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

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1. - E0A03

Over what range of frequencies are the FCC human body RF exposure limits most restrictive?

Select	Answer
A	3 to 30 MHz
B	30 to 300 MHz
C	300 to 3000 MHz
D	300 kHz to 3 MHz

2. - E1A01

Which of the following carrier frequencies is illegal for LSB AFSK emissions on the 17 meter band RTTY and data segment of 18.068 to 18.110 MHz?

Select	Answer
A	18.107 MHz
B	18.110 MHz
C	18.100 MHz
D	18.068 MHz

3. - E1B10

What frequencies are authorized to an amateur station operating under RACES rules?

Select	Answer
A	Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) channels
B	Specific segments in the amateur service MF, HF, VHF and UHF bands
C	Specific local government channels
D	All amateur service frequencies authorized to the control operator

4. - E1C04

What is meant by IARP?

Select	Answer
A	An indication of increased antenna reflected power
B	A forecast of intermittent aurora radio propagation
C	An international amateur radio permit that allows U.S. amateurs to operate in certain countries of the Americas
D	The internal amateur radio practices policy of the FCC

5. - E1D01

What is the definition of telemetry?

Select	Answer
A	One-way transmission of measurements at a distance from the measuring instrument
B	Two-way transmissions of data
C	Two-way transmissions in excess of 1000 feet
D	One-way transmission that initiates, modifies, or terminates the functions of a device at a distance

6. - E1E09

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

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

7. - E1F01

On what frequencies are spread spectrum transmissions permitted?

Select	Answer
A	Only on amateur frequencies above 222 MHz
B	Only on amateur frequencies above 420 MHz
C	Only on amateur frequencies above 50 MHz
D	Only on amateur frequencies above 144 MHz

8. - E2A06

What are Keplerian elements?

Select	Answer
A	High-emission heater filaments used in magnetron tubes
B	Encrypting codes used for spread spectrum modulation
C	Phase reversing elements in a Yagi antenna
D	Parameters that define the orbit of a satellite

9. - E2B11

What is the function of the Vertical Interval Signaling (VIS) code sent as part of an SSTV transmission?

Select	Answer
A	To identify the SSTV mode being used
B	To identify the call sign of the station transmitting
C	To lock the color burst oscillator in color SSTV images
D	To provide vertical synchronization

10. - E2C07

What is the Cabrillo format?

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

11. - E2D03

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

Select	Answer
A	PACTOR III
B	Olivia
C	JT65
D	MSK144

12. - E2E13

Which of these digital modes has the fastest data throughput under clear communication conditions?

Select	Answer
A	PSK31
B	300 baud packet
C	AMTOR
D	170 Hz shift, 45 baud RTTY

13. - E3A02

What characterizes libration fading of an EME signal?

Select	Answer
A	The returning echo is several hertz lower in frequency than the transmitted signal
B	A slow change in the pitch of the CW signal
C	A fluttery irregular fading
D	A gradual loss of signal as the sun rises

14. - E3B07

What happens to linearly polarized radio waves that split into ordinary and extraordinary waves in the ionosphere?

Select	Answer
A	They become elliptically polarized
B	They become depolarized
C	They are bent toward the magnetic poles
D	They become phase locked

15. - E3C11

What does VOACAP software model?

Select	Answer
A	AC current and impedance
B	AC voltage and impedance
C	VHF radio propagation
D	HF propagation

16. - E4A06

What is the effect of aliasing on a digital oscilloscope caused by setting the time base too slow?

Select	Answer
A	All signals will have a DC offset
B	Calibration of the vertical scale is no longer valid
C	Excessive blanking occurs, which prevents display of the signal
D	A false, jittery low-frequency version of the signal is displayed

17. - E4B02

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

Select	Answer
A	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
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 an ammeter, the full scale reading in amps divided by ohms per volt rating will determine the size of shunt needed
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. - E4C11

Why can an attenuator be used to reduce receiver overload on the lower frequency HF bands with little or no impact on signal-to-noise ratio?

Select	Answer
A	Atmospheric noise is generally greater than internally generated noise even after attenuation
B	The attenuator has a low-pass filter to increase the strength of lower frequency signals
C	The attenuator has a noise filter to suppress interference
D	Signals are attenuated separately from the noise

19. - E4D09

What is the purpose of the preselector in a communications receiver?

Select	Answer
A	To provide a range of AGC time constants
B	To allow selection of the optimum RF amplifier device
C	To store often-used frequencies
D	To increase rejection of signals outside the desired band

20. - E4E08

What current flows equally on all conductors of an unshielded multi-conductor cable?

Select	Answer
A	Common-mode current
B	Reactive current only
C	Return current
D	Differential-mode current

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	3.56 MHz
B	1.78 MHz
C	44.72 MHz
D	22.36 MHz

22. - E5B12

What is admittance?

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

23. - E5C05

What is the name of the diagram used to show the phase relationship between impedances at a given frequency?

Select	Answer
A	Far field diagram
B	Venn diagram
C	Phasor diagram
D	Near field diagram

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 a direction opposite to the current
B	In a circle around the conductor
C	In all directions; omni-directional
D	In the same direction as the current

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 high-power audio circuits
D	In very low-frequency RF circuits

26. - E6B09

What is a common use for point-contact diodes?

Select	Answer
A	As a constant current source
B	As a high-voltage rectifier
C	As an RF detector
D	As a constant voltage source

27. - E6C01

What is the function of hysteresis in a comparator?

Select	Answer
A	To allow the comparator to be used with AC input signals
B	To increase the sensitivity
C	To cause the output to change states continually
D	To prevent input noise from causing unstable output signals

28. - E6D01

Why should core saturation of an impedance matching transformer be avoided?

Select	Answer
A	Harmonics and distortion could result
B	Magnetic flux would increase with frequency
C	Temporary changes of the core permeability could result
D	RF susceptance would increase

29. - E6E07

What type of transmission line is used for connections to MMICs?

Select	Answer
A	Miniature coax
B	Parallel wire
C	Microstrip
D	Circular waveguide

30. - E6F09

What is the efficiency of a photovoltaic cell?

Select	Answer
A	Cost per kilowatt-hour generated
B	The output RF power divided by the input DC power
C	The relative fraction of light that is converted to current
D	The open-circuit voltage divided by the short-circuit current under full illumination

31. - E7A05

Which of the following is a circuit that continuously alternates between two states without an external clock?

Select	Answer
A	Monostable multivibrator
B	J-K flip-flop
C	Astable multivibrator
D	T flip-flop

32. - E7B17

Why are odd-order rather than even-order intermodulation distortion products of concern in linear power amplifiers?

Select	Answer
A	Because they are relatively far in frequency from the desired signal
B	Because they maintain the sidebands, thus causing multiple duplicate signals
C	Because they invert the sidebands causing distortion
D	Because they are relatively close in frequency to the desired signal

33. - E7C01

How are the capacitors and inductors of a low-pass filter Pi-network arranged between the network's input and output?

Select	Answer
A	A capacitor is connected between the input and ground, another capacitor is connected between the output and ground, and an inductor is connected between input and output
B	An inductor is connected between the input and ground, another inductor is connected between the output and ground, and a capacitor is connected between the input and output
C	Two capacitors are in series between the input and output, and an inductor is connected between the two capacitors and ground
D	Two inductors are in series between the input and output, and a capacitor is connected between the two inductors and ground

34. - E7D13

What is the equation for calculating power dissipated by a series linear voltage regulator?

Select	Answer
A	Input voltage divided by output current
B	Input voltage multiplied by input current
C	Output voltage multiplied by output current
D	Voltage difference from input to output multiplied by output current

35. - E7E09

What occurs when an excessive amount of signal energy reaches a mixer circuit?

Select	Answer
A	Automatic limiting occurs
B	Mixer blanking occurs
C	Spurious mixer products are generated
D	A beat frequency is generated

36. - E7F02

What kind of digital signal processing audio filter is used to remove unwanted noise from a received SSB signal?

Select	Answer
A	A crystal-lattice filter
B	An adaptive filter
C	A Hilbert-transform filter
D	A phase-inverting filter

37. - E7G06

What is the gain-bandwidth of an operational amplifier?

Select	Answer
A	The gain of the amplifier at a filter's cutoff frequency
B	The frequency at which the open-loop gain of the amplifier equals one
C	The maximum frequency for a filter circuit using that type of amplifier
D	The frequency at which the amplifier's offset voltage is zero

38. - E7H14

What is a phase-locked loop circuit?

Select	Answer
A	An electronic servo loop consisting of a phase detector, a low-pass filter, a voltage-controlled oscillator, and a stable reference oscillator
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 circuit consisting of a precision push-pull amplifier with a differential input

39. - E8A04

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

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

40. - E8B08

What describes Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing?

Select	Answer
A	A bandwidth compression technique using Fourier transforms
B	A digital mode for narrow-band, slow-speed transmissions
C	A frequency modulation technique that uses non-harmonically related frequencies
D	A digital modulation technique using subcarriers at frequencies chosen to avoid intersymbol interference

41. - E8C07

What is the bandwidth of a 4800-Hz frequency shift, 9600-baud ASCII FM transmission?

Select	Answer
A	4.8 kHz
B	15.36 kHz
C	5.76 kHz
D	9.6 kHz

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

43. - E9A10

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

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

44. - E9B03

In the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-1, what is the front-to-side ratio?

Select	Answer
A	18 dB
B	12 dB
C	14 dB
D	24 dB

45. - E9C04

What happens to the radiation pattern of an unterminated long wire antenna as the wire length is increased?

Select	Answer
A	The vertical angle increases
B	The lobes align more in the direction of the wire
C	The front-to-back ratio decreases
D	The lobes become more perpendicular to the wire

46. - E9D05

What usually occurs if a Yagi antenna is designed solely for maximum forward gain?

Select	Answer
A	The frequency response is widened over the whole frequency band
B	The front-to-back ratio decreases
C	The front-to-back ratio increases
D	The SWR is reduced

47. - E9E04

What is the purpose of the series capacitor in a gamma-type antenna matching network?

Select	Answer
A	To transform the antenna impedance to a higher value
B	To provide DC isolation between the feed line and the antenna
C	To provide a rejection notch that prevents the radiation of harmonics
D	To cancel the inductive reactance of the matching network

48. - E9F10

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

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

49. - E9G08

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

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

50. - E9H04

What is an advantage of placing a grounded electrostatic shield around a small loop direction-finding antenna?

Select	Answer
A	It adds capacitive loading, increasing the bandwidth of the antenna
B	It eliminates tracking errors caused by strong out-of-band signals
C	It increases signal strength by providing a better match to the feed line
D	It eliminates unbalanced capacitive coupling to the surroundings, improving the nulls

Figure E9-1