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!

E3C06:

By how much does the VHF/UHF radio horizon distance exceed the geometric horizon?

By approximately 15 percent of the distance
By approximately twice the distance
By approximately 50 percent of the distance
By approximately four times the distance

E7E06:

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

For compatibility with transmitters using phase modulation
To reduce impulse noise reception
For higher efficiency
To remove third-order distortion products

E5D03:

What is microstrip?

Lightweight transmission line made of common zip cord
Miniature coax used for low power applications
Short lengths of coax mounted on printed circuit boards to minimize time delay between microwave circuits
Precision printed circuit conductors above a ground plane that provide constant impedance interconnects at microwave frequencies

E4B05:

What three test loads are used to calibrate an RF vector network analyzer?

50 ohms, 75 ohms, and 90 ohms
Short circuit, open circuit, and 50 ohms
Short circuit, open circuit, and resonant circuit
50 ohms through 1/8 wavelength, 1/4 wavelength, and 1/2 wavelength of coaxial cable

E4D06:

What is the term for spurious signals generated by the combination of two or more signals in a non-linear device or circuit?

Amplifier desensitization
Neutralization
Adjacent channel interference
Intermodulation

E7F06:

What is the minimum number of bits required for an analog-to-digital converter to sample a signal with a range of 1 volt at a resolution of 1 millivolt?

4 bits
6 bits
8 bits
10 bits

E6A06:

What is the beta of a bipolar junction transistor?

The frequency at which the current gain is reduced to 0.707
The change in collector current with respect to base current
The breakdown voltage of the base to collector junction
The switching speed

E3B08:

What is the term for the long path opening that exists between two points on the Earth which are simultaneously near sunrise and sunset?

Transequatorial
Sporadic E
Long-path
Grayline

E5C12:

Which point on Figure E5-1 best represents the impedance of a series circuit consisting of a 300-ohm resistor and a 19-picofarad capacitor at 21.200 MHz?

Point 1
Point 3
Point 7
Point 8

E2D08:

What type of packet frame is used to transmit APRS beacon data?

Unnumbered Information
Disconnect
Acknowledgement
Connect

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?

317 watts
2000 watts
126 watts
300 watts

E1D08:

Which VHF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

6 meters and 2 meters
6 meters, 2 meters, and 1.25 meters
2 meters and 1.25 meters
2 meters

E9B06:

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

45 degrees
75 degrees
7.5 degrees
25 degrees

E2C10:

Why might a DX station state that they are listening on another frequency?

Because the DX station may be transmitting on a frequency that is prohibited to some responding stations
To separate the calling stations from the DX station
To improve operating efficiency by reducing interference
All these choices are correct

E6D12:

What is inductor saturation?

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

E1E02:

Who does Part 97 task with maintaining the pools of questions for all U.S. amateur license examinations?

The VEs
The FCC
The VECs
The ARRL

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

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?

14 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
14 degrees with the voltage leading the current
76 degrees with the voltage leading the current
76 degrees with the voltage lagging the current

E4E01:

What problem can occur when using an automatic notch filter (ANF) to remove interfering carriers while receiving CW signals?

Removal of the CW signal as well as the interfering carrier
Any nearby signal passing through the DSP system will overwhelm the desired signal
Received CW signals will appear to be modulated at the DSP clock frequency
Ringing in the DSP filter will completely remove the spaces between the CW characters

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

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

E1F07:

When may an amateur station send a message to a business?

When the total money involved does not exceed $25
When the control operator is employed by the FCC or another government agency
When transmitting international third-party communications
When neither the amateur nor his or her employer has a pecuniary interest in the communications

E7D08:

What type of circuit is shown in Figure E7-2?

Switching voltage regulator
Grounded emitter amplifier
Linear voltage regulator
Monostable multivibrator

E0A07:

How may dangerous levels of carbon monoxide from an emergency generator be detected?

By the odor
Only with a carbon monoxide detector
Any ordinary smoke detector can be used
By the yellowish appearance of the gas

E1A09:

What action or actions should you take if your digital message forwarding station inadvertently forwards a communication that violates FCC rules?

Discontinue forwarding the communication as soon as you become aware of it
Notify the originating station that the communication does not comply with FCC rules
Notify the nearest FCC Field Engineers office
All these choices are correct

E1C01:

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

60 Hz
170 Hz
1.5 kHz
2.8 kHz

E7B01:

For what portion of the signal cycle does each active element in a push-pull Class AB amplifier conduct?

More than 180 degrees but less than 360 degrees
Exactly 180 degrees
The entire cycle
Less than 180 degrees

E2B10:

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

Tone frequency
Tone amplitude
Sync amplitude
Sync frequency

E2E07:

Which of the following is a possible reason that attempts to initiate contact with a digital station on a clear frequency are unsuccessful?

Your transmit frequency is incorrect
The protocol version you are using is not supported by the digital station
Another station you are unable to hear is using the frequency
All these choices are correct

E4A09:

Which of the following is good practice when using an oscilloscope probe?

Keep the signal ground connection of the probe as short as possible
Never use a high-impedance probe to measure a low-impedance circuit
Never use a DC-coupled probe to measure an AC circuit
All these choices are correct

E9G06:

On the Smith chart shown in Figure E9-3, what is the name for the large outer circle on which the reactance arcs terminate?

Prime axis
Reactance axis
Impedance axis
Polar axis

E2A03:

How is the signal inverted by an inverting linear transponder?

The signal is detected and remodulated on the reverse sideband
The signal is passed through a non-linear filter
The signal is reduced to I and Q components and the Q component is filtered out
The signal is passed through a mixer and the difference rather than the sum is transmitted

E7C06:

What are the distinguishing features of an elliptical filter?

Gradual passband rolloff with minimal stop band ripple
Extremely flat response over its pass band with gradually rounded stop band corners
Extremely sharp cutoff with one or more notches in the stop band
Gradual passband rolloff with extreme stop band ripple

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

E6F04:

What is the photovoltaic effect?

The conversion of voltage to current when exposed to light
The conversion of light to electrical energy
The conversion of electrical energy to mechanical energy
The tendency of a battery to discharge when exposed to light

E1B07:

To what type of regulations does PRB-1 apply?

Homeowners associations
FAA tower height limits
State and local zoning
Use of wireless devices in vehicles

E8A06:

What is the approximate ratio of PEP-to-average power in a typical single-sideband phone signal?

2.5 to 1
25 to 1
1 to 1
100 to 1

E4C13:

How does a narrow-band roofing filter affect receiver performance?

It improves sensitivity by reducing front end noise
It improves intelligibility by using low Q circuitry to reduce ringing
It improves dynamic range by attenuating strong signals near the receive frequency
All these choices are correct

E5A06:

What is the magnitude of the circulating current within the components of a parallel LC circuit at resonance?

It is at a minimum
It is at a maximum
It equals 1 divided by the quantity 2 times pi, multiplied by the square root of inductance L multiplied by capacitance C
It equals 2 multiplied by pi, multiplied by frequency, multiplied by inductance

E6B01:

What is the most useful characteristic of a Zener diode?

A constant current drop under conditions of varying voltage
A constant voltage drop under conditions of varying current
A negative resistance region
An internal capacitance that varies with the applied voltage

E7G10:

What absolute voltage gain can be expected from the circuit in Figure E7-3 when R1 is 1800 ohms and RF is 68 kilohms?

1
0.03
38
76

E9E01:

What system matches a higher-impedance transmission line to a lower-impedance antenna by connecting the line to the driven element in two places spaced a fraction of a wavelength each side of element center?

The gamma matching system
The delta matching system
The omega matching system
The stub matching system

E8D02:

What spread spectrum communications technique uses a high-speed binary bit stream to shift the phase of an RF carrier?

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

E9H04:

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

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

E3A13:

Which of these emission modes is best for auroral propagation?

CW
SSB
FM
RTTY

E6C02:

What happens when the level of a comparator's input signal crosses the threshold?

The IC input can be damaged
The comparator changes its output state
The comparator enters latch-up
The feedback loop becomes unstable

E7H01:

What are three oscillator circuits used in amateur radio equipment?

Taft, Pierce and negative feedback
Pierce, Fenner and Beane
Taft, Hartley and Pierce
Colpitts, Hartley and Pierce

E6E01:

Why is gallium arsenide (GaAs) useful for semiconductor devices operating at UHF and higher frequencies?

Higher noise figures
Higher electron mobility
Lower junction voltage drop
Lower transconductance

E9D07:

What is an advantage of using top loading in a shortened HF vertical antenna?

Lower Q
Greater structural strength
Higher losses
Improved radiation efficiency

E9C06:

What is the effect of adding a terminating resistor to a rhombic antenna?

It reflects the standing waves on the antenna elements back to the transmitter
It changes the radiation pattern from bidirectional to unidirectional
It changes the radiation pattern from horizontal to vertical polarization
It decreases the ground loss