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

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1. - E0A07

How may dangerous levels of carbon monoxide from an emergency generator be detected?

Select	Answer
A	By the odor
B	By the yellowish appearance of the gas
C	Any ordinary smoke detector can be used
D	Only with a carbon monoxide detector

2. - E1A08

If a station in a message forwarding system inadvertently forwards a message that is in violation of FCC rules, who is primarily accountable for the rules violation?

Select	Answer
A	The control operator of the originating station
B	The control operators of all the stations in the system not authenticating the source from which they accept communications
C	The control operators of all the stations in the system
D	The control operator of the packet bulletin board station

3. - E1B05

What is the National Radio Quiet Zone?

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

4. - E1C10

What is the permitted mean power of any spurious emission relative to the mean power of the fundamental emission from a station transmitter or external RF amplifier installed after January 1, 2003 and transmitting on a frequency below 30 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	At least 63 dB below
B	At least 73 dB below
C	At least 53 dB below
D	At least 43 dB below

5. - E1D08

Which VHF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

Select	Answer
A	6 meters and 2 meters
B	2 meters and 1.25 meters
C	2 meters
D	6 meters, 2 meters, and 1.25 meters

6. - E1E09

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

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

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

8. - E2A12

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

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

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

10. - E2C08

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

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

11. - E2D05

What is one advantage of the JT65 mode?

Select	Answer
A	Uses only a 65 Hz bandwidth
B	Permits fast-scan TV transmissions over narrow bandwidth
C	Easily copied by ear if necessary
D	The ability to decode signals which have a very low signal-to-noise ratio

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

13. - E3A14

What is meant by circularly polarized electromagnetic waves?

Select	Answer
A	Waves produced by a loop antenna
B	Waves with an electric field bent into a circular shape
C	Waves that circle the Earth
D	Waves with a rotating electric field

14. - E3B07

What happens to linearly polarized radio waves that split into ordinary and extraordinary waves in the ionosphere?

Select	Answer
A	They are bent toward the magnetic poles
B	They become phase locked
C	They become depolarized
D	They become elliptically polarized

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	NVIS
C	Transequatorial
D	Sporadic E

16. - E4A03

Which of the following test instruments is used to display spurious signals and/or intermodulation distortion products generated by an SSB transmitter?

Select	Answer
A	A spectrum analyzer
B	A logic analyzer
C	A time-domain reflectometer
D	A wattmeter

17. - E4B10

Which of the following methods measures intermodulation distortion in an SSB transmitter?

Select	Answer
A	Modulate the transmitter using two RF signals having harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a logic analyzer
B	Modulate the transmitter using two RF signals having non-harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a spectrum analyzer
C	Modulate the transmitter using two AF signals having non-harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a spectrum analyzer
D	Modulate the transmitter using two AF signals having harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a peak reading wattmeter

18. - E4C02

Which of the following receiver circuits can be effective in eliminating interference from strong out-of-band signals?

Select	Answer
A	A narrow IF filter
B	A notch filter
C	A properly adjusted product detector
D	A front-end filter or pre-selector

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

20. - E4E08

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

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

21. - E5A05

What is the result of increasing the Q of an impedance-matching circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Matching bandwidth is decreased
B	It has no effect on impedance matching
C	Matching range is increased
D	Matching bandwidth is increased

22. - E5B12

What is admittance?

Select	Answer
A	The turns ratio of a transformer
B	The inverse of impedance
C	The term for the gain of a field effect transistor
D	The inverse of Q factor

23. - E5C04

What coordinate system is often used to display the resistive, inductive, and/or capacitive reactance components of impedance?

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

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

25. - E6A01

In what application is gallium arsenide used as a semiconductor material?

Select	Answer
A	In high-power audio circuits
B	In high-current rectifier circuits
C	In very low-frequency RF circuits
D	In microwave circuits

26. - E6B04

What type of semiconductor device is designed for use as a voltage-controlled capacitor?

Select	Answer
A	Zener diode
B	Tunnel diode
C	Silicon-controlled rectifier
D	Varactor diode

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 increase the sensitivity
C	To prevent input noise from causing unstable output signals
D	To cause the output to change states continually

28. - E6D03

Which of the following is an aspect of the piezoelectric effect?

Select	Answer
A	Mechanical deformation of material by the application of a magnetic field
B	Mechanical deformation of material by the application of a voltage
C	Generation of electrical energy in the presence of light
D	Increased conductivity in the presence of light

29. - E6E01

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

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

30. - E6F08

Why are optoisolators often used in conjunction with solid-state circuits when switching 120 VAC?

Select	Answer
A	Optoisolators provide a low impedance link between a control circuit and a power circuit
B	Optoisolators provide a very high degree of electrical isolation between a control circuit and the circuit being switched
C	Optoisolators eliminate the effects of reflected light in the control circuit
D	Optoisolators provide impedance matching between the control circuit and power circuit

31. - E7A09

What logical operation is performed by an exclusive NOR gate?

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

32. - E7B07

Which of the following is a likely result when a Class C amplifier is used to amplify a single-sideband phone signal?

Select	Answer
A	Signal distortion and excessive bandwidth
B	Reduced intermodulation products
C	Signal inversion
D	Increased overall intelligibility

33. - E7C10

Which of the following filters would be the best choice for use in a 2 meter band repeater duplexer?

Select	Answer
A	A crystal filter
B	An L-C filter
C	A cavity filter
D	A DSP filter

34. - E7D09

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

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

35. - E7E02

What is the function of a reactance modulator?

Select	Answer
A	To produce AM signals by using an electrically variable resistance
B	To produce PM signals by using an electrically variable resistance
C	To produce AM signals by using an electrically variable inductance or capacitance
D	To produce PM or FM signals by using an electrically variable inductance or capacitance

36. - E7F08

What is the function of decimation?

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

37. - E7G08

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

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

38. - E7H01

What are three oscillator circuits used in amateur radio equipment?

Select	Answer
A	Taft, Pierce and negative feedback
B	Colpitts, Hartley and Pierce
C	Taft, Hartley and Pierce
D	Pierce, Fenner and Beane

39. - E8A09

How many different input levels can be encoded by an analog-to-digital converter with 8-bit resolution?

Select	Answer
A	8
B	256 divided by the gain of the input amplifier
C	256
D	8 multiplied by the gain of the input amplifier

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 highest audio modulating frequency to the average audio modulating frequency
D	The ratio of the audio modulating frequency to the center carrier frequency

41. - E8C02

What is the definition of symbol rate in a digital transmission?

Select	Answer
A	The number of control characters in a message packet
B	The rate at which the waveform changes to convey information
C	The number of characters carried per second by the station-to-station link
D	The duration of each bit in a message sent over the air

42. - E8D01

Why are received spread spectrum signals resistant to interference?

Select	Answer
A	If interference is detected by the receiver it will signal the transmitter to change frequencies
B	The high power used by a spread spectrum transmitter keeps its signal from being easily overpowered
C	Signals not using the spread spectrum algorithm are suppressed in the receiver
D	The receiver is always equipped with a digital blanker

43. - E9A02

What is the effective radiated power relative to a dipole of a repeater station with 150 watts transmitter power output, 2 dB feed line loss, 2.2 dB duplexer loss, and 7 dBd antenna gain?

Select	Answer
A	420 watts
B	78.7 watts
C	1977 watts
D	286 watts

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. - E9C05

Which of the following is a type of OCFD antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A folded dipole center-fed with 300-ohm transmission line
B	A multiband dipole antenna using one-way circular polarization for frequency diversity
C	A remotely tunable dipole antenna using orthogonally controlled frequency diversity
D	A dipole fed approximately 1/3 the way from one end with a 4:1 balun to provide multiband operation

46. - E9D05

What usually occurs if a Yagi antenna is designed solely for maximum forward gain?

Select	Answer
A	The frequency response is widened over the whole frequency band
B	The front-to-back ratio increases
C	The SWR is reduced
D	The front-to-back ratio decreases

47. - E9E11

What is the primary purpose of phasing lines when used with an antenna having multiple driven elements?

Select	Answer
A	It prevents reflected power from traveling back down the feed line and causing harmonic radiation from the transmitter
B	It creates a low-angle radiation pattern
C	It allows single-band antennas to operate on other bands
D	It ensures that each driven element operates in concert with the others to create the desired antenna pattern

48. - E9F10

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

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

49. - E9G03

Which of the following is often determined using a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Beam headings and radiation patterns
B	Trigonometric functions
C	Impedance and SWR values in transmission lines
D	Satellite azimuth and elevation bearings

50. - E9H04

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

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

Figure E9-1