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

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1. - E0A08

What does SAR measure?

Select	Answer
A	The rate of RF energy reflected from stationary terrain
B	Signal Amplification Rating
C	The rate at which RF energy is absorbed by the body
D	Synthetic Aperture Ratio of the human body

2. - E1A04

With your transceiver displaying the carrier frequency of phone signals, you hear a DX station calling CQ on 3.601 MHz LSB. Is it legal to return the call using lower sideband on the same frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Yes, because the DX station initiated the contact
B	No, U.S. stations are not permitted to use phone emissions below 3.610 MHz
C	Yes, because the displayed frequency is within the 75 meter phone band segment
D	No, the sideband will extend beyond the edge of the phone band segment

3. - E1B11

What does PRB-1 require of regulations affecting amateur radio?

Select	Answer
A	Amateur radio operations must be permitted in any private residence
B	No limitations may be placed on antenna size or placement
C	Reasonable accommodations of amateur radio must be made
D	Use of wireless devices in a vehicle is exempt from regulation

4. - E1C03

How do the control operator responsibilities of a station under automatic control differ from one under local control?

Select	Answer
A	Under local control there is no control operator
B	Under automatic control there is no control operator
C	Under automatic control the control operator is not required to be present at the control point
D	Under local control a control operator is not required to be present at a control point

5. - E1D12

Which of the following amateur stations may transmit one-way communications?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	A message forwarding station or automatically controlled digital station
C	A space station, beacon station, or telecommand station
D	A local repeater or linked repeater station

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

7. - E1F04

Which of the following geographic descriptions approximately describes "Line A"?

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

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	Digipeating
D	Node hopping

9. - E2B10

What aspect of an analog slow-scan television signal encodes the brightness of the picture?

Select	Answer
A	Sync amplitude
B	Sync frequency
C	Tone frequency
D	Tone amplitude

10. - E2C11

How should you generally identify your station when attempting to contact a DX station during a contest or in a pileup?

Select	Answer
A	Send your full call sign once or twice
B	Send only the last two letters of your call sign until you make contact
C	Send your full call sign and grid square
D	Send the call sign of the DX station three times, the words this is,then your call sign three times

11. - E2D03

Which of the following digital modes is especially useful for EME communications?

Select	Answer
A	PACTOR III
B	MSK144
C	Olivia
D	JT65

12. - E2E12

How do ALE stations establish contact?

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

13. - E3A03

When scheduling EME contacts, which of these conditions will generally result in the least path loss?

Select	Answer
A	When the MUF is above 30 MHz
B	When the moon is full
C	When the moon is at perigee
D	When the moon is at apogee

14. - E3B05

Which amateur bands typically support long-path propagation?

Select	Answer
A	160 meters to 10 meters
B	6 meters to 2 meters
C	Only 30 meters to 10 meters
D	Only 160 meters to 40 meters

15. - E3C05

What orientation of Bz (B sub z) increases the likelihood that incoming particles from the sun will cause disturbed conditions?

Select	Answer
A	Eastward
B	Southward
C	Northward
D	Westward

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 wattmeter
D	A time-domain reflectometer

17. - E4B07

What do the subscripts of S parameters represent?

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

18. - E4C09

Which of the following choices is a good reason for selecting a high frequency for the design of the IF in a superheterodyne HF or VHF communications receiver?

Select	Answer
A	Reduced drift
B	Fewer components in the receiver
C	Easier for front-end circuitry to eliminate image responses
D	Improved receiver noise figure

19. - E4D03

How can intermodulation interference between two repeaters occur?

Select	Answer
A	When the repeaters are in close proximity and the signals cause feedback in the final amplifier of one or both transmitters
B	When the signals from the transmitters are reflected in phase from airplanes passing overhead
C	When the signals from the transmitters are reflected out of phase from airplanes passing overhead
D	When the repeaters are in close proximity and the signals mix in the final amplifier of one or both transmitters

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	A malfunctioning illuminated advertising display
C	All these choices are correct
D	A defective doorbell or doorbell transformer inside a nearby residence

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. - E5B09

What is the relationship between the AC current through a capacitor and the voltage across a capacitor?

Select	Answer
A	Current leads voltage by 90 degrees
B	Voltage and current are 180 degrees out of phase
C	Voltage and current are in phase
D	Voltage leads current by 90 degrees

23. - E5C03

Which of the following represents an inductive reactance in polar coordinates?

Select	Answer
A	A positive phase angle
B	A positive magnitude
C	A negative magnitude
D	A negative phase angle

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	600 watts
C	1000 watts
D	200 watts

25. - E6A02

Which of the following semiconductor materials contains excess free electrons?

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

26. - E6B05

What characteristic of a PIN diode makes it useful as an RF switch?

Select	Answer
A	Reverse bias controls its forward voltage drop
B	Ability to dissipate large amounts of power
C	Extremely high reverse breakdown voltage
D	Low junction capacitance

27. - E6C09

What is a Programmable Logic Device (PLD)?

Select	Answer
A	A type of transistor whose gain can be changed by digital logic circuits
B	A programmable collection of logic gates and circuits in a single integrated circuit
C	Programmable equipment used for testing digital logic integrated circuits
D	A logic circuit that can be modified during use

28. - E6D04

Which materials are commonly used as a core in an inductor?

Select	Answer
A	Cobalt and aluminum
B	Ferrite and brass
C	Polystyrene and polyethylene
D	Teflon and Delrin

29. - E6E09

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

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

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

31. - E7A02

What is the function of a decade counter?

Select	Answer
A	It produces 10 output pulses for every input pulse
B	It decodes a decimal number for display on a seven-segment LED display
C	It decodes a binary number for display on a seven-segment LED display
D	It produces one output pulse for every 10 input pulses

32. - E7B14

Why are switching amplifiers more efficient than linear amplifiers?

Select	Answer
A	Switching amplifiers use push-pull circuits
B	The power transistor is at saturation or cutoff most of the time
C	Switching amplifiers operate at higher voltages
D	Linear amplifiers have high gain resulting in higher harmonic content

33. - E7C11

Which of the following describes a receiving filter's ability to reject signals occupying an adjacent channel?

Select	Answer
A	Shape factor
B	Phase response
C	Noise factor
D	Passband ripple

34. - E7D06

What is the purpose of Q1 in the circuit shown in Figure E7-2?

Select	Answer
A	It provides negative feedback to improve regulation
B	It provides a constant load for the voltage source
C	It provides D1 with current
D	It controls the current supplied to the load

35. - E7E06

Why is de-emphasis commonly used in FM communications receivers?

Select	Answer
A	To remove third-order distortion products
B	To reduce impulse noise reception
C	For higher efficiency
D	For compatibility with transmitters using phase modulation

36. - E7F03

What type of digital signal processing filter is used to generate an SSB signal?

Select	Answer
A	An elliptical filter
B	An adaptive filter
C	A Hilbert-transform filter
D	A notch filter

37. - E7G12

What is an operational amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	A high-gain, direct-coupled differential amplifier with very high input impedance and very low output impedance
B	A RF amplifier used in the UHF and microwave regions
C	An amplifier used to increase the average output of frequency modulated amateur signals to the legal limit
D	A digital audio amplifier whose characteristics are determined by components external to the amplifier

38. - E7H03

How is positive feedback supplied in a Hartley oscillator?

Select	Answer
A	Through a capacitive divider
B	Through a tapped coil
C	Through a neutralizing capacitor
D	Through link coupling

39. - E8A02

Which of the following is a type of analog-to-digital conversion?

Select	Answer
A	Successive approximation
B	Phase reversal
C	Harmonic regeneration
D	Level shifting

40. - E8B05

What is the deviation ratio of an FM-phone signal having a maximum frequency swing of plus-or-minus 5 kHz when the maximum modulation frequency is 3 kHz?

Select	Answer
A	0.6
B	0.167
C	60
D	1.67

41. - E8C04

What technique minimizes the bandwidth of a PSK31 signal?

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

42. - E8D09

What is considered an acceptable maximum IMD level for an idling PSK signal?

Select	Answer
A	+15 dB
B	+10 dB
C	-30 dB
D	-20 dB

43. - E9A08

What is antenna bandwidth?

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

44. - E9B08

What is the far field of an antenna?

Select	Answer
A	The region of the ionosphere where radiated power is not refracted
B	The region where radiated field strengths are constant
C	The region where the shape of the antenna pattern is independent of distance
D	The region where radiated power dissipates over a specified time period

45. - E9C03

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

Select	Answer
A	Omni-directional
B	A Figure-8 broadside to the axis of the array
C	Cardioid
D	A Figure-8 end-fire along the axis of the array

46. - E9D12

Which of the following would provide the best RF ground for your station?

Select	Answer
A	An electrically short connection to a metal water pipe
B	An electrically short connection to 3 or 4 interconnected ground rods via a series RF choke
C	A 50-ohm resistor connected to ground
D	An electrically short connection to 3 or 4 interconnected ground rods driven into the Earth

47. - E9E09

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

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

48. - E9F13

What impedance does a 1/4-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 transmission line
C	The same as the generator output impedance
D	Very low impedance

49. - E9G04

What are the two families of circles and arcs that make up a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Resistance and reactance
B	Voltage and impedance
C	Resistance and voltage
D	Reactance and voltage

50. - E9H03

What is Receiving Directivity Factor (RDF)?

Select	Answer
A	Relative directivity compared to a dipole
B	Forward gain compared to average gain over the entire hemisphere
C	Forward gain compared to the gain in the reverse direction
D	Relative directivity compared to isotropic

Figure E7-2