Practice Exam

T9B03

1. Why is coaxial cable the most common feed line for amateur radio antenna systems?

• A. It has less loss than any other type of feed line
• B. It is less expensive than any other type of feed line
• C. It is easy to use and requires few special installation considerations
• D. It can handle more power than any other type of feed line

T1D02

2. Under which of the following circumstances are one-way transmissions by an amateur station prohibited?

• A. Broadcasting
• B. Telecommand or transmissions of telemetry
• C. International Morse Code Practice
• D. In all circumstances

T6A09

3. What electrical component is used to protect other circuit components from current overloads?

• A. Fuse
• B. Thyratron
• C. Varactor
• D. All these choices are correct

T0A03

4. In the United States, what circuit does black wire insulation indicate in a three-wire 120 V cable?

• A. Black insulation is never used
• B. Neutral
• C. Equipment ground
• D. Hot

T2C08

5. Which of the following is a characteristic of good traffic handling?

• A. All these choices are correct
• B. Passing messages exactly as received
• C. Ensuring that any newsworthy messages are relayed to the news media
• D. Making decisions as to whether messages are worthy of relay or delivery

T1C10

6. How soon after passing the examination for your first amateur radio license may you transmit on the amateur radio bands?

• A. As soon as your operator/station license grant appears on the ARRL website
• B. As soon as your operator/station license grant appears in the FCC's license database
• C. As soon as you receive your license in the mail from the FCC
• D. Immediately on receiving your Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination (CSCE)

T2A04

7. What is an appropriate way to call another station on a repeater if you know the other station's call sign?

• A. Say the station's call sign, then identify with your call sign
• B. Say "CQ" three times, then the other station's call sign
• C. Say "break, break," then say the station's call sign
• D. Wait for the station to call CQ, then answer

T9A11

8. What is antenna gain?

• A. The increase in impedance on receive or transmit compared to a reference antenna
• B. The additional power that is added to the transmitter power
• C. The additional power that is required in the antenna when transmitting on a higher frequency
• D. The increase in signal strength in a specified direction compared to a reference antenna

T4A03

9. Why are short, heavy-gauge wires used for a transceiver's DC power connection?

• A. To avoid RF interference
• B. All these choices are correct
• C. To minimize voltage drop when transmitting
• D. To provide a good counterpoise for the antenna

T1A08

10. Which of the following entities recommends transmit/receive channels and other parameters for auxiliary and repeater stations?

• A. Frequency Spectrum Manager appointed by the FCC
• B. FCC Regional Field Office
• C. Volunteer Frequency Coordinator recognized by local amateurs
• D. International Telecommunication Union

T6B09

11. What are the names for the electrodes of a diode?

• A. Anode and cathode
• B. Source and drain
• C. Plus and minus
• D. Gate and base

T0C12

12. How does RF radiation differ from ionizing radiation (radioactivity)?

• A. RF radiation can only be detected with an RF dosimeter
• B. RF radiation is perfectly safe
• C. RF radiation does not have sufficient energy to cause chemical changes in cells and damage DNA
• D. RF radiation is limited in range to a few feet

T7C06

13. What does an SWR reading of 4:1 indicate?

• A. Good impedance match
• B. Gain of +4 dB
• C. Loss of -4 dB
• D. Impedance mismatch

T3C03

14. What is a characteristic of VHF signals received via auroral backscatter?

• A. They occur only during winter nighttime hours
• B. They are generally strongest when your antenna is aimed west
• C. They are often received from 10,000 miles or more
• D. They are distorted and signal strength varies considerably

T7B07

15. Which of the following can reduce overload of a VHF transceiver by a nearby commercial FM station?

• A. Installing an RF preamplifier
• B. Using double-shielded coaxial cable
• C. Installing bypass capacitors on the microphone cable
• D. Installing a band-reject filter

T6D08

16. Which of the following is combined with an inductor to make a resonant circuit?

• A. Resistor
• B. Zener diode
• C. Potentiometer
• D. Capacitor

T4B10

17. Which of the following receiver filter bandwidths provides the best signal-to-noise ratio for SSB reception?

• A. 2400 Hz
• B. 1000 Hz
• C. 5000 Hz
• D. 500 Hz

T7D10

18. What reading indicates that an ohmmeter is connected across a large, discharged capacitor?

• A. Steady full-scale reading
• B. Alternating between open and short circuit
• C. Increasing resistance with time
• D. Decreasing resistance with time

T8C06

19. How is over the air access to IRLP nodes accomplished?

• A. By using CTCSS tone codes
• B. By obtaining a password that is sent via voice to the node
• C. By entering the proper internet password
• D. By using DTMF signals

T8B06

20. Which of the following are inputs to a satellite tracking program?

• A. The Keplerian elements
• B. The last observed time of zero Doppler shift
• C. All these choices are correct
• D. The satellite transmitted power

T5B03

21. Which is equal to one kilovolt?

• A. One thousand volts
• B. One one-thousandth of a volt
• C. One hundred volts
• D. One million volts

T2B06

22. What type of signaling uses pairs of audio tones?

• A. CTCSS
• B. D-STAR
• C. GPRS
• D. DTMF

T1F10

23. Who is accountable if a repeater inadvertently retransmits communications that violate the FCC rules?

• A. The control operator of the repeater
• B. The owner of the repeater
• C. Both the originating station and the repeater owner
• D. The control operator of the originating station

T5C07

24. What is the abbreviation for megahertz?

• A. Mhz
• B. MHz
• C. MH
• D. mh

T8D05

25. Which of the following is an application of APRS?

• A. Providing information on the number of stations signed into a repeater
• B. Providing real-time tactical digital communications in conjunction with a map showing the locations of stations
• C. Showing automatically the number of packets transmitted via PACTOR during a specific time interval
• D. Providing voice over internet connection between repeaters

T3B08

26. What frequency range is referred to as VHF?

• A. 30 MHz to 300 MHz
• B. 300 kHz to 3000 kHz
• C. 300 MHz to 3000 MHz
• D. 30 kHz to 300 kHz

T6C10

27. What is component 3 in figure T-3?

• A. Variable capacitor
• B. Connector
• C. Variable inductor
• D. Meter

T5A10

28. Which term describes the rate at which electrical energy is used?

• A. Voltage
• B. Power
• C. Current
• D. Resistance

T1B03

29. Which frequency is in the 6 meter amateur band?

• A. 222.15 MHz
• B. 28.50 MHz
• C. 52.525 MHz
• D. 49.00 MHz

T5D14

30. In which type of circuit is voltage the same across all components?

• A. Parallel
• B. Resonant
• C. Branch
• D. Series

T7A02

31. What is a transceiver?

• A. A device for converting receiver and transmitter frequencies to another band
• B. A device for matching feed line impedance to 50 ohms
• C. A device for automatically sending and decoding Morse code
• D. A device that combines a receiver and transmitter

T8A03

32. Which type of voice mode is often used for long-distance (weak signal) contacts on the VHF and UHF bands?

• A. PM
• B. FM
• C. DRM
• D. SSB

T3A12

33. What is the effect of fog and rain on signals in the 10 meter and 6 meter bands?

• A. Deflection
• B. Range increase
• C. There is little effect
• D. Absorption

T1E07

34. When the control operator is not the station licensee, who is responsible for the proper operation of the station?

• A. Only the control operator
• B. Only the station licensee
• C. All licensed amateurs who are present at the operation
• D. The control operator and the station licensee

T0B03

35. Under what circumstances is it safe to climb a tower without a helper or observer?

• A. Never
• B. When the work being done is not more than 20 feet above the ground
• C. When no mechanical work is being performed
• D. When no electrical work is being performed