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. - E1A14

Except in some parts of Alaska, what is the maximum power permitted on the 630 meter band?

Select	Answer
A	100 watts PEP
B	1 watt EIRP
C	50 watts PEP
D	5 watts EIRP

3. - E1B12

What must the control operator of a repeater operating in the 70 cm band do if a radiolocation system experiences interference from that repeater?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	Reduce the repeater antenna HAAT (Height Above Average Terrain)
C	File an FAA NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) with the repeater system's ERP, call sign, and six-character grid locator
D	Cease operation or make changes to the repeater to mitigate the interference

4. - E1C06

Which of the following is required in order to operate in accordance with CEPT rules in foreign countries where permitted?

Select	Answer
A	The U.S. embassy must approve of your operation
B	You must append "/CEPT" to your call sign
C	You must bring a copy of FCC Public Notice DA 16-1048
D	You must identify in the official language of the country in which you are operating

5. - E1D06

What is the maximum permitted transmitter output power when operating a model craft by telecommand?

Select	Answer
A	2 watts
B	100 watts
C	5 watts
D	1 watt

6. - E1E05

What is the minimum passing score on all amateur operator license examinations?

Select	Answer
A	Minimum passing score of 74%
B	Minimum passing score of 70%
C	Minimum passing score of 77%
D	Minimum passing score of 80%

7. - E1F10

Who may be the control operator of an auxiliary station?

Select	Answer
A	Only General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators
B	Any licensed amateur operator
C	Only Technician, General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators
D	Only Amateur Extra Class operators

8. - E2A09

What do the terms L band and S band specify regarding satellite communications?

Select	Answer
A	Which sideband to use
B	The 23 centimeter and 13 centimeter bands
C	FM and Digital Store-and-Forward systems
D	The 2 meter and 70 centimeter bands

9. - E2B05

Which of the following describes the use of vestigial sideband in analog fast-scan TV transmissions?

Select	Answer
A	The vestigial sideband contains chroma information
B	Vestigial sideband reduces bandwidth while allowing for simple video detector circuitry
C	The vestigial sideband carries the audio information
D	Vestigial sideband provides high frequency emphasis to sharpen the picture

10. - E2C02

Which of the following best describes the term self-spotting? in connection with HF contest operating?

Select	Answer
A	An automatic method for rapidly zero beating or tuning to a station's frequency before calling that station
B	The acceptable practice of manually posting the call signs of stations on a spotting network
C	A manual technique for rapidly zero beating or tuning to a station's frequency before calling that station
D	The often-prohibited practice of posting one's own call sign and frequency on a spotting network

11. - E2D09

What type of modulation is used for JT65 contacts?

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

12. - E2E11

What is the difference between direct FSK and audio FSK?

Select	Answer
A	Direct FSK applies the data signal to the transmitter VFO, while AFSK transmits tones via phone
B	Direct FSK can transmit faster baud rates
C	Only direct FSK can be decoded by computer
D	Direct FSK occupies less bandwidth

13. - E3A01

What is the approximate maximum separation measured along the surface of the Earth between two stations communicating by EME?

Select	Answer
A	12,000 miles, if the moon is visible by both stations
B	2000 miles, if the moon is at apogee
C	5000 miles, if the moon is at perigee
D	500 miles, if the moon is at perigee

14. - E3B03

What is the best time of day for transequatorial propagation?

Select	Answer
A	Morning
B	Late at night
C	Noon
D	Afternoon or early evening

15. - E3C02

What is indicated by a rising A or K index?

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

16. - E4A07

Which of the following is an advantage of using an antenna analyzer compared to an SWR bridge to measure antenna SWR?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	Antenna analyzers display a time-varying representation of the modulation envelope
C	Antenna analyzers automatically tune your antenna for resonance
D	Antenna analyzers do not need an external RF source

17. - E4B07

What do the subscripts of S parameters represent?

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

18. - E4C04

What is the noise figure of a receiver?

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

19. - E4D02

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

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

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

21. - E5A01

What can cause the voltage across reactances in a series RLC circuit to be higher than the voltage applied to the entire circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Conductance
B	Resistance
C	Resonance
D	Capacitance

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

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. - E5D11

What is the power factor of an RL circuit having a 60-degree phase angle between the voltage and the current?

Select	Answer
A	0.866
B	0.5
C	1.414
D	1.73

25. - E6A03

Why does a PN-junction diode not conduct current when reverse biased?

Select	Answer
A	Holes in P-type material and electrons in the N-type material are separated by the applied voltage, widening the depletion region
B	Only P-type semiconductor material can conduct current
C	Only N-type semiconductor material can conduct current
D	Excess holes in P-type material combine with the electrons in N-type material, converting the entire diode into an insulator

26. - E6B02

What is an important characteristic of a Schottky diode as compared to an ordinary silicon diode when used as a power supply rectifier?

Select	Answer
A	More constant reverse avalanche voltage
B	Much higher reverse voltage breakdown
C	Less forward voltage drop
D	Longer carrier retention time

27. - E6C10

In Figure E6-3, what is the schematic symbol for a NOR gate?

Select	Answer
A	1
B	3
C	4
D	2

28. - E6D04

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

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

29. - E6E06

What characteristics of the MMIC make it a popular choice for VHF through microwave circuits?

Select	Answer
A	Plate current that is controlled by a control grid
B	Nearly infinite gain, very high input impedance, and very low output impedance
C	The ability to retrieve information from a single signal even in the presence of other strong signals
D	Controlled gain, low noise figure, and constant input and output impedance over the specified frequency range

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. - E7A09

What logical operation is performed by an exclusive NOR gate?

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

32. - E7B18

What is a characteristic of a grounded-grid amplifier?

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

33. - E7C04

How does an impedance-matching circuit transform a complex impedance to a resistive impedance?

Select	Answer
A	It introduces transconductance to cancel the reactive part of impedance
B	It introduces negative resistance to cancel the resistive part of impedance
C	It cancels the reactive part of the impedance and changes the resistive part to a desired value
D	Reactive currents are dissipated in matched resistances

34. - E7D14

What is the purpose of connecting equal-value resistors across power supply filter capacitors connected in series?

Select	Answer
A	Provide a minimum load on the supply
B	All these choices are correct
C	Equalize the voltage across each capacitor
D	Discharge the capacitors when voltage is removed

35. - E7E07

What is meant by the term "baseband" in radio communications?

Select	Answer
A	The lowest frequency band that the transmitter or receiver covers
B	The basic oscillator frequency in an FM transmitter that is multiplied to increase the deviation and carrier frequency
C	The frequency range occupied by a message signal prior to modulation
D	The unmodulated bandwidth of the transmitted signal

36. - E7F04

What is a common method of generating an SSB signal using digital signal processing?

Select	Answer
A	A frequency synthesizer removes the unwanted sidebands
B	Mixing products are converted to voltages and subtracted by adder circuits
C	Varying quartz crystal characteristics emulated in digital form
D	Signals are combined in quadrature phase relationship

37. - E7G12

What is an operational amplifier?

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

38. - E7H14

What is a phase-locked loop circuit?

Select	Answer
A	An electronic circuit consisting of a precision push-pull amplifier with a differential input
B	An electronic circuit also known as a monostable multivibrator
C	An electronic servo loop consisting of a ratio detector, reactance modulator, and voltage-controlled oscillator
D	An electronic servo loop consisting of a phase detector, a low-pass filter, a voltage-controlled oscillator, and a stable reference oscillator

39. - E8A10

What is the purpose of a low-pass filter used in conjunction with a digital-to-analog converter?

Select	Answer
A	Improve accuracy by removing out-of-sequence codes from the input
B	Lower the input bandwidth to increase the effective resolution
C	Remove harmonics from the output caused by the discrete analog levels generated
D	All these choices are correct

40. - E8B06

What is the deviation ratio of an FM-phone signal having a maximum frequency swing of plus or minus 7.5 kHz when the maximum modulation frequency is 3.5 kHz?

Select	Answer
A	0.214
B	47
C	2.14
D	0.47

41. - E8C12

What factors affect the bandwidth of a transmitted CW signal?

Select	Answer
A	All these choices are correct
B	Modulation index and output power
C	Keying speed and shape factor (rise and fall time)
D	IF bandwidth and Q

42. - E8D01

Why are received spread spectrum signals resistant to interference?

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

43. - E9A01

What is an isotropic antenna?

Select	Answer
A	A spacecraft antenna used to direct signals toward Earth
B	A grounded antenna used to measure Earth conductivity
C	A theoretical, omnidirectional antenna used as a reference for antenna gain
D	A horizontally polarized antenna used to compare Yagi antennas

44. - E9B06

What is the elevation angle of peak response in the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-2?

Select	Answer
A	75 degrees
B	45 degrees
C	7.5 degrees
D	25 degrees

45. - E9C07

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

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

46. - E9D12

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

Select	Answer
A	An electrically short connection to 3 or 4 interconnected ground rods via a series RF choke
B	An electrically short connection to a metal water pipe
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. - E9E05

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

Select	Answer
A	The driven element reactance must be capacitive
B	The driven element resonance must be lower than the operating frequency
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. - E9F01

What is the velocity factor of a transmission line?

Select	Answer
A	The index of shielding for coaxial cable
B	The ratio of the characteristic impedance of the line to the terminating impedance
C	The velocity of the wave in the transmission line divided by the velocity of light in a vacuum
D	The velocity of the wave in the transmission line multiplied by the velocity of light in a vacuum

49. - E9G08

What is the process of normalization with regard to a Smith chart?

Select	Answer
A	Reassigning impedance values with regard to the prime center
B	Reassigning reactance values with regard to the resistance axis
C	Reassigning resistance values with regard to the reactance axis
D	Reassigning prime center with regard to the reactance axis

50. - E9H11

What feature of a cardioid pattern antenna makes it useful for direction finding?

Select	Answer
A	Broadband response
B	High radiation angle
C	A very sharp peak
D	A very sharp single null

Figure E6-3

Figure E9-2