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

2. - E1A13

Who must be in physical control of the station apparatus of an amateur station aboard any vessel or craft that is documented or registered in the United States?

Select	Answer
A	Any person holding an FCC issued amateur license or who is authorized for alien reciprocal operation
B	Only a person with an FCC Marine Radio license grant
C	Only a person named in an amateur station license grant
D	Any person named in an amateur station license grant or a person holding an unrestricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit

3. - E1B09

Which amateur stations may be operated under RACES rules?

Select	Answer
A	Any FCC-licensed amateur station except a Technician Class
B	Any FCC-licensed amateur station participating in the Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS)
C	Only those club stations licensed to Amateur Extra Class operators
D	Any FCC-licensed amateur station certified by the responsible civil defense organization for the area served

4. - E1C13

What notifications must be given before transmitting on the 630 meter or 2200 meter bands?

Select	Answer
A	A special endorsement must be requested from the FCC
B	An environmental impact statement must be filed with the Department of the Interior
C	Operators must inform the Utilities Technology Council (UTC) of their call sign and coordinates of the station
D	Operators must inform the FAA of their intent to operate, giving their call sign and distance to the nearest runway

5. - E1D02

Which of the following may transmit special codes intended to obscure the meaning of messages?

Select	Answer
A	Binary control characters
B	Data containing personal information
C	Auxiliary relay links carrying repeater audio
D	Telecommand signals from a space telecommand station

6. - E1E12

What must the VE team do with the application form if the examinee does not pass the exam?

Select	Answer
A	Return the application document to the examinee
B	Maintain the application form with the VEC's records
C	Destroy the application form
D	Send the application form to the FCC and inform the FCC of the grade

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	It was purchased in used condition from an amateur operator and is sold to another amateur operator for use at that operator's station
C	The equipment dealer assembled it from a kit
D	It was imported from a manufacturer in another country and was certificated by that country's government

8. - E2A13

Which of the following techniques is normally used by low Earth orbiting digital satellites to relay messages around the world?

Select	Answer
A	Store-and-forward
B	Multi-satellite relaying
C	Node hopping
D	Digipeating

9. - E2B04

How is color information sent in analog SSTV?

Select	Answer
A	Color information is sent on a 2.8 kHz subcarrier
B	Color is sent in a color burst at the end of each line
C	Color lines are sent sequentially
D	Color is amplitude modulated on the frequency modulated intensity signal

10. - E2C07

What is the Cabrillo format?

Select	Answer
A	A standard for submission of electronic contest logs
B	A method of exchanging information during a contest QSO
C	The most common set of contest rules
D	The rules of order for meetings between contest sponsors

11. - E2D11

Which of the following data are used by the APRS network to communicate station location?

Select	Answer
A	Polar coordinates
B	Radio direction finding spectrum analysis
C	Time and frequency
D	Latitude and longitude

12. - E2E05

Which of these digital modes does not support keyboard-to-keyboard operation?

Select	Answer
A	PACTOR
B	RTTY
C	PSK31
D	MFSK

13. - E3A06

What might help to restore contact when DX signals become too weak to copy across an entire HF band a few hours after sunset?

Select	Answer
A	Switch to a lower frequency HF band
B	Switch to a higher frequency HF band
C	Wait 90 minutes or so for the signal degradation to pass
D	Wait 24 hours before attempting another communication on the band

14. - E3B01

What is transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Propagation between two mid-latitude points at approximately the same distance north and south of the magnetic equator
B	Propagation between points located on the magnetic equator
C	Propagation between a point on the equator and its antipodal point
D	Propagation between points at the same latitude

15. - E3C13

What type of polarization is best for ground-wave propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Circular
B	Elliptical
C	Horizontal
D	Vertical

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 DC voltage standard is displayed and the probe is adjusted until the displayed voltage is accurate
C	A frequency standard is displayed and the probe is adjusted until the deflection time is accurate
D	A square wave is displayed and the probe is adjusted until the horizontal portions of the displayed wave are as nearly flat as possible

17. - E4B04

Which S parameter represents input port return loss or reflection coefficient (equivalent to VSWR)?

Select	Answer
A	S22
B	S11
C	S21
D	S12

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. - E4D11

Why are odd-order intermodulation products, created within a receiver, of particular interest compared to other products?

Select	Answer
A	Odd-order products of two signals in the band of interest are also likely to be within the band
B	Odd-order products overload the IF filters
C	Odd-order intermodulation produces three products for every input signal within the band of interest
D	Odd-order products are an indication of poor image rejection

20. - E4E07

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

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

21. - E5A10

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

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

22. - E5B01

What is the term for the time required for the capacitor in an RC circuit to be charged to 63.2% of the applied voltage or to discharge to 36.8% of its initial voltage?

Select	Answer
A	A time factor of one
B	One time constant
C	An exponential rate of one
D	One exponential period

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	Polar coordinates
B	Maidenhead grid
C	Faraday grid
D	Elliptical coordinates

24. - E5D08

How many watts are consumed in a circuit having a power factor of 0.6 if the input is 200VAC at 5 amperes?

Select	Answer
A	1600 watts
B	1000 watts
C	600 watts
D	200 watts

25. - E6A02

Which of the following semiconductor materials contains excess free electrons?

Select	Answer
A	Bipolar
B	P-type
C	Insulated gate
D	N-type

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	Capacitance of an RF coupling capacitor
C	Forward DC bias current
D	A sub-harmonic pump signal

27. - E6C04

Which of the following is an advantage of BiCMOS logic?

Select	Answer
A	It is immune to electrostatic damage
B	It has the high input impedance of CMOS and the low output impedance of bipolar transistors
C	Its simplicity results in much less expensive devices than standard CMOS
D	All these choices are correct

28. - E6D07

What is current in the primary winding of a transformer called if no load is attached to the secondary?

Select	Answer
A	Stabilizing current
B	Excitation current
C	Direct current
D	Magnetizing current

29. - E6E08

How is power supplied to the most common type of MMIC?

Select	Answer
A	Through a capacitor and RF choke connected to the amplifier input lead
B	Through a resistor and/or RF choke connected to the amplifier output lead
C	MMICs require no operating bias
D	Directly to the bias voltage (VCC IN) lead

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 output RF power divided by the input DC power
D	The relative fraction of light that is converted to current

31. - E7A04

How many flip-flops are required to divide a signal frequency by 4?

Select	Answer
A	4
B	8
C	2
D	1

32. - E7B12

What type of amplifier circuit is shown in Figure E7-1?

Select	Answer
A	Emitter follower
B	Common collector
C	Common base
D	Common emitter

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

34. - E7D04

Which of the following types of linear voltage regulator usually make the most efficient use of the primary power source?

Select	Answer
A	A shunt regulator
B	A shunt current source
C	A series regulator
D	A series current source

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 PM or FM signals by using an electrically variable inductance or capacitance
D	To produce AM signals by using an electrically variable inductance or capacitance

36. - E7F12

Which of the following is an advantage of a Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter vs an Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) digital filter?

Select	Answer
A	FIR filters can respond faster to impulses
B	All these choices are correct
C	FIR filters can delay all frequency components of the signal by the same amount
D	FIR filters are easier to implement for a given set of passband rolloff requirements

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	94
C	47
D	24

38. - E7H06

Which of the following oscillator circuits are commonly used in VFOs?

Select	Answer
A	Negative feedback and balanced feedback
B	Pierce and Zener
C	Armstrong and deForest
D	Colpitts and Hartley

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

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

42. - E8D02

What spread spectrum communications technique uses a high-speed binary bit stream to shift the phase of an RF carrier?

Select	Answer
A	Binary phase-shift keying
B	Frequency hopping
C	Phase compandored spread spectrum
D	Direct sequence

43. - E9A10

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

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

44. - E9B11

What is a disadvantage of decreasing the number of wire segments in an antenna model below 10 segments per half-wavelength?

Select	Answer
A	The computed feed point impedance may be incorrect
B	Ground conductivity will not be accurately modeled
C	The antenna will become mechanically unstable
D	The resulting design will favor radiation of harmonic energy

45. - E9C01

What is the radiation pattern of two 1/4-wavelength vertical antennas spaced 1/2-wavelength apart and fed 180 degrees out of phase?

Select	Answer
A	Omni-directional
B	A figure-8 oriented along the axis of the array
C	Cardioid
D	A figure-8 broadside to the axis of the array

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 decreased
C	It is increased
D	It is unchanged if the loading coil is located at the feed point

47. - E9E09

Which of the following is used to shunt-feed a grounded tower at its base?

Select	Answer
A	Double-bazooka match
B	Hairpin match
C	All these choices are correct
D	Gamma match

48. - E9F11

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

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

49. - E9G07

On the Smith chart shown in Figure E9-3, what is the only straight line shown?

Select	Answer
A	The current axis
B	The reactance axis
C	The voltage axis
D	The resistance axis

50. - E9H10

How can the output voltage of a multiple-turn receiving loop antenna be increased?

Select	Answer
A	By utilizing high impedance wire for the coupling loop
B	By reducing the permeability of the loop shield
C	By increasing the number of turns and/or the area
D	By winding adjacent turns in opposing directions

Figure E7-1

Figure E9-3