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	Reduce received noise
D	Lightning protection

2. - E1A10

If an amateur station is installed aboard a ship or aircraft, what condition must be met before the station is operated?

Select	Answer
A	Its operation must be approved by the master of the ship or the pilot in command of the aircraft
B	The amateur station operator must agree not to transmit when the main radio of the ship or aircraft is in use
C	The amateur station must have a power supply that is completely independent of the main ship or aircraft power supply
D	The amateur operator must have an FCC Marine or Aircraft endorsement on his or her amateur license

3. - E1B02

Which of the following is an acceptable bandwidth for Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) based voice or SSTV digital transmissions made on the HF amateur bands?

Select	Answer
A	20 kHz
B	3 kHz
C	15 kHz
D	10 kHz

4. - E1C02

Which of the following types of communications may be transmitted to amateur stations in foreign countries?

Select	Answer
A	Communications incidental to the purpose of the amateur service and remarks of a personal nature
B	Messages intended for users of the maritime satellite service
C	All these choices are correct
D	Business-related messages for non-profit organizations

5. - E1D07

Which HF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

Select	Answer
A	Only the 40, 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10 meter bands
B	Only the 40, 20, 17, 15, and 10 meter bands
C	All HF bands
D	Only the 40, 30, 20, 15, 12, and 10 meter bands

6. - E1E09

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

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

7. - E1F02

What privileges are authorized in the U.S. to persons holding an amateur service license granted by the government of Canada?

Select	Answer
A	None, they must obtain a U.S. license
B	All privileges of the Amateur Extra Class license
C	Full privileges, up to and including those of the Amateur Extra Class license, on the 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter bands
D	The operating terms and conditions of the Canadian amateur service license, not to exceed U.S. Amateur Extra Class license privileges

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

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 two fields simultaneously
C	By scanning each field from bottom to top
D	By scanning lines from left to right in one field and right to left in the next

10. - E2C01

What indicator is required to be used by U.S.-licensed operators when operating a station via remote control and the remote transmitter is located in the U.S.?

Select	Answer
A	/R# where # is the district of the remote station
B	No additional indicator is required
C	/ followed by the ARRL Section of the remote station
D	/ followed by the USPS two-letter abbreviation for the state in which the remote station is located

11. - E2D09

What type of modulation is used for JT65 contacts?

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

12. - E2E03

How is the timing of FT4 contacts organized?

Select	Answer
A	By exchanging ACK/NAK packets
B	Stations take turns on alternate days
C	It depends on the lunar phase
D	Alternating transmissions at 7.5 second intervals

13. - E3A07

Atmospheric ducts capable of propagating microwave signals often form over what geographic feature?

Select	Answer
A	Urban areas
B	Mountain ranges
C	Forests
D	Bodies of water

14. - E3B06

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

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

15. - E3C02

What is indicated by a rising A or K index?

Select	Answer
A	Increasing disruption of the geomagnetic field
B	An increase in the critical frequency
C	Higher levels of solar UV radiation
D	Decreasing disruption of the geomagnetic field

16. - E4A09

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

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

17. - E4B02

What is the significance of voltmeter sensitivity expressed in ohms per volt?

Select	Answer
A	When used as an ohmmeter, the reading in ohms divided by the ohms per volt rating will determine the voltage applied to the circuit
B	When used as a galvanometer, the reading in volts multiplied by the ohms per volt rating will determine the power drawn by the device under test
C	The full scale reading of the voltmeter multiplied by its ohms per volt rating will indicate the input impedance of the voltmeter
D	When used as an ammeter, the full scale reading in amps divided by ohms per volt rating will determine the size of shunt needed

18. - E4C04

What is the noise figure of a receiver?

Select	Answer
A	The ratio of thermal noise to atmospheric noise
B	The ratio in dB of the noise generated by the receiver to the theoretical minimum noise
C	The ratio of the noise bandwidth in hertz to the theoretical bandwidth of a resistive network
D	The ratio of atmospheric noise to phase noise

19. - E4D10

What does a third-order intercept level of 40 dBm mean with respect to receiver performance?

Select	Answer
A	The receiver can tolerate signals up to 40 dB above the noise floor without producing third-order intermodulation products
B	Signals less than 40 dBm will not generate audible third-order intermodulation products
C	A pair of 1 mW input signals will produce a third-order intermodulation product that is 40 dB stronger than the input signal
D	A pair of 40 dBm input signals will theoretically generate a third-order intermodulation product that has the same output amplitude as either of the input signals

20. - E4E06

What is one type of electrical interference that might be caused by a nearby personal computer?

Select	Answer
A	A whining type noise that continually pulses off and on
B	A clicking noise at intervals of a few seconds
C	The appearance of unstable modulated or unmodulated signals at specific frequencies
D	A loud AC hum in the audio output of your station receiver

21. - E5A09

How is the Q of an RLC parallel resonant circuit calculated?

Select	Answer
A	Resistance divided by the reactance of either the inductance or capacitance
B	Reactance of either the inductance or capacitance divided by the resistance
C	Reactance of the inductance multiplied by the reactance of the capacitance
D	Reactance of either the inductance or capacitance multiplied by the resistance

22. - E5B08

What is the phase angle between the voltage across and the current through a series RLC circuit if XC is 100 ohms, R is 100 ohms, and XL is 75 ohms?

Select	Answer
A	14 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
B	14 degrees with the voltage leading the current
C	76 degrees with the voltage leading the current
D	76 degrees with the voltage lagging the current

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 direction opposite to the current
C	In the same direction as the current
D	In a circle around the conductor

25. - E6A01

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

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

26. - E6B01

What is the most useful characteristic of a Zener diode?

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

27. - E6C11

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

Select	Answer
A	2
B	4
C	6
D	5

28. - E6D09

What devices are commonly used as VHF and UHF parasitic suppressors at the input and output terminals of a transistor HF amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	Steel-core toroids
B	Electrolytic capacitors
C	Ferrite beads
D	Butterworth filters

29. - E6E09

Which of the following component package types would be most suitable for use at frequencies above the HF range?

Select	Answer
A	TO-220
B	Axial lead
C	Radial lead
D	Surface mount

30. - E6F10

What is the most common type of photovoltaic cell used for electrical power generation?

Select	Answer
A	Copper oxide
B	Cadmium Sulfide
C	Silicon
D	Selenium

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. - E7B18

What is a characteristic of a grounded-grid amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	Low bandwidth
B	High power gain
C	Low input impedance
D	High filament voltage

33. - E7C08

Which of the following factors has the greatest effect on the bandwidth and response shape of a crystal ladder filter?

Select	Answer
A	The DC voltage applied to the quartz crystal
B	The relative frequencies of the individual crystals
C	The amplitude of the signals passing through the filter
D	The gain of the RF stage preceding the filter

34. - E7D15

What is the purpose of a step-start circuit in a high-voltage power supply?

Select	Answer
A	To allow the filter capacitors to charge gradually
B	To compensate for variations of the incoming line voltage
C	To provide a dual-voltage output for reduced power applications
D	To allow for remote control of the power supply

35. - E7E02

What is the function of a reactance modulator?

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

36. - E7F10

What aspect of receiver analog-to-digital conversion determines the maximum receive bandwidth of a Direct Digital Conversion SDR?

Select	Answer
A	Sample clock phase noise
B	Processor latency
C	Sample rate
D	Sample width in bits

37. - E7G05

How can unwanted ringing and audio instability be prevented in an op-amp RC audio filter circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Increase both gain and Q
B	Restrict gain but increase Q
C	Restrict Q but increase gain
D	Restrict both gain and Q

38. - E7H12

Which of the following must be done to ensure that a crystal oscillator provides the frequency specified by the crystal manufacturer?

Select	Answer
A	Bias the crystal at a specified current
B	Provide the crystal with a specified parallel inductance
C	Provide the crystal with a specified parallel capacitance
D	Bias the crystal at a specified voltage

39. - E8A04

What is "dither" with respect to analog-to-digital converters?

Select	Answer
A	An abnormal condition where the converter cannot settle on a value to represent the signal
B	An error caused by irregular quantization step size
C	A method of decimation by randomly skipping samples
D	A small amount of noise added to the input signal to allow more precise representation of a signal over time

40. - E8B03

What is the modulation index of an FM-phone signal having a maximum frequency deviation of 3000 Hz either side of the carrier frequency when the modulating frequency is 1000 Hz?

Select	Answer
A	0.3
B	3
C	3000
D	1000

41. - E8C04

What technique minimizes the bandwidth of a PSK31 signal?

Select	Answer
A	Use of sinusoidal data pulses
B	Reed-Solomon character encoding
C	Use of trapezoidal data pulses
D	Zero-sum character encoding

42. - E8D08

What parameter evaluates distortion of an AFSK signal caused by excessive input audio levels?

Select	Answer
A	Signal-to-noise ratio
B	Repeat Request Rate (RRR)
C	Intermodulation Distortion (IMD)
D	Baud rate

43. - E9A08

What is antenna bandwidth?

Select	Answer
A	The angle formed between two imaginary lines drawn through the element ends
B	Antenna length divided by the number of elements
C	The angle between the half-power radiation points
D	The frequency range over which an antenna satisfies a performance requirement

44. - E9B09

What type of computer program technique is commonly used for modeling antennas?

Select	Answer
A	Graphical analysis
B	Mutual impedance analysis
C	Calculus differentiation with respect to physical properties
D	Method of Moments

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 portable antenna erected using two push support poles
C	A wideband vertical antenna constructed from precisely tapered aluminum tubing
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 swamp out harmonics
B	To minimize losses
C	To lower the radiation angle
D	To minimize the Q

47. - E9E05

How must an antenna's driven element be tuned to use a hairpin matching system?

Select	Answer
A	The driven element resonance must be lower than the operating frequency
B	The driven element reactance must be capacitive
C	The driven element reactance must be inductive
D	The driven element radiation resistance must be higher than the characteristic impedance of the transmission line

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

49. - E9G02

What type of coordinate system is used in a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Voltage lines and current chords
B	Resistance circles and reactance arcs
C	Resistance lines and reactance chords
D	Voltage circles and current arcs

50. - E9H05

What is the main drawback of a small wire-loop antenna for direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	It is practical for use only on VHF and higher bands
B	It has no clearly defined null
C	All these choices are correct
D	It has a bidirectional pattern

Figure E6-3