Practice Exam

E4B01

1. Which of the following factors most affects the accuracy of a frequency counter?

• A. Temperature coefficient of the logic
• B. Decade divider accuracy
• C. Time base accuracy
• D. Input attenuator accuracy

E1D05

2. What must be posted at the location of a station being operated by telecommand on or within 50 kilometers of the Earth's surface?

• A. A label with the name, address, and telephone number of the control operator
• B. All these choices are correct
• C. A photocopy of the station license
• D. A label with the name, address, and telephone number of the station licensee

E7B09

3. What is characteristic of an emitter follower (or common collector) amplifier?

• A. Differential inputs and single output
• B. Acts as an OR circuit if one input is grounded
• C. Input and output signals in-phase
• D. Low input impedance and phase inversion from input to output

E1B11

4. What does PRB-1 require of state and local regulations affecting amateur radio antenna size and structures?

• A. Such structures must be permitted when use for emergency communications can be demonstrated
• B. Such structures must be permitted if certified by a registered professional engineer
• C. No limitations may be placed on antenna size or placement
• D. Reasonable accommodations of amateur radio must be made

E3C09

5. What type of data is reported by amateur radio propagation reporting networks?

• A. Digital-mode and CW signals
• B. Magnetic declination
• C. Electric field intensity
• D. Solar flux

E7C10

6. Which of the following filters is used in a 2-meter band repeater duplexer?

• A. An L-C filter
• B. A cavity filter
• C. A crystal filter
• D. A DSP filter

E9B09

7. What type of analysis is commonly used for modeling antennas?

• A. Method of Moments
• B. Graphical analysis
• C. Calculus differentiation with respect to physical properties
• D. Mutual impedance analysis

E6F08

8. Why are optoisolators often used in conjunction with solid-state circuits that control 120 VAC circuits?

• A. Optoisolators provide an electrical isolation between a control circuit and the circuit being switched
• B. Optoisolators provide a low-impedance link between a control circuit and a power circuit
• C. Optoisolators provide impedance matching between the control circuit and power circuit
• D. Optoisolators eliminate the effects of reflected light in the control circuit

E9G05

9. Which of the following is a common use for a Smith chart?

• A. Determine the length and position of an impedance matching stub
• B. Determine the loss/100 feet of a transmission line, given the velocity factor and conductor materials
• C. Determine the impedance of a transmission line, given the physical dimensions
• D. Determine the gain of an antenna given the physical and electrical parameters

E9H06

10. What indicates the correct value of terminating resistance for a Beverage antenna?

• A. Minimum low-angle front-to-back ratio at the design frequency
• B. Maximum feed point DC resistance at the center of the desired frequency range
• C. Maximum DC current in the terminating resistor
• D. Minimum variation in SWR over the desired frequency range

E2B07

11. Which types of modulation are used for amateur television DVB-T signals?

• A. FM and FSK
• B. All these choices are correct
• C. AM and OOK
• D. QAM and QPSK

E7G08

12. How does the gain of an ideal operational amplifier vary with frequency?

• A. It decreases linearly with increasing frequency
• B. It increases linearly with increasing frequency
• C. It decreases logarithmically with increasing frequency
• D. It does not vary with frequency

E3A06

13. What should be done to continue a long-distance contact when the MUF for that path decreases due to darkness?

• A. Switch to a lower frequency HF band
• B. Change to an antenna with greater beam width
• C. Change to an antenna with a higher takeoff angle
• D. Switch to a higher frequency HF band

E5A03

14. What is the magnitude of the impedance of a series RLC circuit at resonance?

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

E0A11

15. To what should lanyards be attached while climbing?

• A. Guy brackets
• B. Tower rungs
• C. Antenna mast
• D. Tower legs

E8B02

16. How does the modulation index of a phase-modulated emission vary with RF carrier frequency?

• A. It increases as the RF carrier frequency increases
• B. It decreases as the RF carrier frequency increases
• C. It does not depend on the RF carrier frequency
• D. It varies with the square root of the RF carrier frequency

E8C08

17. How does ARQ accomplish error correction?

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

E2A09

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

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

E7F09

19. Why is an anti-aliasing filter required in a decimator?

• A. It notches out the sampling frequency to avoid sampling errors
• B. It removes high-frequency signal components that would otherwise be reproduced as lower frequency components
• C. It peaks the response of the decimator, improving bandwidth
• D. It removes low-frequency signal components to eliminate the need for DC restoration

E7H05

20. How is positive feedback supplied in a Pierce oscillator?

• A. Through link coupling
• B. Through a quartz crystal
• C. Through a neutralizing capacitor
• D. Through a tapped coil

E6D03

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

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

E9E07

22. What parameter describes the interaction of a load and transmission line?

• A. Reflection coefficient
• B. Dielectric constant
• C. Characteristic impedance
• D. Velocity factor

E5D05

23. What parasitic characteristic causes electrolytic capacitors to be unsuitable for use at RF?

• A. Inductance
• B. Dielectric leakage
• C. Skin effect
• D. Shunt capacitance

E2C03

24. From which of the following bands is amateur radio contesting generally excluded?

• A. 70 centimeters
• B. 33 centimeters
• C. 6 meters
• D. 30 meters

E6C07

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

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

E8A02

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

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

E6B10

27. In Figure E6-2, which is the schematic symbol for a Schottky diode?

• A. 6
• B. 3
• C. 2
• D. 1

E1C05

28. Under what situation may a station transmit third party communications while being automatically controlled?

• A. Only when transmitting SSB or CW
• B. On any mode approved by the National Telecommunication and Information Administration
• C. Never
• D. Only when transmitting RTTY or data emissions

E5C10

29. Which point on Figure E5-1 best represents the impedance of a series circuit consisting of a 400-ohm resistor and a 38-picofarad capacitor at 14 MHz?

• A. Point 6
• B. Point 4
• C. Point 2
• D. Point 5

E1E11

30. What must the VE team do if an examinee scores a passing grade on all examination elements needed for an upgrade or new license?

• A. Three VEs must certify that the examinee is qualified for the license grant and that they have complied with the administering VE requirements
• B. All these choices are correct
• C. Issue the examinee the new or upgrade license
• D. Photocopy all examination documents and forward them to the FCC for processing

E9F09

31. What impedance does a 1/4-wavelength transmission line present to an RF generator when the line is shorted at the far end?

• A. The same as the characteristic impedance of the transmission line
• B. Very high impedance
• C. Very low impedance
• D. The same as the generator output impedance

E8D06

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

• A. Some types of errors can be detected
• B. Signal-to-noise ratio is improved
• C. Faster transmission rate
• D. A larger character set is available

E4A05

33. What is the purpose of using a prescaler with a frequency counter?

• A. Amplify low-level signals for more accurate counting
• B. Multiply a higher frequency signal so a low-frequency counter can display the operating frequency
• C. Reduce the signal frequency to within the counter's operating range
• D. Prevent oscillation in a low-frequency counter circuit

E7E02

34. What is the function of a reactance modulator?

• A. Produce AM signals by varying an inductance
• B. Produce PM or FM signals by varying a resistance
• C. Produce AM signals by varying a resistance
• D. Produce PM or FM signals by varying a capacitance

E9A07

35. What is the effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) of a repeater station with 200 watts transmitter power output, 2 dB feed line loss, 2.8 dB duplexer loss, 1.2 dB circulator loss, and 7 dBi antenna gain?

• A. 63.2 watts
• B. 252 watts
• C. 632 watts
• D. 159 watts

E7D08

36. What type of circuit is shown in Figure E7-2?

• A. Linear voltage regulator
• B. Switching voltage regulator
• C. Common base amplifier
• D. Common emitter amplifier

E9C03

37. What type of radiation pattern is created by two 1/4-wavelength vertical antennas spaced 1/2- wavelength apart and fed in phase?

• A. A figure-eight broadside to the axis of the array
• B. A figure-eight end-fire along the axis of the array
• C. Cardioid
• D. Omni-directional

E4C01

38. What is an effect of excessive phase noise in an SDR receiver's master clock oscillator?

• A. It limits the receiver's ability to receive strong signals
• B. It can combine with strong signals on nearby frequencies to generate interference
• C. It decreases the receiver's third-order intercept point
• D. It can affect the receiver's frequency calibration

E4D02

39. 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. Oscillator instability and severe audio distortion of all but the strongest received signals
• C. Poor weak signal reception caused by insufficient local oscillator injection
• D. Spurious signals caused by cross modulation and desensitization from strong adjacent signals

E6E01

40. Why is gallium arsenide (GaAs) useful for semiconductor devices operating at UHF and higher frequencies?

• A. Lower junction voltage drop
• B. Lower transconductance
• C. Higher noise figures
• D. Higher electron mobility

E4E01

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

• A. All these choices are correct
• B. Excessive ringing
• C. Any nearby signal passing through the DSP system will overwhelm the desired signal
• D. Removal of the CW signal as well as the interfering carrier

E5B09

42. What is the relationship between the AC current through a capacitor and the voltage across a capacitor?

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

E2D04

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

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

E9D01

44. How much does the gain of an ideal parabolic reflector antenna increase when the operating frequency is doubled?

• A. 2 dB
• B. 3 dB
• C. 4 dB
• D. 6 dB

E1A09

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

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

E3B10

46. What is the effect of chordal-hop propagation?

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

E6A12

47. What is the purpose of connecting Zener diodes between a MOSFET gate and its source or drain?

• A. To protect the gate from static damage
• B. To protect the substrate from excessive voltages
• C. To provide a voltage reference for the correct amount of reverse-bias gate voltage
• D. To keep the gate voltage within specifications and prevent the device from overheating

E7A09

48. What logical operation is performed by a two-input exclusive NOR gate?

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

E1F06

49. Under what circumstances might the FCC issue a Special Temporary Authority (STA) to an amateur station?

• A. To provide for experimental amateur communications
• B. To allow use of a special event call sign
• C. To allow a VE group with less than three VEs to administer examinations in a remote, sparsely populated area
• D. To allow a licensee who has passed an upgrade exam to operate with upgraded privileges while waiting for posting on the FCC database

E2E11

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

• A. Direct FSK occupies less bandwidth
• B. All these choices are correct
• C. Direct FSK can transmit higher baud rates
• D. Direct FSK modulates the transmitter VFO