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

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1. - E0A05

What is one of the potential hazards of operating in the amateur radio microwave bands?

Select	Answer
A	Microwaves are ionizing radiation
B	The extremely high frequency energy can damage the joints of antenna structures
C	Microwaves often travel long distances by ionospheric reflection
D	The high gain antennas commonly used can result in high exposure levels

2. - E1A12

What special operating frequency restrictions are imposed on slow scan TV transmissions?

Select	Answer
A	They are restricted to phone band segments
B	They are not permitted above 54 MHz
C	They are restricted to 7.245 MHz, 14.245 MHz, 21.345 MHz, and 28.945 MHz
D	None; they are allowed on all amateur frequencies

3. - E1B09

Which amateur stations may be operated under RACES rules?

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

4. - E1C03

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

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

5. - E1D12

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

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

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	A fine of up to $1000 per occurrence
C	A sentence of up to one year in prison
D	Revocation of the VE's amateur station license grant and the suspension of the VE's amateur operator license grant

7. - E1F05

Amateur stations may not transmit in which of the following frequency segments if they are located in the contiguous 48 states and north of Line A?

Select	Answer
A	440 MHz - 450 MHz
B	420 MHz - 430 MHz
C	222 MHz - 223 MHz
D	53 MHz - 54 MHz

8. - E2A05

What do the letters in a satellite's mode designator specify?

Select	Answer
A	The location of the ground control station
B	The uplink and downlink frequency ranges
C	Power limits for uplink and downlink transmissions
D	The polarization of uplink and downlink signals

9. - E2B10

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

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

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	Special event contacts between stations in the U.S.
C	Repeater contacts between U.S. club members
D	Contacts using tactical call signs

11. - E2D06

Which of the following describes a method of establishing EME contacts?

Select	Answer
A	Time synchronous transmissions alternately from each station
B	Storing and forwarding digital messages
C	Judging optimum transmission times by monitoring beacons reflected from the moon
D	High-speed CW identification to avoid fading

12. - E2E11

What is the difference between direct FSK and audio FSK?

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

13. - E3A09

Which of the following frequency ranges is most suited for meteor scatter communications?

Select	Answer
A	10 MHz - 14 MHz
B	220 MHz - 450 MHz
C	28 MHz - 148 MHz
D	1.8 MHz - 1.9 MHz

14. - E3B06

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

Select	Answer
A	10 meters
B	80 meters
C	20 meters
D	6 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. - E4A08

Which of the following measures SWR?

Select	Answer
A	A Q meter
B	An antenna analyzer
C	A spectrum analyzer
D	An ohmmeter

17. - E4B02

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

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

18. - E4C07

What does the MDS of a receiver represent?

Select	Answer
A	The multiplex distortion stability
B	The maximum detectable spectrum
C	The minimum discernible signal
D	The meter display sensitivity

19. - E4D03

How can intermodulation interference between two repeaters occur?

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

20. - E4E05

How can radio frequency interference from an AC motor be suppressed?

Select	Answer
A	By installing a high-pass filter in series with the motor's power leads
B	By installing a bypass capacitor in series with the motor leads
C	By installing a brute-force AC-line filter in series with the motor leads
D	By using a ground-fault current interrupter in the circuit used to power the motor

21. - E5A14

What is the resonant frequency of an RLC circuit if R is 22 ohms, L is 50 microhenries and C is 40 picofarads?

Select	Answer
A	22.36 MHz
B	44.72 MHz
C	3.56 MHz
D	1.78 MHz

22. - E5B12

What is admittance?

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

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	Elliptical coordinates
C	Faraday grid
D	Maidenhead grid

24. - E5D09

What happens to reactive power in an AC circuit that has both ideal inductors and ideal capacitors?

Select	Answer
A	It is dissipated in the formation of inductive and capacitive fields
B	It is dissipated as kinetic energy in the circuit
C	It is dissipated as heat in the circuit
D	It is repeatedly exchanged between the associated magnetic and electric fields, but is not dissipated

25. - E6A07

Which of the following indicates that a silicon NPN junction transistor is biased on?

Select	Answer
A	Base-to-emitter voltage of approximately 6 to 7 volts
B	Base-to-emitter resistance of approximately 0.6 to 0.7 ohms
C	Base-to-emitter resistance of approximately 6 to 7 ohms
D	Base-to-emitter voltage of approximately 0.6 to 0.7 volts

26. - E6B11

What is used to control the attenuation of RF signals by a PIN diode?

Select	Answer
A	A sub-harmonic pump signal
B	Reverse voltage larger than the RF signal
C	Capacitance of an RF coupling capacitor
D	Forward DC bias current

27. - E6C03

What is tri-state logic?

Select	Answer
A	Logic devices that utilize ternary math
B	Proprietary logic devices manufactured by Tri-State Devices
C	Low-power logic devices designed to operate at 3 volts
D	Logic devices with 0, 1, and high-impedance output states

28. - E6D12

What is inductor saturation?

Select	Answer
A	Adjacent inductors become over-coupled
B	The inductor windings are over-coupled
C	The inductor's voltage rating is exceeded causing a flashover
D	The ability of the inductor's core to store magnetic energy has been exceeded

29. - E6E04

Which is the most common input and output impedance of circuits that use MMICs?

Select	Answer
A	50 ohms
B	300 ohms
C	450 ohms
D	10 ohms

30. - E6F08

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

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

31. - E7A02

What is the function of a decade counter?

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

32. - E7B14

Why are switching amplifiers more efficient than linear amplifiers?

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

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	L-networks cannot perform impedance transformation
B	Pi-networks are more stable
C	The Q of Pi-networks can be controlled
D	Pi-networks provide balanced input and output

34. - E7D09

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

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

35. - E7E06

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

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

36. - E7F13

What is the function of taps in a digital signal processing filter?

Select	Answer
A	Provide incremental signal delays for filter algorithms
B	Provide access for debugging software
C	To reduce excess signal pressure levels
D	Select the point at which baseband signals are generated

37. - E7G02

What is ringing in a filter?

Select	Answer
A	Undesired oscillations added to the desired signal
B	An echo caused by a long time delay
C	A reduction in high frequency response
D	Partial cancellation of the signal over a range of frequencies

38. - E7H08

Which of the following components can be used to reduce thermal drift in crystal oscillators?

Select	Answer
A	Non-inductive resistors
B	Toroidal inductors
C	NP0 capacitors
D	Wirewound resistors

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. - 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. - E8C09

Which digital code allows only one bit to change between sequential code values?

Select	Answer
A	Binary Coded Decimal Code
B	Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code
C	Gray code
D	Excess 3 code

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. - E9A06

What is the effective radiated power relative to a dipole of a repeater station with 200 watts transmitter power output, 4 dB feed line loss, 3.2 dB duplexer loss, 0.8 dB circulator loss, and 10 dBd antenna gain?

Select	Answer
A	317 watts
B	126 watts
C	2000 watts
D	300 watts

44. - E9B08

What is the far field of an antenna?

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

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	An end-fed folded dipole antenna
D	A wideband vertical antenna constructed from precisely tapered aluminum tubing

46. - E9D11

Which of the following conductors would be best for minimizing losses in a station's RF ground system?

Select	Answer
A	Wide flat copper strap
B	Resistive wire, such as spark plug wire
C	Solid wire
D	Stranded wire

47. - E9E10

Which of these choices is an effective way to match an antenna with a 100-ohm feed point impedance to a 50-ohm coaxial cable feed line?

Select	Answer
A	Insert a 1/2 wavelength piece of 300-ohm twinlead in series between the antenna terminals and the 50-ohm feed cable
B	Connect a 1/4-wavelength open stub of 300-ohm twinlead in parallel with the coaxial feed line where it connects to the antenna
C	Connect a 1/2 wavelength shorted stub of 75-ohm cable in parallel with the 50-ohm cable where it attaches to the antenna
D	Insert a 1/4-wavelength piece of 75-ohm coaxial cable transmission line in series between the antenna terminals and the 50-ohm feed cable

48. - E9F07

How does ladder line compare to small-diameter coaxial cable such as RG-58 at 50 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	Lower loss
B	Higher SWR
C	Lower velocity factor
D	Smaller reflection coefficient

49. - E9G03

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

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

50. - E9H05

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

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