Practice Exam

E2C09

1. What type of equipment is commonly used to implement an amateur radio mesh network?

• A. A wireless router running custom firmware
• B. An optical cable connection between the USB ports of 2 separate computers
• C. A 2 meter VHF transceiver with a 1200 baud modem
• D. A 440 MHz transceiver with a 9600 baud modem

E9G01

2. Which of the following can be calculated using a Smith chart?

• A. Radio propagation
• B. Impedance along transmission lines
• C. Radiation resistance
• D. Antenna radiation pattern

E8A06

3. What is the approximate ratio of PEP-to-average power in a typical single-sideband phone signal?

• A. 1 to 1
• B. 100 to 1
• C. 2.5 to 1
• D. 25 to 1

E1E06

4. Who is responsible for the proper conduct and necessary supervision during an amateur operator license examination session?

• A. The VE session manager
• B. Each administering VE
• C. The FCC
• D. The VEC coordinating the session

E9C14

5. How does the performance of a horizontally polarized antenna mounted on the side of a hill compare with the same antenna mounted on flat ground?

• A. The horizontal beamwidth increases in the uphill direction
• B. The main lobe takeoff angle increases in the downhill direction
• C. The main lobe takeoff angle decreases in the downhill direction
• D. The horizontal beamwidth decreases in the downhill direction

E2A03

6. How is the signal inverted by an inverting linear transponder?

• A. The signal is passed through a non-linear filter
• B. The signal is detected and remodulated on the reverse sideband
• C. The signal is reduced to I and Q components and the Q component is filtered out
• D. The signal is passed through a mixer and the difference rather than the sum is transmitted

E4E01

7. What problem can occur when using an automatic notch filter (ANF) to remove interfering carriers while receiving CW signals?

• A. Removal of the CW signal as well as the interfering carrier
• B. Ringing in the DSP filter will completely remove the spaces between the CW characters
• C. Received CW signals will appear to be modulated at the DSP clock frequency
• D. Any nearby signal passing through the DSP system will overwhelm the desired signal

E7E06

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

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

E9B02

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

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

E2E01

10. Which of the following types of modulation is common for data emissions below 30 MHz?

• A. Spread spectrum
• B. DTMF tones modulating an FM signal
• C. FSK
• D. Pulse modulation

E1A09

11. What action or actions should you take if your digital message forwarding station inadvertently forwards a communication that violates FCC rules?

• A. All these choices are correct
• B. Notify the nearest FCC Field Engineer's office
• C. Discontinue forwarding the communication as soon as you become aware of it
• D. Notify the originating station that the communication does not comply with FCC rules

E4A09

12. Which of the following is good practice when using an oscilloscope probe?

• A. Never use a DC-coupled probe to measure an AC circuit
• B. Never use a high-impedance probe to measure a low-impedance circuit
• C. Keep the signal ground connection of the probe as short as possible
• D. All these choices are correct

E6D01

13. Why should core saturation of an impedance matching transformer be avoided?

• A. RF susceptance would increase
• B. Temporary changes of the core permeability could result
• C. Magnetic flux would increase with frequency
• D. Harmonics and distortion could result

E7C03

14. What advantage does a series-L Pi-L-network have over a series-L Pi-network for impedance matching between the final amplifier of a vacuum-tube transmitter and an antenna?

• A. Greater harmonic suppression
• B. Does not require a capacitor
• C. Greater transformation range
• D. Higher efficiency

E4D05

15. What transmitter frequencies would cause an intermodulation-product signal in a receiver tuned to 146.70 MHz when a nearby station transmits on 146.52 MHz?

• A. 146.34 MHz and 146.61 MHz
• B. 146.88 MHz and 146.34 MHz
• C. 146.10 MHz and 147.30 MHz
• D. 173.35 MHz and 139.40 MHz

E5C04

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

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

E8B07

17. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing is a technique used for which type of amateur communication?

• A. High-speed digital modes
• B. OFDM signals are not allowed on amateur bands
• C. EME
• D. Extremely low-power contacts

E3C12

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

• A. It decreases
• B. It increases
• C. It stays the same
• D. It peaks at roughly 14 MHz

E4B05

19. What three test loads are used to calibrate an RF vector network analyzer?

• A. Short circuit, open circuit, and 50 ohms
• B. 50 ohms, 75 ohms, and 90 ohms
• C. Short circuit, open circuit, and resonant circuit
• D. 50 ohms through 1/8 wavelength, 1/4 wavelength, and 1/2 wavelength of coaxial cable

E2B04

20. How is color information sent in analog SSTV?

• A. Color lines are sent sequentially
• B. Color is sent in a color burst at the end of each line
• C. Color is amplitude modulated on the frequency modulated intensity signal
• D. Color information is sent on a 2.8 kHz subcarrier

E9H04

21. What is an advantage of placing a grounded electrostatic shield around a small loop direction-finding antenna?

• A. It increases signal strength by providing a better match to the feed line
• B. It eliminates unbalanced capacitive coupling to the surroundings, improving the nulls
• C. It adds capacitive loading, increasing the bandwidth of the antenna
• D. It eliminates tracking errors caused by strong out-of-band signals

E7B17

22. Why are odd-order rather than even-order intermodulation distortion products of concern in linear power amplifiers?

• A. Because they invert the sidebands causing distortion
• B. Because they are relatively close in frequency to the desired signal
• C. Because they maintain the sidebands, thus causing multiple duplicate signals
• D. Because they are relatively far in frequency from the desired signal

E9D05

23. What usually occurs if a Yagi antenna is designed solely for maximum forward gain?

• A. The front-to-back ratio decreases
• B. The SWR is reduced
• C. The front-to-back ratio increases
• D. The frequency response is widened over the whole frequency band

E6E08

24. How is power supplied to the most common type of MMIC?

• A. Through a resistor and/or RF choke connected to the amplifier output lead
• B. MMICs require no operating bias
• C. Directly to the bias voltage (VCC IN) lead
• D. Through a capacitor and RF choke connected to the amplifier input lead

E8D06

25. What is the advantage of including parity bits in ASCII characters?

• A. Faster transmission rate
• B. The signal can overpower interfering signals
• C. Some types of errors can be detected
• D. Foreign language characters can be sent

E1B07

26. To what type of regulations does PRB-1 apply?

• A. Homeowners associations
• B. FAA tower height limits
• C. Use of wireless devices in vehicles
• D. State and local zoning

E6F06

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

• A. A liquid semiconductor
• B. An ordinary metal
• C. A crystalline semiconductor
• D. A heavy metal

E3A12

28. What is the cause of auroral activity?

• A. The interaction in the E layer of charged particles from the Sun with the Earth's magnetic field
• B. An extreme low-pressure area in the polar regions
• C. Meteor showers concentrated in the extreme northern and southern latitudes
• D. The interaction in the F2 layer between the solar wind and the Van Allen belt

E8C04

29. What technique minimizes the bandwidth of a PSK31 signal?

• A. Use of trapezoidal data pulses
• B. Reed-Solomon character encoding
• C. Use of sinusoidal data pulses
• D. Zero-sum character encoding

E1F02

30. What privileges are authorized in the U.S. to persons holding an amateur service license granted by the government of Canada?

• A. All privileges of the Amateur Extra Class license
• B. None, they must obtain a U.S. license
• C. Full privileges, up to and including those of the Amateur Extra Class license, on the 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter bands
• D. The operating terms and conditions of the Canadian amateur service license, not to exceed U.S. Amateur Extra Class license privileges

E2D09

31. What type of modulation is used for JT65 contacts?

• A. IEEE 802.11
• B. Multi-tone AFSK
• C. PSK
• D. RTTY

E5B12

32. What is admittance?

• A. The inverse of impedance
• B. The inverse of Q factor
• C. The term for the gain of a field effect transistor
• D. The turns ratio of a transformer

E6A08

33. What term indicates the frequency at which the grounded-base current gain of a transistor has decreased to 0.7 of the gain obtainable at 1 kHz?

• A. Beta cutoff frequency
• B. Alpha rejection frequency
• C. Corner frequency
• D. Alpha cutoff frequency

E5D09

34. What happens to reactive power in an AC circuit that has both ideal inductors and ideal capacitors?

• A. It is dissipated in the formation of inductive and capacitive fields
• B. It is dissipated as kinetic energy in the circuit
• C. It is repeatedly exchanged between the associated magnetic and electric fields, but is not dissipated
• D. It is dissipated as heat in the circuit

E6B03

35. What type of bias is required for an LED to emit light?

• A. Inductive bias
• B. Zero bias
• C. Forward bias
• D. Reverse bias

E9A08

36. What is antenna bandwidth?

• A. The angle between the half-power radiation points
• B. Antenna length divided by the number of elements
• C. The angle formed between two imaginary lines drawn through the element ends
• D. The frequency range over which an antenna satisfies a performance requirement

E1D02

37. Which of the following may transmit special codes intended to obscure the meaning of messages?

• A. Auxiliary relay links carrying repeater audio
• B. Binary control characters
• C. Telecommand signals from a space telecommand station
• D. Data containing personal information

E0A02

38. When evaluating RF exposure levels from your station at a neighbor's home, what must you do?

• A. Ensure signals from your station are less than the uncontrolled Maximum Permitted Emission (MPE) limits
• B. Ensure signals from your station are less than the uncontrolled Maximum Permitted Exposure (MPE) limits
• C. Ensure signals from your station are less than the controlled Maximum Permitted Emission (MPE) limits
• D. Ensure signals from your station are less than the controlled Maximum Permitted Exposure (MPE) limits

E5A04

39. What is the magnitude of the impedance of a parallel RLC circuit at resonance?

• A. Low compared to the circuit resistance
• B. Approximately equal to circuit resistance
• C. Approximately equal to inductive reactance
• D. High compared to the circuit resistance

E9F06

40. What is the approximate physical length of an air-insulated, parallel conductor transmission line that is electrically 1/2 wavelength long at 14.10 MHz?

• A. 7.0 meters
• B. 13.3 meters
• C. 10.6 meters
• D. 8.5 meters

E9E04

41. What is the purpose of the series capacitor in a gamma-type antenna matching network?

• A. To provide a rejection notch that prevents the radiation of harmonics
• B. To transform the antenna impedance to a higher value
• C. To cancel the inductive reactance of the matching network
• D. To provide DC isolation between the feed line and the antenna

E1C04

42. What is meant by IARP?

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

E7H07

43. How can an oscillator's microphonic responses be reduced?

• A. Use NP0 capacitors
• B. Increase the bias voltage
• C. Mechanically isolate the oscillator circuitry from its enclosure
• D. Reduce noise on the oscillator's power supply

E7G09

44. What will be the output voltage of the circuit shown in Figure E7-3 if R1 is 1000 ohms, RF is 10,000 ohms, and 0.23 volts DC is applied to the input?

• A. 2.3 volts
• B. 0.23 volts
• C. -2.3 volts
• D. -0.23 volts

E7D06

45. What is the purpose of Q1 in the circuit shown in Figure E7-2?

• A. It controls the current supplied to the load
• B. It provides negative feedback to improve regulation
• C. It provides D1 with current
• D. It provides a constant load for the voltage source

E7A09

46. What logical operation is performed by an exclusive NOR gate?

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

E4C03

47. What is the term for the suppression in an FM receiver of one signal by another stronger signal on the same frequency?

• A. Desensitization
• B. Capture effect
• C. Frequency discrimination
• D. Cross-modulation interference

E3B11

48. At what time of day can sporadic E propagation occur?

• A. Any time
• B. Only around sunset
• C. Only around sunset and sunrise
• D. Only in hours of darkness

E7F03

49. What type of digital signal processing filter is used to generate an SSB signal?

• A. A Hilbert-transform filter
• B. An adaptive filter
• C. A notch filter
• D. An elliptical filter

E6C01

50. What is the function of hysteresis in a comparator?

• A. To prevent input noise from causing unstable output signals
• B. To cause the output to change states continually
• C. To increase the sensitivity
• D. To allow the comparator to be used with AC input signals