Practice Exam

E4A10

1. Which of the following displays multiple digital signal states simultaneously?

• A. Logic analyzer
• B. Bit error rate tester
• C. Modulation monitor
• D. Network analyzer

E2A06

2. What are Keplerian elements?

• A. Phase reversing elements in a Yagi antenna
• B. High-emission heater filaments used in magnetron tubes
• C. Encrypting codes used for spread spectrum modulation
• D. Parameters that define the orbit of a satellite

E2E04

3. What is indicated when one of the ellipses in an FSK crossed-ellipse display suddenly disappears?

• A. One of the signal filters is saturated
• B. Selective fading has occurred
• C. The receiver has drifted 5 kHz from the desired receive frequency
• D. The mark and space signal have been inverted

E9B10

4. What is the principle of a Method of Moments analysis?

• A. A wire is modeled as a single sine-wave voltage source
• B. A wire is modeled as a series of segments, each having a distinct value of voltage across it
• C. A wire is modeled as a series of segments, each having a uniform value of current
• D. A wire is modeled as a single sine-wave current generator

E2C06

5. During a VHF/UHF contest, in which band segment would you expect to find the highest level of SSB or CW activity?

• A. In the middle of the band, usually 25 kHz above the national calling frequency
• B. In the weak signal segment of the band, with most of the activity near the calling frequency
• C. At the top of each band, usually in a segment reserved for contests
• D. In the middle of each band, usually on the national calling frequency

E2D09

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

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

E8D04

7. What is the primary effect of extremely short rise or fall time on a CW signal?

• A. Limits data speed
• B. The generation of RF harmonics
• C. The generation of key clicks
• D. More difficult to copy

E4D02

8. Which of the following describes problems caused by poor dynamic range in a receiver?

• A. Oscillator instability requiring frequent retuning and loss of ability to recover the opposite sideband
• B. Spurious signals caused by cross-modulation and desensitization from strong adjacent signals
• C. Cross-modulation of the desired signal and insufficient audio power to operate the speaker
• D. Oscillator instability and severe audio distortion of all but the strongest received signals

E4B06

9. 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. 125 watts
• C. 25 watts
• D. 75 watts

E8A05

10. What of the following instruments would be the most accurate for measuring the RMS voltage of a complex waveform?

• A. A D'Arsonval meter
• B. An absorption wave meter
• C. A grid dip meter
• D. A true-RMS calculating meter

E5B04

11. 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. 440 seconds
• C. 55 seconds
• D. 220 seconds

E9G04

12. What are the two families of circles and arcs that make up a Smith chart?

• A. Resistance and voltage
• B. Voltage and impedance
• C. Resistance and reactance
• D. Reactance and voltage

E3C04

13. What does the value of Bz (B sub Z) represent?

• A. Critical frequency for vertical transmissions
• B. Duration of long-delayed echoes
• C. Direction and strength of the interplanetary magnetic field
• D. Geomagnetic field stability

E6D04

14. Which materials are commonly used as a core in an inductor?

• A. Ferrite and brass
• B. Teflon and Delrin
• C. Polystyrene and polyethylene
• D. Cobalt and aluminum

E6B07

15. What is the failure mechanism when a junction diode fails due to excessive current?

• A. Insufficient forward voltage
• B. Excessive inverse voltage
• C. Charge carrier depletion
• D. Excessive junction temperature

E7H14

16. What is a phase-locked loop circuit?

• A. An electronic circuit also known as a monostable multivibrator
• B. An electronic servo loop consisting of a phase detector, a low-pass filter, a voltage-controlled oscillator, and a stable reference oscillator
• C. An electronic circuit consisting of a precision push-pull amplifier with a differential input
• D. An electronic servo loop consisting of a ratio detector, reactance modulator, and voltage-controlled oscillator

E6C02

17. What happens when the level of a comparator's input signal crosses the threshold?

• A. The IC input can be damaged
• B. The feedback loop becomes unstable
• C. The comparator enters latch-up
• D. The comparator changes its output state

E5C02

18. How are impedances described in polar coordinates?

• A. By Y and G values
• B. By real and imaginary parts
• C. By phase angle and magnitude
• D. By X and R values

E6F02

19. What happens to the conductivity of a photoconductive material when light shines on it?

• A. It becomes unstable
• B. It increases
• C. It stays the same
• D. It decreases

E0A03

20. Over what range of frequencies are the FCC human body RF exposure limits most restrictive?

• A. 300 kHz to 3 MHz
• B. 30 to 300 MHz
• C. 3 to 30 MHz
• D. 300 to 3000 MHz

E1E07

21. What should a VE do if a candidate fails to comply with the examiner's instructions during an amateur operator license examination?

• A. Immediately terminate the candidate's examination
• B. Allow the candidate to complete the examination, but invalidate the results
• C. Warn the candidate that continued failure to comply will result in termination of the examination
• D. Immediately terminate everyone's examination and close the session

E9H01

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

E1A04

23. With your transceiver displaying the carrier frequency of phone signals, you hear a DX station calling CQ on 3.601 MHz LSB. Is it legal to return the call using lower sideband on the same frequency?

• A. Yes, because the DX station initiated the contact
• B. Yes, because the displayed frequency is within the 75 meter phone band segment
• C. No, the sideband will extend beyond the edge of the phone band segment
• D. No, U.S. stations are not permitted to use phone emissions below 3.610 MHz

E1B05

24. What is the National Radio Quiet Zone?

• A. An area surrounding the National Radio Astronomy Observatory
• B. An area in Puerto Rico surrounding the Arecibo Radio Telescope
• C. An area in New Mexico surrounding the White Sands Test Area
• D. An area in Florida surrounding Cape Canaveral

E1D02

25. 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. Data containing personal information
• D. Telecommand signals from a space telecommand station

E9E04

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

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

E3B05

27. Which amateur bands typically support long-path propagation?

• A. Only 30 meters to 10 meters
• B. 6 meters to 2 meters
• C. 160 meters to 10 meters
• D. Only 160 meters to 40 meters

E4C15

28. What is reciprocal mixing?

• A. Local oscillator phase noise mixing with adjacent strong signals to create interference to desired signals
• B. In-phase signals cancelling in a mixer resulting in loss of receiver sensitivity
• C. Two digital signals combining from alternate time slots
• D. Two out-of-band signals mixing to generate an in-band spurious signal

E8C09

29. Which digital code allows only one bit to change between sequential code values?

• A. Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code
• B. Binary Coded Decimal Code
• C. Excess 3 code
• D. Gray code

E9C14

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

E8B09

31. What is deviation ratio?

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

E7B17

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

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

E2B05

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

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

E7F07

34. What function is performed by a Fast Fourier Transform?

• A. Converting digital signals from the time domain to the frequency domain
• B. Converting analog signals to digital form
• C. Converting digital signals to analog form
• D. Converting 8-bit data to 16-bit data

E7A09

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

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

E5D04

36. Why are short connections used at microwave frequencies?

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

E7E07

37. What is meant by the term "baseband" in radio communications?

• A. The unmodulated bandwidth of the transmitted signal
• B. The lowest frequency band that the transmitter or receiver covers
• C. The basic oscillator frequency in an FM transmitter that is multiplied to increase the deviation and carrier frequency
• D. The frequency range occupied by a message signal prior to modulation

E4E05

38. How can radio frequency interference from an AC motor be suppressed?

• A. By installing a bypass capacitor in series with the motor leads
• B. By installing a brute-force AC-line filter in series with the motor leads
• C. By installing a high-pass filter in series with the motor's power leads
• D. By using a ground-fault current interrupter in the circuit used to power the motor

E7C11

39. Which of the following describes a receiving filter's ability to reject signals occupying an adjacent channel?

• A. Shape factor
• B. Phase response
• C. Passband ripple
• D. Noise factor

E6A03

40. Why does a PN-junction diode not conduct current when reverse biased?

• A. Excess holes in P-type material combine with the electrons in N-type material, converting the entire diode into an insulator
• B. Only P-type semiconductor material can conduct current
• C. Only N-type semiconductor material can conduct current
• D. Holes in P-type material and electrons in the N-type material are separated by the applied voltage, widening the depletion region

E5A05

41. What is the result of increasing the Q of an impedance-matching circuit?

• A. It has no effect on impedance matching
• B. Matching bandwidth is decreased
• C. Matching range is increased
• D. Matching bandwidth is increased

E9D05

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

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

E9F09

43. What is the approximate physical length of a foam polyethylene dielectric coaxial transmission line that is electrically 1/4 wavelength long at 7.2 MHz?

• A. 8.3 meters
• B. 5.2 meters
• C. 6.9 meters
• D. 10.4 meters

E6E03

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

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

E1F01

45. On what frequencies are spread spectrum transmissions permitted?

• A. Only on amateur frequencies above 144 MHz
• B. Only on amateur frequencies above 50 MHz
• C. Only on amateur frequencies above 420 MHz
• D. Only on amateur frequencies above 222 MHz

E7G12

46. What is an operational amplifier?

• A. A high-gain, direct-coupled differential amplifier with very high input impedance and very low output impedance
• B. A RF amplifier used in the UHF and microwave regions
• C. An amplifier used to increase the average output of frequency modulated amateur signals to the legal limit
• D. A digital audio amplifier whose characteristics are determined by components external to the amplifier

E3A03

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

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

E9A04

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

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

E1C13

49. What notifications must be given before transmitting on the 630 meter or 2200 meter bands?

• A. A special endorsement must be requested from the FCC
• B. Operators must inform the FAA of their intent to operate, giving their call sign and distance to the nearest runway
• C. An environmental impact statement must be filed with the Department of the Interior
• D. Operators must inform the Utilities Technology Council (UTC) of their call sign and coordinates of the station

E7D02

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

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