Practice Exam

E9A03

1. What is the radiation resistance of an antenna?

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

E7H15

2. Which of these functions can be performed by a phase-locked loop?

• A. Comparison of two digital input signals, digital pulse counter
• B. Photovoltaic conversion, optical coupling
• C. Frequency synthesis, FM demodulation
• D. Wide-band AF and RF power amplification

E0A08

3. What does SAR measure?

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

E1C09

4. What is the highest modulation index permitted at the highest modulation frequency for angle modulation below 29.0 MHz?

• A. 2.0
• B. 1.0
• C. 0.5
• D. 3.0

E1F11

5. Which of the following best describes one of the standards that must be met by an external RF power amplifier if it is to qualify for a grant of FCC certification?

• A. It must produce full legal output when driven by not more than 5 watts of mean RF input power
• B. It must satisfy the FCC's spurious emission standards when operated at the lesser of 1500 watts or its full output power
• C. It must be capable of external RF switching between its input and output networks
• D. It must exhibit a gain of 0 dB or less over its full output range

E8C04

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

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

E7G12

7. What is an operational amplifier?

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

E3B10

8. Why is chordal hop propagation desirable?

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

E8A08

9. Why would a direct or flash conversion analog-to-digital converter be useful for a software defined radio?

• A. Very low power consumption decreases frequency drift
• B. Immunity to out-of-sequence coding reduces spurious responses
• C. Very high speed allows digitizing high frequencies
• D. All these choices are correct

E2C02

10. Which of the following best describes the term "self-spotting" in connection with HF contest operating?

• A. An automatic method for rapidly zero beating or tuning to a station's frequency before calling that station
• B. A manual technique for rapidly zero beating or tuning to a station's frequency before calling that station
• C. The acceptable practice of manually posting the call signs of stations on a spotting network
• D. The often-prohibited practice of posting one's own call sign and frequency on a spotting network

E6B08

11. Which of the following is a Schottky barrier diode?

• A. Thermionic emission diode
• B. Electrolytic rectifier
• C. Metal-semiconductor junction
• D. PIN junction

E4D01

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

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

E3C11

13. What does VOACAP software model?

• A. AC voltage and impedance
• B. VHF radio propagation
• C. AC current and impedance
• D. HF propagation

E6F01

14. What absorbs the energy from light falling on a photovoltaic cell?

• A. Photons
• B. Holes
• C. Protons
• D. Electrons

E6D11

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

• A. Powdered iron
• B. Ceramic
• C. Brass
• D. Ferrite

E4A08

16. Which of the following measures SWR?

• A. A spectrum analyzer
• B. An antenna analyzer
• C. An ohmmeter
• D. A Q meter

E6E09

17. Which of the following component package types would be most suitable for use at frequencies above the HF range?

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

E1D07

18. Which HF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

• A. Only the 40, 30, 20, 15, 12, and 10 meter bands
• B. Only the 40, 20, 17, 15, and 10 meter bands
• C. All HF bands
• D. Only the 40, 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10 meter bands

E5C12

19. Which point on Figure E5-1 best represents the impedance of a series circuit consisting of a 300-ohm resistor and a 19-picofarad capacitor at 21.200 MHz?

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

E7C03

20. 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. Greater transformation range
• C. Does not require a capacitor
• D. Higher efficiency

E9G05

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

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

E9D06

22. What happens to the SWR bandwidth when one or more loading coils are used to resonate an electrically short antenna?

• A. It is unchanged if the loading coil is located at a voltage maximum point
• B. It is unchanged if the loading coil is located at the feed point
• C. It is increased
• D. It is decreased

E7F13

23. What is the function of taps in a digital signal processing filter?

• A. Provide incremental signal delays for filter algorithms
• B. To reduce excess signal pressure levels
• C. Provide access for debugging software
• D. Select the point at which baseband signals are generated

E7A01

24. Which circuit is bistable?

• A. An AND gate
• B. A flip-flop
• C. A bipolar amplifier
• D. An OR gate

E7E02

25. What is the function of a reactance modulator?

• A. To produce PM or FM signals by using an electrically variable inductance or capacitance
• B. To produce AM signals by using an electrically variable inductance or capacitance
• C. To produce AM signals by using an electrically variable resistance
• D. To produce PM signals by using an electrically variable resistance

E7D14

26. What is the purpose of connecting equal-value resistors across power supply filter capacitors connected in series?

• A. Equalize the voltage across each capacitor
• B. Discharge the capacitors when voltage is removed
• C. All these choices are correct
• D. Provide a minimum load on the supply

E4B03

27. Which S parameter is equivalent to forward gain?

• A. S11
• B. S22
• C. S12
• D. S21

E9F13

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

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

E9B08

29. What is the far field of an antenna?

• A. The region where the shape of the antenna pattern is independent of distance
• B. The region where radiated power dissipates over a specified time period
• C. The region where radiated field strengths are constant
• D. The region of the ionosphere where radiated power is not refracted

E8D06

30. 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

E2E08

31. Which of the following HF digital modes can be used to transfer binary files?

• A. AMTOR
• B. PACTOR
• C. Hellschreiber
• D. RTTY

E5D12

32. How many watts are consumed in a circuit having a power factor of 0.2 if the input is 100 VAC at 4 amperes?

• A. 50 watts
• B. 2000 watts
• C. 80 watts
• D. 400 watts

E9H02

33. Which is generally true for low band (160 meter and 80 meter) receiving antennas?

• A. They must be erected at least 1/2 wavelength above the ground to attain good directivity
• B. Low loss coax transmission line is essential for good performance
• C. Atmospheric noise is so high that gain over a dipole is not important
• D. All these choices are correct

E8B02

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

E9E03

35. What is the name of the matching system that uses a section of transmission line connected in parallel with the feed line at or near the feed point?

• A. The delta match
• B. The omega match
• C. The gamma match
• D. The stub match

E1B04

36. What must be done before placing an amateur station within an officially designated wilderness area or wildlife preserve, or an area listed in the National Register of Historic Places?

• A. A letter of intent must be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency
• B. An Environmental Assessment must be submitted to the FCC
• C. A proposal must be submitted to the National Park Service
• D. A form FSD-15 must be submitted to the Department of the Interior

E6C05

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

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

E4E05

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

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

E1A06

39. Where must the carrier frequency of a CW signal be set to comply with FCC rules for 60 meter operation?

• A. At the highest frequency of the channel
• B. At the center frequency of the channel
• C. At the lowest frequency of the channel
• D. On any frequency where the signal's sidebands are within the channel

E2A04

40. What is meant by the term "mode" as applied to an amateur radio satellite?

• A. The satellite's uplink and downlink frequency bands
• B. Whether the satellite is in a low earth or geostationary orbit
• C. The satellite's orientation with respect to the Earth
• D. Whether the satellite is in a polar or equatorial orbit

E9C11

41. How is the far-field elevation pattern of a vertically polarized antenna affected by being mounted over seawater versus soil?

• A. Fewer vertical angle lobes will be present
• B. The low-angle radiation increases
• C. The low-angle radiation decreases
• D. Additional higher vertical angle lobes will appear

E7B06

42. Which of the following amplifier types reduces even-order harmonics?

• A. Push-pull
• B. Push-push
• C. Class C
• D. Class AB

E6A05

43. How does DC input impedance at the gate of a field-effect transistor compare with the DC input impedance of a bipolar transistor?

• A. An FET has lower input impedance
• B. An FET has higher input impedance
• C. They are both high impedance
• D. They are both low impedance

E2B10

44. What aspect of an analog slow-scan television signal encodes the brightness of the picture?

• A. Sync frequency
• B. Sync amplitude
• C. Tone frequency
• D. Tone amplitude

E5A08

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

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

E2D11

46. Which of the following data are used by the APRS network to communicate station location?

• A. Latitude and longitude
• B. Polar coordinates
• C. Time and frequency
• D. Radio direction finding spectrum analysis

E4C09

47. Which of the following choices is a good reason for selecting a high frequency for the design of the IF in a superheterodyne HF or VHF communications receiver?

• A. Reduced drift
• B. Improved receiver noise figure
• C. Easier for front-end circuitry to eliminate image responses
• D. Fewer components in the receiver

E5B08

48. What is the phase angle between the voltage across and the current through a series RLC circuit if XC is 100 ohms, R is 100 ohms, and XL is 75 ohms?

• A. 76 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
• B. 14 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
• C. 14 degrees with the voltage leading the current
• D. 76 degrees with the voltage leading the current

E3A03

49. 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 MUF is above 30 MHz
• C. When the moon is full
• D. When the moon is at apogee

E1E05

50. What is the minimum passing score on all amateur operator license examinations?

• A. Minimum passing score of 74%
• B. Minimum passing score of 70%
• C. Minimum passing score of 80%
• D. Minimum passing score of 77%