Amateur Extra Class Practice Test

Select the most correct answer for each question, then submit your practice test to check your score. This practice test randomly pulls one question from each topic in the Amateur Extra pool.

Good Luck!

E9D03:

Where should a high Q loading coil be placed to minimize losses in a shortened vertical antenna?

Near the center of the vertical radiator
As low as possible on the vertical radiator
As close to the transmitter as possible
At a voltage node

E5C11:

What do the two numbers that are used to define a point on a graph using rectangular coordinates represent?

The magnitude and phase of the point
The sine and cosine values
The coordinate values along the horizontal and vertical axes
The tangent and cotangent values

E4E06:

What is a major cause of atmospheric static?

Solar radio frequency emissions
Thunderstorms
Geomagnetic storms
Meteor showers

E9C13:

What is the main effect of placing a vertical antenna over an imperfect ground?

It causes increased SWR
It changes the impedance angle of the matching network
It reduces low-angle radiation
It reduces losses in the radiating portion of the antenna

E3C11:

What does VOACAP software model?

AC voltage and impedance
VHF radio propagation
HF propagation
AC current and impedance

E9A16:

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?

317 watts
2000 watts
126 watts
300 watts

E4B14:

What happens if a dip meter is too tightly coupled to a tuned circuit being checked?

Harmonics are generated
A less accurate reading results
Cross modulation occurs
Intermodulation distortion occurs

E2A07:

Which of the following types of signals can be relayed through a linear transponder?

FM and CW
SSB and SSTV
PSK and Packet
All of these choices are correct

E1C13:

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

You must identify in the official language of the country in which you are operating
The U.S. embassy must approve of your operation
You must bring a copy of FCC Public Notice DA 11-221
You must append "/CEPT" to your call sign

E1B08:

What limitations may the FCC place on an amateur station if its signal causes interference to domestic broadcast reception, assuming that the receivers involved are of good engineering design?

The amateur station must cease operation
The amateur station must cease operation on all frequencies below 30 MHz
The amateur station must cease operation on all frequencies above 30 MHz
The amateur station must avoid transmitting during certain hours on frequencies that cause the interference

E5D05:

Which parasitic characteristic increases with conductor length?

Inductance
Permeability
Permittivity
Malleability

E2C09:

What type of equipment is commonly used to implement a ham radio mesh network?

A 2 meter VHF transceiver with a 1200 baud modem
An optical cable connection between the USB ports of 2 separate computers
A standard wireless router running custom software
A 440 MHz transceiver with a 9600 baud modem

E8A02:

What type of wave has a rise time significantly faster than its fall time (or vice versa)?

A cosine wave
A square wave
A sawtooth wave
A sine wave

E7C13:

What is one advantage of a Pi-matching network over an L-matching network consisting of a single inductor and a single capacitor?

The Q of Pi-networks can be varied depending on the component values chosen
L-networks cannot perform impedance transformation
Pi-networks have fewer components
Pi-networks are designed for balanced input and output

E7G05:

How can unwanted ringing and audio instability be prevented in a multi-section op-amp RC audio filter circuit?

Restrict both gain and Q
Restrict gain but increase Q
Restrict Q but increase gain
Increase both gain and Q

E6F05:

Which describes an optical shaft encoder?

A device which detects rotation of a control by interrupting a light source with a patterned wheel
A device which measures the strength of a beam of light using analog to digital conversion
A digital encryption device often used to encrypt spacecraft control signals
A device for generating RTTY signals by means of a rotating light source

E4D06:

What is the term for unwanted signals generated by the mixing of two or more signals?

Amplifier desensitization
Neutralization
Adjacent channel interference
Intermodulation interference

E7E07:

What is meant by the term baseband in radio communications?

The lowest frequency band that the transmitter or receiver covers
The frequency components present in the modulating signal
The unmodulated bandwidth of the transmitted signal
The basic oscillator frequency in an FM transmitter that is multiplied to increase the deviation and carrier frequency

E5A15:

Which of the following can increase Q for inductors and capacitors?

Lower losses
Lower reactance
Lower self-resonant frequency
Higher self-resonant frequency

E2B16:

Which is a video standard used by North American Fast Scan ATV stations?

PAL
DRM
Scottie
NTSC

E9G02:

What type of coordinate system is used in a Smith chart?

Voltage circles and current arcs
Resistance circles and reactance arcs
Voltage lines and current chords
Resistance lines and reactance chords

E7B13:

In Figure E7-2, what is the purpose of R?

Emitter load
Fixed bias
Collector load
Voltage regulation

E9E02:

What is the name of an antenna matching system that matches an unbalanced feed line to an antenna by feeding the driven element both at the center of the element and at a fraction of a wavelength to one side of center?

The gamma match
The delta match
The epsilon match
The stub match

E4A08:

Which of the following instruments would be best for measuring the SWR of a beam antenna?

A spectrum analyzer
A Q meter
An ohmmeter
An antenna analyzer

E9F08:

What is the term for the ratio of the actual speed at which a signal travels through a transmission line to the speed of light in a vacuum?

Velocity factor
Characteristic impedance
Surge impedance
Standing wave ratio

E8D10:

What are some of the differences between the Baudot digital code and ASCII?

Baudot uses 4 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot uses 1 character as a letters/figures shift code, ASCII has no letters/figures code
Baudot uses 5 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot uses 2 characters as letters/figures shift codes, ASCII has no letters/figures shift code
Baudot uses 6 data bits per character, ASCII uses 7 or 8; Baudot has no letters/figures shift code, ASCII uses 2 letters/figures shift codes
Baudot uses 7 data bits per character, ASCII uses 8; Baudot has no letters/figures shift code, ASCII uses 2 letters/figures shift codes

E8B04:

What is the modulation index of an FM-phone signal having a maximum carrier deviation of plus or minus 6 kHz when modulated with a 2 kHz modulating frequency?

6000
3
2000
1/3

E3B07:

Which of the following could account for hearing an echo on the received signal of a distant station?

High D layer absorption
Meteor scatter
Transmit frequency is higher than the MUF
Receipt of a signal by more than one path

E6A01:

In what application is gallium arsenide used as a semiconductor material in preference to germanium or silicon?

In high-current rectifier circuits
In high-power audio circuits
In microwave circuits
In very low frequency RF circuits

E6E11:

What is a characteristic of DIP packaging used for integrated circuits?

Package mounts in a direct inverted position
Low leakage doubly insulated package
Two chips in each package (Dual In Package)
A total of two rows of connecting pins placed on opposite sides of the package (Dual In-line Package)

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?

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

E4C01:

What is an effect of excessive phase noise in the local oscillator section of a receiver?

It limits the receiver's ability to receive strong signals
It reduces receiver sensitivity
It decreases receiver third-order intermodulation distortion dynamic range
It can cause strong signals on nearby frequencies to interfere with reception of weak signals

E0A08:

What does SAR measure?

Synthetic Aperture Ratio of the human body
Signal Amplification Rating
The rate at which RF energy is absorbed by the body
The rate of RF energy reflected from stationary terrain

E7F04:

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

Mixing products are converted to voltages and subtracted by adder circuits
A frequency synthesizer removes the unwanted sidebands
Emulation of quartz crystal filter characteristics
Combine signals with a quadrature phase relationship

E2E06:

What is the most common data rate used for HF packet?

48 baud
110 baud
300 baud
1200 baud

E6C09:

What is a Programmable Logic Device (PLD)?

A device to control industrial equipment
A programmable collection of logic gates and circuits in a single integrated circuit
Programmable equipment used for testing digital logic integrated circuits
An algorithm for simulating logic functions during circuit design

E5B03:

What happens to the phase angle of a reactance when it is converted to a susceptance?

It is unchanged
The sign is reversed
It is shifted by 90 degrees
The susceptance phase angle is the inverse of the reactance phase angle

E9B01:

In the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-1, what is the 3 dB beam-width?

75 degrees
50 degrees
25 degrees
30 degrees

E7A06:

What is a characteristic of a monostable multivibrator?

It switches momentarily to the opposite binary state and then returns to its original state after a set time
It produces a continuous square wave oscillating between 1 and 0
It stores one bit of data in either a 0 or 1 state
It maintains a constant output voltage, regardless of variations in the input voltage

E2D12:

How does JT65 improve EME communications?

It can decode signals many dB below the noise floor using FEC
It controls the receiver to track Doppler shift
It supplies signals to guide the antenna to track the Moon
All of these choices are correct

E1E14:

For which types of out-of-pocket expenses do the Part 97 rules state that VEs and VECs may be reimbursed?

Preparing, processing, administering and coordinating an examination for an amateur radio license
Teaching an amateur operator license examination preparation course
No expenses are authorized for reimbursement
Providing amateur operator license examination preparation training materials

E7D07:

What is the purpose of C2 in the circuit shown in Figure E7-3?

It bypasses hum around D1
It is a brute force filter for the output
To self-resonate at the hum frequency
To provide fixed DC bias for Q1

E9H08:

What is the function of a sense antenna?

It modifies the pattern of a DF antenna array to provide a null in one direction
It increases the sensitivity of a DF antenna array
It allows DF antennas to receive signals at different vertical angles
It provides diversity reception that cancels multipath signals

E6D10:

What is a primary advantage of using a toroidal core instead of a solenoidal core in an inductor?

Toroidal cores confine most of the magnetic field within the core material
Toroidal cores make it easier to couple the magnetic energy into other components
Toroidal cores exhibit greater hysteresis
Toroidal cores have lower Q characteristics

E6B09:

What is a common use for point contact diodes?

As a constant current source
As a constant voltage source
As an RF detector
As a high voltage rectifier

E3A03:

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

When the Moon is at perigee
When the Moon is full
When the Moon is at apogee
When the MUF is above 30 MHz

E1D09:

Which UHF amateur service bands have frequencies available for a space station?

70 cm only
70 cm and 13 cm
70 cm and 33 cm
33 cm and 13 cm

E1F06:

Under what circumstances might the FCC issue a Special Temporary Authority (STA) to an amateur station?

To provide for experimental amateur communications
To allow regular operation on Land Mobile channels
To provide additional spectrum for personal use
To provide temporary operation while awaiting normal licensing

E7H07:

How can an oscillator's microphonic responses be reduced?

Use of NP0 capacitors
Eliminating noise on the oscillator's power supply
Using the oscillator only for CW and digital signals
Mechanically isolating the oscillator circuitry from its enclosure

E8C07:

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

15.36 kHz
9.6 kHz
4.8 kHz
5.76 kHz