwanted oscillations in an RF power amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	Use a phase inverter in the output filter
B	Tune the stage for maximum SWR
C	Tune both the input and output for maximum power
D	Install parasitic suppressors and/or neutralize the stage

33. - E7C07

Which describes a Pi-L-network used for matching a vacuum tube final amplifier to a 50-ohm unbalanced output?

Select	Answer
A	A Phase Inverter Load network
B	A Pi-network with an additional series inductor on the output
C	A network with only three discrete parts
D	A matching network in which all components are isolated from ground

34. - E7D02

What is a characteristic of a switching electronic voltage regulator?

Select	Answer
A	The controlled device's duty cycle is changed to produce a constant average output voltage
B	The resistance of a control element is varied in direct proportion to the line voltage or load current
C	It gives a ramp voltage at its output
D	It is generally less efficient than a linear regulator

35. - E7E01

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

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

36. - E7F14

Which of the following would allow a digital signal processing filter to create a sharper filter response?

Select	Answer
A	Higher data rate
B	Complex phasor representations
C	More taps
D	Double-precision math routines

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	0.21
B	47
C	24
D	94

38. - E7H15

Which of these functions can be performed by a phase-locked loop?

Select	Answer
A	Wide-band AF and RF power amplification
B	Frequency synthesis, FM demodulation
C	Comparison of two digital input signals, digital pulse counter
D	Photovoltaic conversion, optical coupling

39. - E8A08

Why would a direct or flash conversion analog-to-digital converter be useful for a software defined radio?

Select	Answer
A	Very high speed allows digitizing high frequencies
B	All these choices are correct
C	Immunity to out-of-sequence coding reduces spurious responses
D	Very low power consumption decreases frequency drift

40. - E8B09

What is deviation ratio?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of the maximum carrier frequency deviation to the highest audio modulating frequency
B	The ratio of the carrier center frequency to the audio modulating frequency
C	The ratio of the audio modulating frequency to the center carrier frequency
D	The ratio of the highest audio modulating frequency to the average audio modulating frequency

41. - E8C06

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

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

42. - E8D06

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

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

43. - E9A10

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

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

44. - E9B02

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

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

45. - E9C07

What is the approximate feed point impedance at the center of a two-wire folded dipole antenna?

Select	Answer
A	50 ohms
B	300 ohms
C	72 ohms
D	450 ohms

46. - E9D06

What happens to the SWR bandwidth when one or more loading coils are used to resonate an electrically short antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It is unchanged if the loading coil is located at a voltage maximum point
B	It is increased
C	It is unchanged if the loading coil is located at the feed point
D	It is decreased

47. - E9E07

What parameter describes the interactions at the load end of a mismatched transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	Velocity factor
B	Reflection coefficient
C	Characteristic impedance
D	Dielectric constant

48. - E9F06

What is the approximate physical length of an air-insulated, parallel conductor transmission line that is electrically 1/2 wavelength long at 14.10 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	8.5 meters
B	13.3 meters
C	10.6 meters
D	7.0 meters

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 impedance of a transmission line, given the physical dimensions
C	Determine the length and position of an impedance matching stub
D	Determine the loss/100 feet of a transmission line, given the velocity factor and conductor materials

50. - E9H02

Which is generally true for low band (160 meter and 80 meter) receiving antennas?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	Low loss coax transmission line is essential for good performance
C	Atmospheric noise is so high that gain over a dipole is not important
D	They must be erected at least 1/2 wavelength above the ground to attain good directivity

Figure E6-3

Figure E9-1