Practice Exam

E7G08

1. How does the gain of an ideal operational amplifier vary with frequency?

• A. It increases linearly with increasing frequency
• B. It does not vary with frequency
• C. It decreases logarithmically with increasing frequency
• D. It decreases linearly with increasing frequency

E1E11

2. What must the VE team do if an examinee scores a passing grade on all examination elements needed for an upgrade or new license?

• A. Three VEs must certify that the examinee is qualified for the license grant and that they have complied with the administering VE requirements
• B. Photocopy all examination documents and forward them to the FCC for processing
• C. All these choices are correct
• D. Issue the examinee the new or upgrade license

E2B10

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

• A. Sync frequency
• B. Tone amplitude
• C. Tone frequency
• D. Sync amplitude

E3C12

4. Which of the following is indicated by a sudden rise in radio background noise across a large portion of the HF spectrum?

• A. Long-path propagation on the higher HF bands is likely
• B. A temperature inversion has occurred
• C. Transequatorial propagation on 6 meters is likely
• D. A coronal mass ejection impact or a solar flare has occurred

E6D06

5. What core material property determines the inductance of an inductor?

• A. Resistance
• B. Permeability
• C. Reactivity
• D. Permittivity

E7H11

6. What are the major spectral impurity components of direct digital synthesizers?

• A. Harmonics of the local oscillator
• B. Broadband noise
• C. Spurious signals at discrete frequencies
• D. Digital conversion noise

E9G09

7. What third family of circles is often added to a Smith chart during the process of designing impedance matching networks?

• A. Transmission line length circles
• B. Coaxial-length circles
• C. Constant-SWR circles
• D. Radiation-pattern circles

E7A03

8. Which of the following can divide the frequency of a pulse train by 2?

• A. A multiplexer
• B. A flip-flop
• C. An OR gate
• D. An XOR gate

E6F07

9. What is a solid-state relay?

• A. A semiconductor switch that uses a monostable multivibrator circuit
• B. A device that uses semiconductors to implement the functions of an electromechanical relay
• C. A relay that uses transistors to drive the relay coil
• D. A mechanical relay that latches in the on or off state each time it is pulsed

E3A07

10. Atmospheric ducts capable of propagating microwave signals often form over what geographic feature?

• A. Mountain ranges
• B. Large bodies of water
• C. Stratocumulus clouds
• D. Nimbus clouds

E6B09

11. What is a common use for point-contact diodes?

• A. As a constant current source
• B. As a constant voltage source
• C. As a high-voltage rectifier
• D. As an RF detector

E7E05

12. What is added to an FM speech channel to boost the higher audio frequencies?

• A. A pre-emphasis network
• B. A de-emphasis network
• C. A heterodyne enhancer
• D. A harmonic enhancer

E4D12

13. What is the link margin in a system with a transmit power level of 10 W (+40 dBm), a system antenna gain of 10 dBi, a cable loss of 3 dB, a path loss of 136 dB, a receiver minimum discernable signal of -103 dBm, and a required signal-to-noise ratio of 6 dB?

• A. -8dB
• B. +8dB
• C. +14dB
• D. -14dB

E2A05

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

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

E9E09

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

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

E9H05

16. What challenge is presented by a small wire-loop antenna for direction finding?

• A. It does not have a clearly defined null
• B. It is practical for use only on VHF and higher bands
• C. It has a bidirectional null pattern
• D. All these choices are correct

E8D09

17. What is considered an acceptable maximum IMD level for an idling PSK signal?

• A. -30 dB
• B. +15 dB
• C. +5 dB
• D. +10 dB

E2E11

18. What is the difference between direct FSK and audio FSK?

• A. Direct FSK modulates the transmitter VFO
• B. All these choices are correct
• C. Direct FSK occupies less bandwidth
• D. Direct FSK can transmit higher baud rates

E9F10

19. What impedance does a 1/8-wavelength transmission line present to an RF generator when the line is shorted at the far end?

• A. Zero
• B. An inductive reactance
• C. A capacitive reactance
• D. The same as the characteristic impedance of the line

E7B06

20. What is a characteristic of a grounded-grid amplifier?

• A. High power gain
• B. High electrostatic damage protection
• C. Low input impedance
• D. Low bandwidth

E4B10

21. Which of the following methods measures intermodulation distortion in an SSB transmitter?

• A. Modulate the transmitter using two RF signals having harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a logic analyzer
• B. Modulate the transmitter using two AF signals having harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a peak reading wattmeter
• C. Modulate the transmitter using two AF signals having non-harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a spectrum analyzer
• D. Modulate the transmitter using two RF signals having non-harmonically related frequencies and observe the RF output with a spectrum analyzer

E9B01

22. What is the 3 dB beamwidth of the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-1?

• A. 50 degrees
• B. 75 degrees
• C. 30 degrees
• D. 25 degrees

E2D11

23. How do APRS stations relay data?

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

E8A10

24. What is the purpose of a low-pass filter used at the output of a digital-to-analog converter?

• A. Improve accuracy by removing out-of-sequence codes from the input
• B. Remove spurious sampling artifacts from the output signal
• C. Lower the input bandwidth to increase the effective resolution
• D. All these choices are correct

E3B10

25. What is the effect of chordal-hop propagation?

• A. Signals travel faster along ionospheric chords
• B. Atmospheric noise is reduced in the direction of chordal-hop propagation
• C. The signal experiences less loss compared to multi-hop propagation, which uses Earth as a reflector
• D. The MUF for chordal-hop propagation is much lower than for normal skip propagation

E6A06

26. What is the beta of a bipolar junction transistor?

• A. The switching speed
• B. The breakdown voltage of the base-to-collector junction
• C. The change in collector current with respect to the change in base current
• D. The frequency at which the current gain is reduced to 0.707

E6E09

27. Which of the following component package types have the least parasitic effects at frequencies above the HF range?

• A. TO-220
• B. Surface mount
• C. Axial lead
• D. Radial lead

E4E07

28. Which of the following can cause shielded cables to radiate or receive interference?

• A. Use of braided shielding material
• B. Low inductance ground connections at both ends of the shield
• C. Common-mode currents on the shield and conductors
• D. Tying all ground connections to a common point resulting in differential-mode currents in the shield

E9C10

29. Which of the following describes a Zepp antenna?

• A. An end-fed half-wavelength dipole
• B. An omni-directional antenna commonly used for satellite communications
• C. A vertical array capable of quickly changing the direction of maximum radiation by changing phasing lines
• D. A horizontal array capable of quickly changing the direction of maximum radiation by changing phasing lines

E1B11

30. What does PRB-1 require of state and local regulations affecting amateur radio antenna size and structures?

• A. Such structures must be permitted if certified by a registered professional engineer
• B. Reasonable accommodations of amateur radio must be made
• C. Such structures must be permitted when use for emergency communications can be demonstrated
• D. No limitations may be placed on antenna size or placement

E5C11

31. 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?

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

E8B03

32. What is the modulation index of an FM phone signal having a maximum frequency deviation of 3000 Hz either side of the carrier frequency if the highest modulating frequency is 1000 Hz?

• A. 0.3
• B. 6
• C. 3
• D. 0.6

E1C08

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

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

E5B12

34. What is admittance?

• A. The term for the on-impedance of a field effect transistor
• B. The inverse of impedance
• C. The term for the gain of a field effect transistor
• D. The inverse of reactance

E7D02

35. How does a switchmode voltage regulator work?

• A. By varying the conductivity of a pass element
• B. By alternating the output between positive and negative voltages
• C. By varying the duty cycle of pulses input to a filter
• D. By switching between two Zener diode reference voltages

E5D06

36. What parasitic characteristic creates an inductor's self-resonance?

• A. Inter-turn capacitance
• B. Skin effect
• C. Dielectric loss
• D. Coupling

E6C10

37. In Figure E6-3, which is the schematic symbol for a NOR gate?

• A. 2
• B. 4
• C. 3
• D. 1

E2C12

38. What indicates the delay between a control operator action and the corresponding change in the transmitted signal?

• A. Latency
• B. Anti-VOX
• C. Jitter
• D. Hang time

E0A11

39. To what should lanyards be attached while climbing?

• A. Tower rungs
• B. Tower legs
• C. Antenna mast
• D. Guy brackets

E9D02

40. How can two linearly polarized Yagi antennas be used to produce circular polarization?

• A. Stack two Yagis to form an array with the respective elements in parallel planes fed 90 degrees out of phase
• B. Arrange two Yagis on the same axis and perpendicular to each other with the driven elements at the same point on the boom and fed 90 degrees out of phase
• C. Stack two Yagis to form an array with the respective elements in parallel planes fed in phase
• D. Arrange two Yagis collinear to each other with the driven elements fed 180 degrees out of phase

E1D05

41. What must be posted at the location of a station being operated by telecommand on or within 50 kilometers of the Earth's surface?

• A. A photocopy of the station license
• B. All these choices are correct
• C. A label with the name, address, and telephone number of the station licensee
• D. A label with the name, address, and telephone number of the control operator

E7C03

42. What is the purpose of adding an inductor to a Pi-network to create a Pi-L-network?

• A. Greater harmonic suppression
• B. To eliminate one capacitor
• C. Greater transformation range
• D. Higher efficiency

E9A06

43. What is the effective radiated power (ERP) 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?

• A. 317 watts
• B. 300 watts
• C. 2,000 watts
• D. 126 watts

E1F07

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

• A. When the pecuniary interest of the amateur or his or her employer is less than $50
• B. At no time
• C. When the pecuniary interest of the amateur or his or her employer is less than $25
• D. When neither the amateur nor their employer has a pecuniary interest in the communications

E4A06

45. What is the effect of aliasing on a digital oscilloscope when displaying a waveform?

• A. A false, jittery low-frequency version of the waveform is displayed
• B. Calibration of the vertical scale is no longer valid
• C. The waveform DC offset will be inaccurate
• D. Excessive blanking occurs, which prevents display of the waveform

E1A03

46. What is the highest legal carrier frequency on the 20-meter band for transmitting a 2.8 kHz wide USB data signal?

• A. 14.1002 MHz
• B. 14.0708 MHz
• C. 14.1472 MHz
• D. 14.3490 MHz

E7F14

47. Which of the following would allow a digital signal processing filter to create a sharper filter response?

• A. More taps
• B. Double-precision math routines
• C. Lower Q
• D. Higher data rate

E5A02

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

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

E4C06

49. How much does increasing a receiver's bandwidth from 50 Hz to 1,000 Hz increase the receiver's noise floor?

• A. 10 dB
• B. 5 dB
• C. 13 dB
• D. 3 dB

E8C06

50. What is the bandwidth of an FT8 signal?

• A. 2.4 kHz
• B. 600 Hz
• C. 50 Hz
• D. 10 Hz