Practice Exam

E9D01

1. How does the gain of an ideal parabolic dish antenna change when the operating frequency is doubled?

• A. Gain increases by 6 dB
• B. Gain is multiplied by 0.707
• C. Gain does not change
• D. Gain increases by 3 dB

E2E06

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

• A. 1200 baud
• B. 300 baud
• C. 110 baud
• D. 48 baud

E4A09

3. Which of the following describes a good method for measuring the intermodulation distortion of your own PSK signal?

• A. Use an RF voltmeter coupled to the transmitter output using appropriate isolation to prevent damage to the meter
• B. All of these choices are correct
• C. Multiply the ALC level on the transmitter during a normal transmission by the average power output
• D. Transmit into a dummy load, receive the signal on a second receiver, and feed the audio into the sound card of a computer running an appropriate PSK program

E1B12

4. What is the highest modulation index permitted at the highest modulation frequency for angle modulation?

• A. .5
• B. 1.0
• C. 2.0
• D. 3.0

E9H05

5. What is the main drawback of a wire-loop antenna for direction finding?

• A. It is non-rotatable
• B. It has a bidirectional pattern
• C. It is practical for use only on VHF bands
• D. It receives equally well in all directions

E3C07

6. How does the radiation pattern of a horizontally polarized 3-element beam antenna vary with its height above ground?

• A. The horizontal beam width increases with height
• B. The horizontal beam width decreases with height
• C. The main lobe takeoff angle decreases with increasing height
• D. The main lobe takeoff angle increases with increasing height

E0A11

7. Which of the following injuries can result from using high-power UHF or microwave transmitters?

• A. Hearing loss caused by high voltage corona discharge
• B. Localized heating of the body from RF exposure in excess of the MPE limits
• C. Ingestion of ozone gas from the cooling system
• D. Blood clotting from the intense magnetic field

E7D17

8. What is the primary reason that a high-frequency inverter type high-voltage power supply can be both less expensive and lighter in weight than a conventional power supply?

• A. The high frequency inverter design uses much smaller transformers and filter components for an equivalent power output
• B. It uses a diode bridge rectifier for increased output
• C. The inverter design does not require any output filtering
• D. It uses a large power-factor compensation capacitor to create "free power" from the unused portion of the AC cycle

E1E01

9. What is the minimum number of qualified VEs required to administer an Element 4 amateur operator license examination?

• A. 2
• B. 4
• C. 5
• D. 3

E6A05

10. What is the alpha of a bipolar junction transistor?

• A. The change of base current with respect to collector current
• B. The change of collector current with respect to base current
• C. The change of collector current with respect to emitter current
• D. The change of collector current with respect to gate current

E5C13

11. What coordinate system is often used to display the resistive, inductive, and/or capacitive reactance components of an impedance?

• A. Rectangular coordinates
• B. Maidenhead grid
• C. Faraday grid
• D. Elliptical coordinates

E2B12

12. How are analog SSTV images typically transmitted on the HF bands?

• A. Varying tone frequencies representing the video are transmitted using PSK
• B. Video is converted to equivalent ASCII representation
• C. Varying tone frequencies representing the video are transmitted using single sideband
• D. Video is converted to equivalent Baudot representation

E9E03

13. What is the name of the matching system that uses a section of transmission line connected in parallel with the feed line at the feed point?

• A. The omega match
• B. The gamma match
• C. The delta match
• D. The stub match

E4C15

14. What is the primary source of noise that can be heard from an HF receiver with an antenna connected?

• A. Induction motor noise
• B. Receiver front-end noise
• C. Atmospheric noise
• D. Detector noise

E2D06

15. Which of the following is a commonly used 2-meter APRS frequency?

• A. 144.20 MHz
• B. 144.39 MHz
• C. 146.52 MHz
• D. 145.02 MHz

E4D07

16. Which of the following describes the most significant effect of an off-frequency signal when it is causing cross-modulation interference to a desired signal?

• A. A large increase in background noise
• B. A reduction in apparent signal strength
• C. The off-frequency unwanted signal is heard in addition to the desired signal
• D. The desired signal can no longer be heard

E9C09

17. What is the front-to-back ratio of the radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-2?

• A. 28 dB
• B. 24 dB
• C. 3 dB
• D. 15 dB

E7B05

18. What can be done to prevent unwanted oscillations in an RF power amplifier?

• A. Install parasitic suppressors and/or neutralize the stage
• B. Tune both the input and output for maximum power
• C. Use a phase inverter in the output filter
• D. Tune the stage for maximum SWR

E7A13

19. What is an SR or RS flip-flop?

• A. A speed-reduced logic device with high power capability
• B. A speed-reduced logic device with very low voltage operation capability
• C. A set/reset flip-flop whose output is low when R is high and S is low, high when S is high and R is low, and unchanged when both inputs are low
• D. A set/reset flip-flop that toggles whenever the T input is pulsed, unless both inputs are high

E8B04

20. 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?

• A. 1/3
• B. 2000
• C. 6000
• D. 3

E1A08

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

E7C13

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

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

E5B05

23. How long does it take for an initial charge of 20 V DC to decrease to 7.36 V DC in a 0.01-microfarad capacitor when a 2-megohm resistor is connected across it?

• A. 0.02 seconds
• B. 0.04 seconds
• C. 20 seconds
• D. 40 seconds

E7G12

24. What is an integrated circuit operational amplifier?

• A. A high-gain, direct-coupled differential amplifier with very high input and very low output impedance
• B. An RF amplifier used in the UHF and microwave regions
• C. A digital audio amplifier whose characteristics are determined by components external to the amplifier
• D. An amplifier used to increase the average output of frequency modulated amateur signals to the legal limit

E8A14

25. Which of these methods is commonly used to convert analog signals to digital signals?

• A. Level shifting
• B. Sequential sampling
• C. Phase reversal
• D. Harmonic regeneration

E6B06

26. Which of the following is a common use of a hot-carrier diode?

• A. As a VHF / UHF mixer or detector
• B. As a variable capacitance in an automatic frequency control circuit
• C. As balanced mixers in FM generation
• D. As a constant voltage reference in a power supply

E6E03

27. What is one aspect of the piezoelectric effect?

• A. The generation of electrical energy by the application of light
• B. Physical deformation of a crystal by the application of a voltage
• C. Reversed conduction states when a P-N junction is exposed to light
• D. Mechanical deformation of a crystal by the application of a magnetic field

E3A02

28. What characterizes libration fading of an Earth-Moon-Earth signal?

• A. A gradual loss of signal as the Sun rises
• B. A slow change in the pitch of the CW signal
• C. A fluttery irregular fading
• D. The returning echo is several Hertz lower in frequency than the transmitted signal

E2C07

29. What is the Cabrillo format?

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

E7F07

30. What determines the accuracy of a frequency counter?

• A. Proper balancing of the mixer diodes
• B. The speed of the logic devices used
• C. The accuracy of the time base
• D. Accuracy of the AC input frequency to the power supply

E4E05

31. How can noise from an electric motor be suppressed?

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

E6F02

32. What happens to the conductivity of a photoconductive material when light shines on it?

• A. It decreases
• B. It stays the same
• C. It becomes unstable
• D. It increases

E9A10

33. How is antenna efficiency calculated?

• A. (radiation resistance / total resistance) x 100%
• B. (effective radiated power / transmitter output) x 100%
• C. (total resistance / radiation resistance) x 100%
• D. (radiation resistance / transmission resistance) x 100%

E9G11

34. How are the wavelength scales on a Smith chart calibrated?

• A. In fractions of antenna electrical frequency
• B. In fractions of antenna electrical wavelength
• C. In fractions of transmission line electrical frequency
• D. In fractions of transmission line electrical wavelength

E4B02

35. What is an advantage of using a bridge circuit to measure impedance?

• A. The measurement is based on obtaining a signal null, which can be done very precisely
• B. It provides an excellent match under all conditions
• C. It can display results directly in Smith chart format
• D. It is relatively immune to drift in the signal generator source

E1D11

36. Which amateur stations are eligible to operate as Earth stations?

• A. Any amateur station whose licensee has filed a pre-space notification with the FCC's International Bureau
• B. Only those of Amateur Extra Class operators
• C. Any amateur station, subject to the privileges of the class of operator license held by the control operator
• D. Only those of General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class operators

E6C03

37. Which of the following describes tri-state logic?

• A. Low power logic devices designed to operate at 3 volts
• B. Logic devices that utilize ternary math
• C. Proprietary logic devices manufactured by Tri-State Devices
• D. Logic devices with 0, 1, and high impedance output states

E6D07

38. What is the usable frequency range of inductors that use toroidal cores, assuming a correct selection of core material for the frequency being used?

• A. From about 100 kHz to at least 1000 GHz
• B. From approximately 10 Hz to no more than 3000 kHz
• C. From a few kHz to no more than 30 MHz
• D. From less than 20 Hz to approximately 300 MHz

E9F04

39. What is the typical velocity factor for a coaxial cable with solid polyethylene dielectric?

• A. 0.10
• B. 0.66
• C. 2.70
• D. 0.30

E7E06

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

• A. For compatibility with transmitters using phase modulation
• B. For higher efficiency
• C. To reduce impulse noise reception
• D. To remove third-order distortion products

E5A08

41. What is the phase relationship between the current through and the voltage across a series resonant circuit at resonance?

• A. The voltage leads the current by 90 degrees
• B. The voltage and current are in phase
• C. The current leads the voltage by 90 degrees
• D. The voltage and current are 180 degrees out of phase

E3B01

42. What is transequatorial propagation?

• A. Propagation between two mid-latitude points at approximately the same distance north and south of the magnetic equator
• B. Propagation between any two points located on the magnetic equator
• C. Propagation between two continents by way of ducts along the magnetic equator
• D. Propagation between two stations at the same latitude

E9B02

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

• A. 36 dB
• B. 18 dB
• C. 24 dB
• D. 14 dB

E8C10

44. What spread-spectrum communications technique alters the center frequency of a conventional carrier many times per second in accordance with a pseudo-random list of channels?

• A. Time-domain frequency modulation
• B. Frequency hopping
• C. Direct sequence
• D. Frequency compandored spread-spectrum

E1C08

45. What is the maximum permissible duration of a remotely controlled station's transmissions if its control link malfunctions?

• A. 10 minutes
• B. 5 minutes
• C. 3 minutes
• D. 30 seconds

E7H08

46. What is a Gunn diode oscillator?

• A. A highly stable reference oscillator based on the hot-carrier effect
• B. A highly stable reference oscillator based on the tee-notch principle
• C. An oscillator based on the negative resistance properties of properly-doped semiconductors
• D. An oscillator based on the argon gas diode

E1F05

47. Amateur stations may not transmit in which of the following frequency segments if they are located in the contiguous 48 states and north of Line A?

• A. 420 - 430 MHz
• B. 53 - 54 MHz
• C. 440 - 450 MHz
• D. 222 - 223 MHz

E2A11

48. What type of antenna can be used to minimize the effects of spin modulation and Faraday rotation?

• A. An isotropic antenna
• B. A log-periodic dipole array
• C. A circularly polarized antenna
• D. A linearly polarized antenna

E8D09

49. What is meant by circularly polarized electromagnetic waves?

• A. Waves with a rotating electric field
• B. Waves with an electric field bent into a circular shape
• C. Waves produced by a loop antenna
• D. Waves that circle the Earth

E5D12

50. How many watts are consumed in a circuit having a power factor of 0.2 if the input is 100-V AC at 4 amperes?

• A. 80 watts
• B. 50 watts
• C. 2000 watts
• D. 400 watts