Practice Exam

E3A03

1. When scheduling EME contacts, which of these conditions will generally result in the least path loss?

• A. When the Moon is full
• B. When the Moon is at apogee
• C. When the Moon is at perigee
• D. When the MUF is above 30 MHz

E2B07

2. Which types of modulation are used for amateur television DVB-T signals?

• A. FM and FSK
• B. QAM and QPSK
• C. AM and OOK
• D. All these choices are correct

E3C12

3. 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. A coronal mass ejection impact or a solar flare has occurred
• D. Transequatorial propagation on 6 meters is likely

E5A13

4. What is an effect of increasing Q in a series resonant circuit?

• A. Parasitic effects are minimized
• B. Fewer components are needed for the same performance
• C. Internal voltages increase
• D. Phase shift can become uncontrolled

E9C06

5. What is the effect of adding a terminating resistor to a rhombic or long-wire antenna?

• A. It decreases the ground loss
• B. It reflects the standing waves on the antenna elements back to the transmitter
• C. It changes the radiation pattern from bidirectional to unidirectional
• D. It changes the radiation pattern from horizontal to vertical polarization

E1B08

6. What limitations may the FCC place on an amateur station if its signal causes interference to domestic broadcast reception, assuming that the receivers involved are of good engineering design?

• A. The amateur station must avoid transmitting during certain hours on frequencies that cause the interference
• B. The amateur station must cease operation on all frequencies below 30 MHz
• C. The amateur station must cease operation on all frequencies above 30 MHz
• D. The amateur station must cease operation

E9G08

7. How is a Smith chart normalized?

• A. Reassign the prime center to the reactance axis
• B. Reassign the reactance axis with resistance values
• C. Reassign the resistance axis with reactance values
• D. Reassign the prime center's impedance value

E7B10

8. In Figure E7-1, what is the purpose of R1 and R2?

• A. Self bias
• B. Voltage divider bias
• C. Feedback
• D. Load resistors

E1C04

9. What is an IARP?

• A. A forecast of intermittent aurora radio propagation
• B. An indication of increased antenna reflected power
• C. The internal amateur radio practices policy of the FCC
• D. A permit that allows US amateurs to operate in certain countries of the Americas

E7G08

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

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

E9D04

11. Why should antenna loading coils have a high ratio of reactance to resistance?

• A. To minimize the Q
• B. To maximize efficiency
• C. To swamp out harmonics
• D. To lower the radiation angle

E1E05

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

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

E2D04

13. What technology is used for real-time tracking of balloons carrying amateur radio transmitters?

• A. Bandwidth compressed LORAN
• B. FT8
• C. APRS
• D. PACTOR III

E8C06

14. What is the bandwidth of an FT8 signal?

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

E7F13

15. What is the function of taps in a digital signal processing filter?

• A. To reduce excess signal pressure levels
• B. Select the point at which baseband signals are generated
• C. Provide incremental signal delays for filter algorithms
• D. Provide access for debugging software

E7C08

16. 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

E4C14

17. What is the purpose of the receiver IF Shift control?

• A. To permit listening on a different frequency from the transmitting frequency
• B. To reduce interference from stations transmitting on adjacent frequencies
• C. To change frequency rapidly
• D. To tune in stations slightly off frequency without changing the transmit frequency

E2A02

18. Which of the following is characteristic of an inverting linear transponder?

• A. All these choices are correct
• B. Signal position in the band is reversed
• C. Doppler shift is reduced because the uplink and downlink shifts are in opposite directions
• D. Upper sideband on the uplink becomes lower sideband on the downlink, and vice versa

E7H02

19. What is a microphonic?

• A. Changes in oscillator frequency caused by mechanical vibration
• B. Excess loading of the microphone by an oscillator
• C. An IC used for amplifying microphone signals
• D. Distortion caused by RF pickup on the microphone cable

E4B06

20. How much power is being absorbed by the load when a directional power meter connected between a transmitter and a terminating load reads 100 watts forward power and 25 watts reflected power?

• A. 125 watts
• B. 100 watts
• C. 75 watts
• D. 112.5 watts

E9E07

21. What parameter describes the interaction of a load and transmission line?

• A. Reflection coefficient
• B. Dielectric constant
• C. Characteristic impedance
• D. Velocity factor

E6D02

22. What is the equivalent circuit of a quartz crystal?

• A. Parallel RLC, where C is the parallel combination of resonance capacitance of the crystal and electrode and stray capacitance
• B. Parallel RLC, where C is the series combination of resonance capacitance of the crystal and electrode and stray capacitance
• C. Series RLC in parallel with a shunt C representing electrode and stray capacitance
• D. Series RLC, where C is the parallel combination of resonance capacitance of the crystal and electrode and stray capacitance

E4E02

23. Which of the following types of noise can often be reduced by a digital noise reduction?

• A. Ignition noise
• B. Broadband white noise
• C. Power line noise
• D. All these choices are correct

E6C11

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

• A. 2
• B. 5
• C. 6
• D. 4

E6F06

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

• A. Crystalline semiconductor
• B. All these choices are correct
• C. Polyphenol acetate
• D. Argon

E6E06

26. What characteristics of MMICs make them a popular choice for VHF through microwave circuits?

• A. Extremely high Q factor and high stability over a wide temperature range
• B. Nearly infinite gain, very high input impedance, and very low output impedance
• C. The ability to retrieve information from a single signal, even in the presence of other strong signals
• D. Controlled gain, low noise figure, and constant input and output impedance over the specified frequency range

E4A08

27. Which of the following is used to measure SWR?

• A. Vector network analyzer
• B. Directional wattmeter
• C. All these choices are correct
• D. Antenna analyzer

E5C12

28. 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 3
• C. Point 7
• D. Point 1

E8A04

29. What is "dither" with respect to analog-to-digital converters?

• A. A method of decimation by randomly skipping samples
• B. An abnormal condition where the converter cannot settle on a value to represent the signal
• C. An error caused by irregular quantization step size
• D. A small amount of noise added to the input signal to reduce quantization noise

E8B02

30. How does the modulation index of a phase-modulated emission vary with RF carrier frequency?

• A. It varies with the square root of the RF carrier frequency
• B. It increases as the RF carrier frequency increases
• C. It decreases as the RF carrier frequency increases
• D. It does not depend on the RF carrier frequency

E9B01

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

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

E6A12

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

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

E3B13

33. What type of polarization is supported by ground-wave propagation?

• A. Horizontal
• B. Elliptical
• C. Circular
• D. Vertical

E9A04

34. Which of the following factors affect the feed point impedance of an antenna?

• A. Transmission line length
• B. The settings of an antenna tuner at the transmitter
• C. Antenna height
• D. The input power level

E6B09

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

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

E7E06

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

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

E9H01

37. When constructing a Beverage antenna, which of the following factors should be included in the design to achieve good performance at the desired frequency?

• A. Its overall length must not exceed 1/4 wavelength
• B. It should be configured as a four-sided loop
• C. It should be at least one wavelength long
• D. It must be mounted more than 1 wavelength above ground

E7A03

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

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

E2C07

39. What is the Cabrillo format?

• A. A standard for submission of electronic contest logs
• B. The most common set of contest rules
• C. A digital protocol specifically designed for rapid contest exchanges
• D. A method of exchanging information during a contest QSO

E8D11

40. What is one advantage of using ASCII code for data communications?

• A. It uses one character as a shift code to send numeric and special characters
• B. It contains fewer information bits per character than any other code
• C. It includes built-in error correction features
• D. It is possible to transmit both uppercase and lowercase text

E1D08

41. Which VHF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

• A. 6 meters, 2 meters, and 1.25 meters
• B. 6 meters and 2 meters
• C. 2 meters
• D. 2 meters and 1.25 meters

E5D03

42. What is the phase relationship between current and voltage for reactive power?

• A. They are out of phase
• B. They are 45 degrees out of phase
• C. They are 90 degrees out of phase
• D. They are in phase

E7D09

43. How is battery operating time calculated?

• A. Capacity in amp-hours divided by average current
• B. Internal resistance divided by average current
• C. Average current divided by capacity in amp-hours
• D. Average current divided by internal resistance

E0A07

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

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

E1F05

45. 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. 440 MHz - 450 MHz
• B. 53 MHz - 54 MHz
• C. 420 MHz - 430 MHz
• D. 222 MHz - 223 MHz

E5B01

46. What is the term for the time required for the capacitor in an RC circuit to be charged to 63.2% of the applied voltage or to discharge to 36.8% of its initial voltage?

• A. One exponential period
• B. An exponential rate of one
• C. A time factor of one
• D. One time constant

E4D09

47. What is the purpose of the preselector in a communications receiver?

• A. To store frequencies that are often used
• B. To provide broadband attenuation before the first RF stage to prevent intermodulation
• C. To increase the rejection of signals outside the band being received
• D. To allow selection of the optimum RF amplifier device

E9F01

48. What is the velocity factor of a transmission line?

• A. The ratio of its characteristic impedance to its termination impedance
• B. The velocity of a wave in the transmission line divided by the velocity of light in a vacuum
• C. The ratio of its termination impedance to its characteristic impedance
• D. The velocity of a wave in the transmission line multiplied by the velocity of light in a vacuum

E1A01

49. Why is it not legal to transmit a 3 kHz bandwidth USB signal with a carrier frequency of 14.348 MHz?

• A. The upper 1 kHz of the signal is outside the 20-meter band
• B. 14.348 MHz is outside the 20-meter band
• C. USB is not used on 20-meter phone
• D. The lower 1 kHz of the signal is outside the 20-meter band

E2E08

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

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