Practice Exam

E5D04

1. Why are short connections used at microwave frequencies?

• A. To increase neutralizing resistance
• B. To increase compensating capacitance
• C. To reduce phase shift along the connection
• D. To reduce noise figure

E6C05

2. What is an advantage of CMOS logic devices over TTL devices?

• A. Differential output capability
• B. Lower distortion
• C. Immune to damage from static discharge
• D. Lower power consumption

E3A01

3. What is the approximate maximum separation measured along the surface of the Earth between two stations communicating by EME?

• A. 5000 miles, if the moon is at perigee
• B. 2000 miles, if the moon is at apogee
• C. 12,000 miles, if the moon is visible by both stations
• D. 500 miles, if the moon is at perigee

E5A04

4. 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 inductive reactance
• C. Approximately equal to circuit resistance
• D. High compared to the circuit resistance

E0A08

5. What does SAR measure?

• A. The rate of RF energy reflected from stationary terrain
• B. Signal Amplification Rating
• C. Synthetic Aperture Ratio of the human body
• D. The rate at which RF energy is absorbed by the body

E4E03

6. Which of the following signals might a receiver noise blanker be able to remove from desired signals?

• A. Signals that appear across a wide bandwidth
• B. Signals that are constant at all IF levels
• C. Signals that have a sharply peaked frequency distribution
• D. Signals that appear at one IF but not another

E7A08

7. What logical operation does an OR gate perform?

• A. It produces logic 1 at its output if any or all inputs are logic 1
• B. It produces logic 0 at its output if all inputs are logic 1
• C. It produces logic 1 at its output if all inputs are logic 0
• D. It only produces logic 0 at its output when all inputs are logic 1

E6E03

8. Which of the following materials is likely to provide the highest frequency of operation when used in MMICs?

• A. Silicon
• B. Silicon dioxide
• C. Gallium nitride
• D. Silicon nitride

E7B11

9. In Figure E7-1, what is the purpose of R3?

• A. Self bias
• B. Fixed bias
• C. Output load resistor
• D. Emitter bypass

E1A11

10. Which of the following describes authorization or licensing required when operating an amateur station aboard a U.S.-registered vessel in international waters?

• A. Any amateur license with an FCC Marine or Aircraft endorsement
• B. Any FCC-issued amateur license
• C. An unrestricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit
• D. Only General Class or higher amateur licenses

E9H04

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

• A. It eliminates tracking errors caused by strong out-of-band signals
• 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 increases signal strength by providing a better match to the feed line

E5B04

12. What is the time constant of a circuit having two 220-microfarad capacitors and two 1-megohm resistors, all in parallel?

• A. 110 seconds
• B. 220 seconds
• C. 55 seconds
• D. 440 seconds

E2A12

13. What is the purpose of digital store-and-forward functions on an amateur radio satellite?

• A. To upload operational software for the transponder
• B. To store digital messages in the satellite for later download by other stations
• C. To relay messages between satellites
• D. To delay download of telemetry between satellites

E4D01

14. What is meant by the blocking dynamic range of a receiver?

• A. The difference in dB between the noise floor and the level of an incoming signal that will cause 1 dB of gain compression
• B. The minimum difference in dB between the levels of two FM signals that will cause one signal to block the other
• C. The difference in dB between the noise floor and the third-order intercept point
• D. The minimum difference in dB between two signals which produce third-order intermodulation products greater than the noise floor

E9A03

15. What is the radiation resistance of an antenna?

• A. The specific impedance of the antenna
• B. The resistance in the atmosphere that an antenna must overcome to be able to radiate a signal
• C. The value of a resistance that would dissipate the same amount of power as that radiated from an antenna
• D. The combined losses of the antenna elements and feed line

E3C01

16. What does the radio communication term "ray tracing" describe?

• A. Determining the radiation pattern from an array of antennas
• B. Evaluating high voltage sources for x-rays
• C. The process in which an electronic display presents a pattern
• D. Modeling a radio wave's path through the ionosphere

E8C07

17. What is the bandwidth of a 4800-Hz frequency shift, 9600-baud ASCII FM transmission?

• A. 5.76 kHz
• B. 4.8 kHz
• C. 15.36 kHz
• D. 9.6 kHz

E9G01

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

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

E2C01

19. What indicator is required to be used by U.S.-licensed operators when operating a station via remote control and the remote transmitter is located in the U.S.?

• A. / followed by the USPS two-letter abbreviation for the state in which the remote station is located
• B. / followed by the ARRL Section of the remote station
• C. /R# where # is the district of the remote station
• D. No additional indicator is required

E2D10

20. How can an APRS station be used to help support a public service communications activity?

• A. All these choices are correct
• B. An APRS station with a Global Positioning System unit can automatically transmit information to show a mobile station's position during the event
• C. APRS stations with General Personnel Scanners can automatically relay the participant numbers and time as they pass the check points
• D. An APRS station with an emergency medical technician can automatically transmit medical data to the nearest hospital

E1B03

21. Within what distance must an amateur station protect an FCC monitoring facility from harmful interference?

• A. 10 miles
• B. 1 mile
• C. 3 miles
• D. 30 miles

E9B11

22. What is a disadvantage of decreasing the number of wire segments in an antenna model below 10 segments per half-wavelength?

• A. The resulting design will favor radiation of harmonic energy
• B. The computed feed point impedance may be incorrect
• C. The antenna will become mechanically unstable
• D. Ground conductivity will not be accurately modeled

E9F03

23. Why is the physical length of a coaxial cable transmission line shorter than its electrical length?

• A. Skin effect is less pronounced in the coaxial cable
• B. The surge impedance is higher in a parallel feed line
• C. The characteristic impedance is higher in a parallel feed line
• D. Electrical signals move more slowly in a coaxial cable than in air

E8D08

24. What parameter evaluates distortion of an AFSK signal caused by excessive input audio levels?

• A. Intermodulation Distortion (IMD)
• B. Repeat Request Rate (RRR)
• C. Signal-to-noise ratio
• D. Baud rate

E6B02

25. What is an important characteristic of a Schottky diode as compared to an ordinary silicon diode when used as a power supply rectifier?

• A. More constant reverse avalanche voltage
• B. Less forward voltage drop
• C. Much higher reverse voltage breakdown
• D. Longer carrier retention time

E9D07

26. What is an advantage of using top loading in a shortened HF vertical antenna?

• A. Lower Q
• B. Improved radiation efficiency
• C. Higher losses
• D. Greater structural strength

E7D02

27. What is a characteristic of a switching electronic voltage regulator?

• A. The resistance of a control element is varied in direct proportion to the line voltage or load current
• B. It is generally less efficient than a linear regulator
• C. The controlled device's duty cycle is changed to produce a constant average output voltage
• D. It gives a ramp voltage at its output

E6A02

28. Which of the following semiconductor materials contains excess free electrons?

• A. Bipolar
• B. P-type
• C. Insulated gate
• D. N-type

E6F03

29. What is the most common configuration of an optoisolator or optocoupler?

• A. An amplitude modulated helium-neon laser
• B. A frequency modulated helium-neon laser
• C. An LED and a phototransistor
• D. A lens and a photomultiplier

E2E11

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

• A. Direct FSK occupies less bandwidth
• B. Only direct FSK can be decoded by computer
• C. Direct FSK applies the data signal to the transmitter VFO, while AFSK transmits tones via phone
• D. Direct FSK can transmit faster baud rates

E2B05

31. Which of the following describes the use of vestigial sideband in analog fast-scan TV transmissions?

• A. The vestigial sideband contains chroma information
• B. The vestigial sideband carries the audio information
• C. Vestigial sideband reduces bandwidth while allowing for simple video detector circuitry
• D. Vestigial sideband provides high frequency emphasis to sharpen the picture

E9E01

32. What system matches a higher-impedance transmission line to a lower-impedance antenna by connecting the line to the driven element in two places spaced a fraction of a wavelength each side of element center?

• A. The delta matching system
• B. The stub matching system
• C. The gamma matching system
• D. The omega matching system

E7H13

33. Which of the following is a technique for providing highly accurate and stable oscillators needed for microwave transmission and reception?

• A. Use a temperature-controlled high Q dielectric resonator
• B. Use a GPS signal reference
• C. All these choices are correct
• D. Use a rubidium stabilized reference oscillator

E6D03

34. Which of the following is an aspect of the piezoelectric effect?

• A. Increased conductivity in the presence of light
• B. Mechanical deformation of material by the application of a voltage
• C. Generation of electrical energy in the presence of light
• D. Mechanical deformation of material by the application of a magnetic field

E1E10

35. What must the administering VEs do after the administration of a successful examination for an amateur operator license?

• A. They must submit the application document to the coordinating VEC according to the coordinating VEC instructions
• B. They must collect and submit the documents to the coordinating VEC for grading
• C. They must collect and send the documents to the NCVEC for grading
• D. They must collect and send the documents to the FCC according to instructions

E7E06

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

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

E7G04

37. What is meant by the term "op-amp input offset voltage"?

• A. The potential between the amplifier input terminals of the op-amp in an open loop condition
• B. The output voltage of the op-amp minus its input voltage
• C. The difference between the output voltage of the op-amp and the input voltage required in the immediately following stage
• D. The differential input voltage needed to bring the open loop output voltage to zero

E9C09

38. Which of the following describes a G5RV antenna?

• A. A multi-band trap antenna
• B. A phased array antenna consisting of multiple loops
• C. A multi-band dipole antenna fed with coax and a balun through a selected length of open wire transmission line
• D. A wide band dipole using shorted coaxial cable for the radiating elements and fed with a 4:1 balun

E8A10

39. What is the purpose of a low-pass filter used in conjunction with a digital-to-analog converter?

• A. Remove harmonics from the output caused by the discrete analog levels generated
• B. Lower the input bandwidth to increase the effective resolution
• C. All these choices are correct
• D. Improve accuracy by removing out-of-sequence codes from the input

E4A11

40. How should an antenna analyzer be connected when measuring antenna resonance and feed point impedance?

• A. Connect the antenna feed line directly to the analyzer's connector
• B. Loosely couple the antenna and a dummy load to the analyzer
• C. Loosely couple the analyzer near the antenna base
• D. Connect the analyzer via a high-impedance transformer to the antenna

E8B09

41. What is deviation ratio?

• A. The ratio of the audio modulating frequency to the center carrier frequency
• B. The ratio of the highest audio modulating frequency to the average audio modulating frequency
• C. The ratio of the maximum carrier frequency deviation to the highest audio modulating frequency
• D. The ratio of the carrier center frequency to the audio modulating frequency

E7F02

42. What kind of digital signal processing audio filter is used to remove unwanted noise from a received SSB signal?

• A. A Hilbert-transform filter
• B. A crystal-lattice filter
• C. A phase-inverting filter
• D. An adaptive filter

E1F05

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

E3B10

44. Why is chordal hop propagation desirable?

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

E4B10

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

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

E4C12

46. Which of the following has the largest effect on an SDR receiver's dynamic range?

• A. Anti-aliasing input filter bandwidth
• B. RAM speed used for data storage
• C. Analog-to-digital converter sample width in bits
• D. CPU register width in bits

E5C11

47. 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 1
• B. Point 7
• C. Point 8
• D. Point 3

E1C10

48. What is the permitted mean power of any spurious emission relative to the mean power of the fundamental emission from a station transmitter or external RF amplifier installed after January 1, 2003 and transmitting on a frequency below 30 MHz?

• A. At least 53 dB below
• B. At least 73 dB below
• C. At least 43 dB below
• D. At least 63 dB below

E1D08

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

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

E7C01

50. How are the capacitors and inductors of a low-pass filter Pi-network arranged between the network's input and output?

• A. An inductor is connected between the input and ground, another inductor is connected between the output and ground, and a capacitor is connected between the input and output
• B. Two capacitors are in series between the input and output, and an inductor is connected between the two capacitors and ground
• C. Two inductors are in series between the input and output, and a capacitor is connected between the two inductors and ground
• D. A capacitor is connected between the input and ground, another capacitor is connected between the output and ground, and an inductor is connected between input and output