Practice Exam

E4B08

1. Which of the following can be used to determine the Q of a series-tuned circuit?

• A. The bandwidth of the circuit's frequency response
• B. The ratio of inductive reactance to capacitive reactance
• C. The resonant frequency of the circuit
• D. The frequency shift

E2B01

2. In digital television, what does a coding rate of 3/4 mean?

• A. Three, four-bit words are used to transmit each pixel
• B. Data compression reduces data rate by 3/4
• C. 25% of the data sent is forward error correction data
• D. 1/4 of the time interval is used as a guard interval

E9A02

3. What is the effective radiated power (ERP) of a repeater station with 150 watts transmitter power output, 2 dB feed line loss, 2.2 dB duplexer loss, and 7 dBd antenna gain?

• A. 78.7 watts
• B. 420 watts
• C. 286 watts
• D. 469 watts

E7H01

4. What are three common oscillator circuits?

• A. Taft, Pierce, and negative feedback
• B. Taft, Hartley, and Pierce
• C. Pierce, Fenner, and Beane
• D. Colpitts, Hartley, and Pierce

E8C08

5. How does ARQ accomplish error correction?

• A. Special polynomial codes provide automatic correction
• B. Special binary codes provide automatic correction
• C. If errors are detected, redundant data is substituted
• D. If errors are detected, a retransmission is requested

E7G01

6. What is the typical output impedance of an op-amp?

• A. Very low
• B. Very high
• C. 10,000 ohms
• D. 100 ohms

E8D03

7. Which describes spread spectrum frequency hopping?

• A. Rapidly varying the frequency of a transmitted signal according to a pseudorandom sequence
• B. If interference is detected by the receiver, it will signal the transmitter to change frequencies
• C. A binary bit stream is used to shift the phase of an RF carrier very rapidly in a pseudorandom sequence
• D. RF signals are clipped to generate a wide band of harmonics which provides redundancy to correct errors

E1A08

8. If a station in a message forwarding system inadvertently forwards a message that is in violation of FCC rules, who is primarily accountable for the rules violation?

• A. The control operator of the packet bulletin board station
• B. The control operator of the originating station
• C. The control operators of all the stations in the system not authenticating the source from which they accept communications
• D. The control operators of all the stations in the system

E2E09

9. Which of the following HF digital modes uses variable-length character coding?

• A. RTTY
• B. PACTOR
• C. MT63
• D. PSK31

E7F06

10. What is the minimum number of bits required to sample a signal with a range of 1 volt at a resolution of 1 millivolt?

• A. 8 bits
• B. 4 bits
• C. 6 bits
• D. 10 bits

E4C07

11. What does the MDS of a receiver represent?

• A. The minimum discernible signal
• B. The maximum detectable spectrum
• C. The modulation distortion specification
• D. The meter display sensitivity

E4D01

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

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

E1F06

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

• A. To allow a licensee who has passed an upgrade exam to operate with upgraded privileges while waiting for posting on the FCC database
• B. To provide for experimental amateur communications
• C. To allow a VE group with less than three VEs to administer examinations in a remote, sparsely populated area
• D. To allow use of a special event call sign

E6F04

14. What is the photovoltaic effect?

• A. The effect that causes a photodiode to emit light when a voltage is applied
• B. The effect that causes a phototransistor's beta to decrease when exposed to light
• C. The conversion of voltage to current when exposed to light
• D. The conversion of light to electrical energy

E7B07

15. Which of the following is the likely result of using a Class C amplifier to amplify a single-sideband phone signal?

• A. Reduced intermodulation products
• B. Reduced third-order intermodulation
• C. Increased overall intelligibility
• D. Signal distortion and excessive bandwidth

E9G04

16. What are the two families of circles and arcs that make up a Smith chart?

• A. Inductance and capacitance
• B. Voltage and impedance
• C. Resistance and reactance
• D. Reactance and voltage

E6B02

17. Which characteristic of a Schottky diode makes it a better choice than a silicon junction diode for use as a power supply rectifier?

• A. Lower forward voltage drop
• B. Much higher reverse voltage breakdown
• C. Longer carrier retention time
• D. More constant reverse avalanche voltage

E5A02

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

• A. 1.78 MHz
• B. 44.72 MHz
• C. 22.36 MHz
• D. 3.56 MHz

E7C08

19. Which of the following is most frequently used as a band-pass or notch filter in VHF and UHF transceivers?

• A. A Sallen-Key filter
• B. A helical filter
• C. A swinging choke filter
• D. A finite impulse response filter

E1B06

20. Which of the following additional rules apply if you are erecting an amateur station antenna structure at a site at or near a public use airport?

• A. You must file an Environmental Impact Statement with the EPA before construction begins
• B. You may have to notify the Federal Aviation Administration and register it with the FCC as required by Part 17 of the FCC rules
• C. You must obtain a construction permit from the airport zoning authority per Part 119 of the FAA regulations
• D. You may have to enter the height above ground in meters, and the latitude and longitude in degrees, minutes, and seconds on the FAA website

E2C08

21. Which of the following contacts may be confirmed through the Logbook of The World (LoTW)?

• A. Contacts between a US station and a non-US station
• B. Special event contacts between stations in the US
• C. All these choices are correct
• D. Contacts for Worked All States credit

E3C04

22. What does the value of Bz (B sub z) represent?

• A. Critical frequency for vertical transmissions
• B. North-south strength of the interplanetary magnetic field
• C. Geomagnetic field stability
• D. Duration of long-delayed echoes

E5B08

23. What is the phase angle between the voltage across and the current through a series RLC circuit if XC is 300 ohms, R is 100 ohms, and XL is 100 ohms?

• A. 27 degrees with the voltage leading the current
• B. 63 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
• C. 27 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
• D. 63 degrees with the voltage leading the current

E6A12

24. What is the purpose of connecting Zener diodes between a MOSFET gate and its source or drain?

• A. To protect the substrate from excessive voltages
• B. To provide a voltage reference for the correct amount of reverse-bias gate voltage
• C. To keep the gate voltage within specifications and prevent the device from overheating
• D. To protect the gate from static damage

E8B11

25. What is digital time division multiplexing?

• A. Two or more signals are arranged to share discrete time slots of a data transmission
• B. Two or more data streams are assigned to discrete sub-carriers on an FM transmitter
• C. Two or more data streams share the same channel by transmitting time of transmission as the sub-carrier
• D. Two or more signals are quadrature modulated to increase bandwidth efficiency

E9H03

26. What is receiving directivity factor (RDF)?

• A. Relative directivity compared to a dipole
• B. Relative directivity compared to isotropic
• C. Forward gain compared to the gain in the reverse direction
• D. Peak antenna gain compared to average gain over the hemisphere around and above the antenna

E2A05

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

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

E9D08

28. What happens as the Q of an antenna increases?

• A. SWR bandwidth increases
• B. SWR bandwidth decreases
• C. Gain is reduced
• D. More common-mode current is present on the feed line

E4E13

29. Where should a station AC surge protector be installed?

• A. On the single point ground panel
• B. At the AC service panel
• C. On a ground rod outside the station
• D. At an AC outlet

E6E02

30. Which of the following device packages is a through-hole type?

• A. BGA
• B. PLCC
• C. SOT
• D. DIP

E7A09

31. What logical operation is performed by a two-input exclusive NOR gate?

• A. It produces a 0 at its output if one and only one of its inputs is 1
• B. It produces a 1 at its output only if all inputs are 1
• C. It produces a 0 at its output only if all inputs are 0
• D. It produces a 1 at its output if one and only one input is 1

E6C11

32. In Figure E6-3, which is the schematic symbol for the NOT operation (inversion)?

• A. 6
• B. 5
• C. 4
• D. 2

E9C04

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

• A. The elevation angle increases, while the front-to-rear ratio is unaffected
• B. Fewer lobes form with the major lobes increasing closer to broadside to the wire
• C. Additional lobes form with major lobes increasingly aligned with the axis of the antenna
• D. The elevation angle increases, and the front-to-rear ratio decreases

E3A01

34. What is the approximate maximum separation measured along the surface of the Earth between two stations communicating by EME?

• A. 12,000 miles, if the moon is "visible" by both stations
• B. 2,000 miles, if the moon is at apogee
• C. 5,000 miles, if the moon is at perigee
• D. 2,000 miles, if the moon is at perigee

E9E09

35. Which of the following is used to shunt feed a grounded tower at its base?

• A. Gamma match
• B. Double-bazooka match
• C. All these choices are correct
• D. Beta or hairpin match

E9B06

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

• A. 7.5 degrees
• B. 25 degrees
• C. 45 degrees
• D. 75 degrees

E6D05

37. How do ferrite and powdered iron compare for use in an inductor core?

• A. Ferrite cores generally require fewer turns to produce a given inductance value
• B. Ferrite cores generally have better temperature stability
• C. Ferrite cores are easier to use with surface-mount technology
• D. Ferrite cores generally have lower initial permeability

E5C12

38. 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?

• A. Point 8
• B. Point 1
• C. Point 3
• D. Point 7

E1C12

39. In what portion of the 630-meter band are phone emissions permitted?

• A. The entire band
• B. Only the top 3 kHz
• C. Only the bottom 3 kHz
• D. None

E8A08

40. Why are direct or flash conversion analog-to-digital converters used for a software defined radio?

• A. Immunity to out-of-sequence coding reduces spurious responses
• B. Very low power consumption decreases frequency drift
• C. Very high speed allows digitizing high frequencies
• D. All these choices are correct

E1D04

41. Which of the following is required in the identification transmissions from a balloon-borne telemetry station?

• A. The station's six-character Maidenhead grid locator
• B. The output power of the balloon transmitter
• C. Call sign
• D. All these choices are correct

E3B08

42. How does the maximum range of ground-wave propagation change when the signal frequency is increased?

• A. It decreases
• B. It increases
• C. It peaks at roughly 8 MHz
• D. It stays the same

E5D04

43. Why are short connections used at microwave frequencies?

• A. To reduce noise figure
• B. To reduce phase shift along the connection
• C. To increase neutralizing resistance
• D. To increase compensating capacitance

E0A07

44. What is meant by "100% tie-off" regarding tower safety?

• A. All circuit breakers feeding power to the tower must be tied closed with tape, cable, or ties
• B. At least one lanyard attached to the tower at all times
• C. All loose ropes and guys secured to a fixed structure
• D. All tools secured to the climber's harness

E1E05

45. What must the VE team do with the application form if the examinee does not pass the exam?

• A. Send the application form to the FCC and inform the FCC of the grade
• B. Destroy the application form
• C. Return the application document to the examinee
• D. Maintain the application form with the VEC's records

E2D11

46. How do APRS stations relay data?

• A. By DMR repeaters
• B. By packet digipeaters
• C. By packet ACK/NAK relay
• D. By C4FM repeaters

E7D05

47. Which of the following types of linear voltage regulator operates by loading the unregulated voltage source?

• A. A shunt current source
• B. A series regulator
• C. A constant current source
• D. A shunt regulator

E9F08

48. Which of the following is a significant difference between foam dielectric coaxial cable and solid dielectric coaxial cable, assuming all other parameters are the same?

• A. All these choices are correct
• B. Foam dielectric coaxial cable has lower safe maximum operating voltage
• C. Foam dielectric coaxial cable has lower loss per unit of length
• D. Foam dielectric coaxial cable has higher velocity factor

E7E06

49. Why is de-emphasis used in FM communications receivers?

• 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

E4A07

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

• A. Antenna analyzers compute SWR and impedance automatically
• B. Antenna analyzers display a time-varying representation of the modulation envelope
• C. Antenna analyzers automatically tune your antenna for resonance
• D. All these choices are correct