Practice Exam

E2D04

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

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

E2E03

2. To what does the "4" in FT4 refer?

• A. Four transmit/receive cycles per minute
• B. Four-tone continuous-phase frequency shift keying
• C. Multiples of 4 bits of user information
• D. All these choices are correct

E9G08

3. How is a Smith chart normalized?

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

E1C08

4. 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. 5 minutes
• D. 30 seconds

E6F07

5. What is a solid-state relay?

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

E5D10

6. As a conductor's diameter increases, what is the effect on its electrical length?

• A. It decreases
• B. Thickness has no effect on electrical length
• C. It varies randomly
• D. It increases

E9A10

7. Which of the following improves the efficiency of a ground-mounted quarter-wave vertical antenna?

• A. All these choices are correct
• B. Shortening the radiating element
• C. Installing a ground radial system
• D. Isolating the coax shield from ground

E7G02

8. What is the frequency response of the circuit in E7-3 if a capacitor is added across the feedback resistor?

• A. High-pass filter
• B. Band-pass filter
• C. Low-pass filter
• D. Notch filter

E4E13

9. Where should a station AC surge protector be installed?

• A. At an AC outlet
• B. On the single point ground panel
• C. On a ground rod outside the station
• D. At the AC service panel

E5B07

10. What is the phase angle between the voltage across and the current through a series RLC circuit if XC is 500 ohms, R is 1 kilohm, and XL is 250 ohms?

• A. 68.2 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
• B. 14.0 degrees with the voltage leading the current
• C. 14.0 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
• D. 68.2 degrees with the voltage leading the current

E7F12

11. Which of the following is generally true of Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filters?

• A. FIR filters can delay all frequency components of the signal by the same amount
• B. All these choices are correct
• C. FIR filters are easier to implement for a given set of passband rolloff requirements
• D. FIR filters can respond faster to impulses

E1B08

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

E2C07

13. What is the Cabrillo format?

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

E1E09

14. What may be the penalty for a VE who fraudulently administers or certifies an examination?

• A. All these choices are correct
• B. A sentence of up to one year in prison
• C. A fine of up to $1,000 per occurrence
• D. Revocation of the VE's amateur station license grant and the suspension of the VE's amateur operator license grant

E7H07

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

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

E8B05

16. What is the deviation ratio of an FM phone signal having a maximum frequency swing of plus or minus 5 kHz if the highest modulation frequency is 3 kHz?

• A. 6
• B. 1.67
• C. 0.6
• D. 0.167

E7E09

17. What occurs when the input signal levels to a mixer are too high?

• A. Mixer blanking occurs
• B. Spurious mixer products are generated
• C. Excessive AGC voltage levels are generated
• D. Automatic limiting occurs

E6A09

18. What is a depletion-mode field-effect transistor (FET)?

• A. An FET for which holes are the majority carriers
• B. An FET that exhibits a current flow between source and drain when no gate voltage is applied
• C. An FET that exhibits very high electron mobility due to a lack of holes in the N-type material
• D. An FET that has no current flow between source and drain when no gate voltage is applied

E2B08

19. What technique allows commercial analog TV receivers to be used for fast-scan TV operations on the 70- centimeter band?

• A. Using USB and demodulating the signal with a computer sound card
• B. Transmitting on channels shared with cable TV
• C. Transmitting on the abandoned TV channel 2
• D. Using converted satellite TV dishes

E9C04

20. What happens to the radiation pattern of an unterminated long wire antenna as the wire length is increased?

• A. Additional lobes form with major lobes increasingly aligned with the axis of the antenna
• B. The elevation angle increases, and the front-to-rear ratio decreases
• C. Fewer lobes form with the major lobes increasing closer to broadside to the wire
• D. The elevation angle increases, while the front-to-rear ratio is unaffected

E4A06

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

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

E2A09

22. What do the terms "L band" and "S band" specify?

• A. The 2-meter and 70-centimeter bands
• B. Which sideband to use
• C. FM and digital store-and-forward systems
• D. The 23- and 13-centimeter bands

E1F10

23. Who may be the control operator of an auxiliary station?

• A. Only General, Advanced, or Amateur Extra class operators
• B. Any licensed amateur operator
• C. Only Technician, General, Advanced, or Amateur Extra class operators
• D. Only Amateur Extra class operators

E7C09

24. What is a crystal lattice filter?

• A. A power supply filter made with interlaced quartz crystals
• B. An audio filter made with four quartz crystals that resonate at 1 kHz intervals
• C. A filter using lattice-shaped quartz crystals for high-Q performance
• D. A filter for low-level signals made using quartz crystals

E3A02

25. What characterizes libration fading of an EME signal?

• A. The returning echo is several hertz lower in frequency than the transmitted signal
• B. A fluttery, irregular fading
• C. A gradual loss of signal as the sun rises
• D. A slow change in the pitch of the CW signal

E9D02

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

• A. Arrange two Yagis collinear to each other with the driven elements fed 180 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 90 degrees out of phase
• D. Stack two Yagis to form an array with the respective elements in parallel planes fed in phase

E9E03

27. What matching system uses a short length of transmission line connected in parallel with the feed line at or near the feed point?

• A. T-match
• B. Stub match
• C. Gamma match
• D. Delta match

E9H05

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

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

E5C01

29. Which of the following represents pure capacitive reactance of 100 ohms in rectangular notation?

• A. 0 - j100
• B. 100 + j0
• C. 100 - j0
• D. 0 + j100

E6E09

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

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

E6B09

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

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

E9B07

32. What is the difference in radiated power between a lossless antenna with gain and an isotropic radiator driven by the same power?

• A. They are the same
• B. The power radiated from the directional antenna is stronger by its front-to-back ratio
• C. The power radiated from the directional antenna is increased by the gain of the antenna
• D. The power radiated from the isotropic radiator is 2.15 dB greater than that from the directional antenna

E4C14

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

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

E3B11

34. At what time of day is sporadic-E propagation most likely to occur?

• A. Between sunset and midnight
• B. Between sunrise and sunset
• C. Between midnight and sunrise
• D. Between sunset and sunrise

E8A02

35. Which of the following is a type of analog-to-digital conversion?

• A. Level shifting
• B. Harmonic regeneration
• C. Successive approximation
• D. Phase reversal

E6D11

36. Which type of core material decreases inductance when inserted into a coil?

• A. Aluminum
• B. Brass
• C. Ferrite
• D. Ceramic

E6C07

37. What best describes a pull-up or pull-down resistor?

• A. A resistor connected to an op-amp output that prevents signals from exceeding the power supply voltage
• B. A resistor connected to the positive or negative supply used to establish a voltage when an input or output is an open circuit
• C. A resistor that ensures that an oscillator frequency does not drift
• D. A resistor in a keying circuit used to reduce key clicks

E3C12

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

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

E7B03

39. What circuit is required at the output of an RF switching amplifier?

• A. A matched load resistor to prevent damage by switching transients
• B. A filter to remove harmonic content
• C. A high-pass filter to compensate for low gain at low frequencies
• D. A temperature compensating load resistor to improve linearity

E0A08

40. What does SAR measure?

• A. The rate at which RF energy is absorbed by the body
• B. Signal attenuation ratio
• C. Signal amplification rating
• D. The rate of RF energy reflected from stationary terrain

E4D12

41. 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. -14dB
• B. -8dB
• C. +8dB
• D. +14dB

E7D07

42. What is the purpose of C2 in the circuit shown in Figure E7-2?

• A. To prevent self-oscillation
• B. To provide fixed DC bias for Q1
• C. It bypasses rectifier output ripple around D1
• D. It is a brute force filter for the output

E7A06

43. What is a characteristic of a monostable multivibrator?

• A. It maintains a constant output voltage, regardless of variations in the input voltage
• B. It stores one bit of data
• C. It produces a continuous square wave
• D. It switches temporarily to an alternate state for a set time

E4B06

44. 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. 100 watts
• B. 75 watts
• C. 125 watts
• D. 112.5 watts

E8D08

45. 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 error rate

E8C08

46. How does ARQ accomplish error correction?

• A. Special binary codes provide automatic correction
• B. If errors are detected, a retransmission is requested
• C. Special polynomial codes provide automatic correction
• D. If errors are detected, redundant data is substituted

E9F01

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

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

E1A09

48. Except in some parts of Alaska, what is the maximum power permitted on the 630-meter band?

• A. 100 watts PEP (peak envelope power)
• B. 50 watts PEP (peak envelope power)
• C. 5 watts EIRP (equivalent isotropic radiated power)
• D. 1 watt EIRP (equivalent isotropic radiated power)

E5A08

49. What is the phase relationship between the current through and the voltage across a series resonant circuit at resonance?

• A. The voltage and current are in phase
• B. The current leads the voltage by 90 degrees
• C. The voltage and current are 180 degrees out of phase
• D. The voltage leads the current by 90 degrees

E1D01

50. What is the definition of telemetry?

• A. One-way transmission that initiates, modifies, or terminates the functions of a device at a distance
• B. Two-way transmissions in excess of 1000 feet
• C. Two-way transmissions of data
• D. One-way transmission of measurements at a distance from the measuring instrument