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!

E1D10:

Which amateur stations are eligible to be telecommand stations of space stations (subject to the privileges of the class of operator license held by the control operator of the station)?

Any amateur station designated by NASA
Any amateur station so designated by the space station licensee
Any amateur station so designated by the ITU
All these choices are correct

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

E2D06:

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

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

E3A08:

When a meteor strikes the Earth's atmosphere, a cylindrical region of free electrons is formed at what layer of the ionosphere?

The E layer
The F1 layer
The F2 layer
The D layer

E4B08:

Which of the following can be used to measure the Q of a series-tuned circuit?

The inductance to capacitance ratio
The frequency shift
The bandwidth of the circuit's frequency response
The resonant frequency of the circuit

E1C01:

What is the maximum bandwidth for a data emission on 60 meters?

60 Hz
170 Hz
1.5 kHz
2.8 kHz

E9B01:

In the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-1, what is the beamwidth?

75 degrees
50 degrees
25 degrees
30 degrees

E5B09:

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

Voltage and current are in phase
Voltage and current are 180 degrees out of phase
Voltage leads current by 90 degrees
Current leads voltage by 90 degrees

E7E05:

What circuit is added to an FM transmitter to boost the higher audio frequencies?

A de-emphasis network
A heterodyne suppressor
A heterodyne enhancer
A pre-emphasis network

E2B12:

What signals SSTV receiving software to begin a new picture line?

Specific tone frequencies
Elapsed time
Specific tone amplitudes
A two-tone signal

E6A07:

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

Base-to-emitter resistance of approximately 6 to 7 ohms
Base-to-emitter resistance of approximately 0.6 to 0.7 ohms
Base-to-emitter voltage of approximately 6 to 7 volts
Base-to-emitter voltage of approximately 0.6 to 0.7 volts

E6F06:

Which of these materials is most commonly used to create photoconductive devices?

A crystalline semiconductor
An ordinary metal
A heavy metal
A liquid semiconductor

E1F11:

Which of the following best describes one of the standards that must be met by an external RF power amplifier if it is to qualify for a grant of FCC certification?

It must produce full legal output when driven by not more than 5 watts of mean RF input power
It must be capable of external RF switching between its input and output networks
It must exhibit a gain of 0 dB or less over its full output range
It must satisfy the FCC's spurious emission standards when operated at the lesser of 1500 watts or its full output power

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?

2.14
0.214
0.47
47

E3B09:

At what time of year is sporadic E propagation most likely to occur?

Around the solstices, especially the summer solstice
Around the solstices, especially the winter solstice
Around the equinoxes, especially the spring equinox
Around the equinoxes, especially the fall equinox

E7H13:

Which of the following is a technique for providing highly accurate and stable oscillators needed for microwave transmission and reception?

Use a GPS signal reference
Use a rubidium stabilized reference oscillator
Use a temperature-controlled high Q dielectric resonator
All these choices are correct

E2A10:

What type of satellite appears to stay in one position in the sky?

HEO
Geostationary
Geomagnetic
LEO

E5A10:

How is the Q of an RLC series resonant circuit calculated?

Reactance of either the inductance or capacitance divided by the resistance
Reactance of either the inductance or capacitance multiplied by the resistance
Resistance divided by the reactance of either the inductance or capacitance
Reactance of the inductance multiplied by the reactance of the capacitance

E1B04:

What must be done before placing an amateur station within an officially designated wilderness area or wildlife preserve, or an area listed in the National Register of Historic Places?

A proposal must be submitted to the National Park Service
A letter of intent must be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency
An Environmental Assessment must be submitted to the FCC
A form FSD-15 must be submitted to the Department of the Interior

E5D09:

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

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

E9H10:

How can the output voltage of a multiple-turn receiving loop antenna be increased?

By reducing the permeability of the loop shield
By utilizing high impedance wire for the coupling loop
By winding adjacent turns in opposing directions
By increasing the number of turns and/or the area

E4E05:

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

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

E4A07:

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

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

E1E07:

What should a VE do if a candidate fails to comply with the examiner's instructions during an amateur operator license examination?

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

E2C05:

What is the function of a DX QSL Manager?

To allocate frequencies for DXpeditions
To handle the receiving and sending of confirmation cards for a DX station
To run a net to allow many stations to contact a rare DX station
To relay calls to and from a DX station

E7F10:

What aspect of receiver analog-to-digital conversion determines the maximum receive bandwidth of a Direct Digital Conversion SDR?

Sample rate
Sample width in bits
Sample clock phase noise
Processor latency

E9F12:

What impedance does a 1/4-wavelength transmission line present to a generator when the line is open at the far end?

The same as the characteristic impedance of the line
The same as the input impedance to the generator
Very high impedance
Very low impedance

E8C12:

What factors affect the bandwidth of a transmitted CW signal?

IF bandwidth and Q
Modulation index and output power
Keying speed and shape factor (rise and fall time)
All these choices are correct

E6E10:

What advantage does surface-mount technology offer at RF compared to using through-hole components?

Smaller circuit area
Shorter circuit-board traces
Components have less parasitic inductance and capacitance
All these choices are correct

E6C04:

Which of the following is an advantage of BiCMOS logic?

Its simplicity results in much less expensive devices than standard CMOS
It is immune to electrostatic damage
It has the high input impedance of CMOS and the low output impedance of bipolar transistors
All these choices are correct

E9G05:

Which of the following is a common use for a Smith chart?

Determine the length and position of an impedance matching stub
Determine the impedance of a transmission line, given the physical dimensions
Determine the gain of an antenna given the physical and electrical parameters
Determine the loss/100 feet of a transmission line, given the velocity factor and conductor materials

E9A08:

What is antenna bandwidth?

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

E7G05:

How can unwanted ringing and audio instability be prevented in an 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

E2E08:

Which of the following HF digital modes can be used to transfer binary files?

Hellschreiber
PACTOR
RTTY
AMTOR

E4D01:

What is meant by the blocking dynamic range of a receiver?

The difference in dB between the noise floor and the level of an incoming signal that will cause 1 dB of gain compression
The minimum difference in dB between the levels of two FM signals that will cause one signal to block the other
The difference in dB between the noise floor and the third-order intercept point
The minimum difference in dB between two signals which produce third-order intermodulation products greater than the noise floor

E9C10:

Which of the following describes a Zepp antenna?

A dipole constructed from zip cord
An end-fed dipole antenna
An omni-directional antenna commonly used for satellite communications
A vertical array capable of quickly changing the direction of maximum radiation by changing phasing lines

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

E8D07:

What is a common cause of overmodulation of AFSK signals?

Excessive numbers of retries
Ground loops
Bit errors in the modem
Excessive transmit audio levels

E3C11:

What does VOACAP software model?

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

E9E06:

Which of these feed line impedances would be suitable for constructing a quarter-wave Q-section for matching a 100-ohm loop to 50-ohm feed line?

50 ohms
62 ohms
75 ohms
450 ohms

E4C01:

What is an effect of excessive phase noise in a receiver's local oscillator?

It limits the receiver's ability to receive strong signals
It can affect the receiver's frequency calibration
It decreases receiver third-order intercept point
It can combine with strong signals on nearby frequencies to generate interference

E7A10:

What is a truth table?

A table of logic symbols that indicate the high logic states of an op-amp
A diagram showing logic states when the digital device output is true
A list of inputs and corresponding outputs for a digital device
A table of logic symbols that indicate the logic states of an op-amp

E5C11:

Which point in Figure E5-1 best represents the impedance of a series circuit consisting of a 300-ohm resistor and an 18-microhenry inductor at 3.505 MHz?

Point 1
Point 3
Point 7
Point 8

E6D11:

Which type of core material decreases inductance when inserted into a coil?

Ceramic
Brass
Ferrite
Powdered iron

E8A02:

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

Successive approximation
Harmonic regeneration
Level shifting
Phase reversal

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

E7D04:

Which of the following types of linear voltage regulator usually make the most efficient use of the primary power source?

A series current source
A series regulator
A shunt regulator
A shunt current source

E7C07:

Which describes a Pi-L-network used for matching a vacuum tube final amplifier to a 50-ohm unbalanced output?

A Phase Inverter Load network
A Pi-network with an additional series inductor on the output
A network with only three discrete parts
A matching network in which all components are isolated from ground

E7B09:

Which of the following describes how the loading and tuning capacitors are to be adjusted when tuning a vacuum tube RF power amplifier that employs a Pi-network output circuit?

The loading capacitor is set to maximum capacitance and the tuning capacitor is adjusted for minimum allowable plate current
The tuning capacitor is set to maximum capacitance and the loading capacitor is adjusted for minimum plate permissible current
The loading capacitor is adjusted to minimum plate current while alternately adjusting the tuning capacitor for maximum allowable plate current
The tuning capacitor is adjusted for minimum plate current, and the loading capacitor is adjusted for maximum permissible plate current

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 license grant
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