Practice Exam

E7D02

1. How does a switchmode voltage regulator work?

• A. By switching between two Zener diode reference voltages
• B. By varying the conductivity of a pass element
• C. By alternating the output between positive and negative voltages
• D. By varying the duty cycle of pulses input to a filter

E5B06

2. What is susceptance?

• A. A measure of the efficiency of a transformer
• B. The ratio of magnetic field to electric field
• C. The magnetic impedance of a circuit
• D. The imaginary part of admittance

E8A07

3. What determines the PEP-to-average power ratio of an unprocessed single-sideband phone signal?

• A. The frequency of the modulating signal
• B. The degree of carrier suppression
• C. Amplifier gain
• D. Speech characteristics

E5C01

4. 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

E2E06

5. What is the length of an FT8 transmission cycle?

• A. 30 seconds
• B. It varies with the amount of data
• C. 15 seconds
• D. 8 seconds

E2C03

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

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

E2D09

7. What type of modulation is used by JT65?

• A. QAM
• B. RTTY
• C. Multitone AFSK
• D. PSK

E9B10

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

E4E08

9. What current flows equally on all conductors of an unshielded multiconductor cable?

• A. Reactive current only
• B. Magnetically-coupled current only
• C. Common-mode current
• D. Differential-mode current

E9G06

10. On the Smith chart shown in Figure E9-3, what is the name for the large outer circle on which the reactance arcs terminate?

• A. Prime axis
• B. Reactance axis
• C. Polar axis
• D. Impedance axis

E8C08

11. How does ARQ accomplish error correction?

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

E6D10

12. What is a primary advantage of using a toroidal core instead of a solenoidal core in an inductor?

• A. Toroidal cores make it easier to couple the magnetic energy into other components
• B. Toroidal cores exhibit greater hysteresis
• C. Toroidal cores confine most of the magnetic field within the core material
• D. Toroidal cores have lower Q characteristics

E1F09

13. Which of the following cannot be transmitted over an amateur radio mesh network?

• A. Messages encoded to obscure their meaning
• B. Third party traffic
• C. Email
• D. All these choices are correct

E7G12

14. What is an operational amplifier?

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

E6A11

15. In Figure E6-1, which is the schematic symbol for a P-channel junction FET?

• A. 1
• B. 3
• C. 6
• D. 2

E9F08

16. Which of the following is a significant difference between foam dielectric coaxial cable and solid dielectric coaxial cable, assuming all other parameters are the same?

• A. Foam dielectric coaxial cable has lower safe maximum operating voltage
• B. Foam dielectric coaxial cable has lower loss per unit of length
• C. All these choices are correct
• D. Foam dielectric coaxial cable has higher velocity factor

E3C02

17. What is indicated by a rising A-index or K-index?

• A. An increase in the critical frequency
• B. Higher levels of solar UV radiation
• C. Decreasing disturbance of the geomagnetic field
• D. Increasing disturbance of the geomagnetic field

E9E06

18. Which of these transmission line impedances would be suitable for constructing a quarter-wave Q-section for matching a 100-ohm feed point impedance to a 50-ohm transmission line?

• A. 62 ohms
• B. 90 ohms
• C. 50 ohms
• D. 75 ohms

E1A11

19. What licensing is required when operating an amateur station aboard a US-registered vessel in international waters?

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

E1C10

20. What is the maximum mean power level for a spurious emission below 30 MHz with respect to the fundamental emission?

• A. - 73 dB
• B. - 63 dB
• C. - 43 dB
• D. - 53 dB

E9D10

21. How does radiation resistance of a base-fed whip antenna change below its resonant frequency?

• A. Radiation resistance increases
• B. Radiation resistance becomes imaginary
• C. Radiation resistance does not depend on frequency
• D. Radiation resistance decreases

E0A11

22. To what should lanyards be attached while climbing?

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

E5D01

23. What is the result of conductor skin effect?

• A. Resistance decreases as frequency increases because electron mobility increases
• B. Resistance decreases as temperature increases because of the change in thermal coefficient
• C. Resistance increases as temperature increases because of the change in thermal coefficient
• D. Resistance increases as frequency increases because RF current flows closer to the surface

E5A13

24. What is an effect of increasing Q in a series resonant circuit?

• A. Phase shift can become uncontrolled
• B. Fewer components are needed for the same performance
• C. Parasitic effects are minimized
• D. Internal voltages increase

E4D08

25. What causes intermodulation in an electronic circuit?

• A. Nonlinear circuits or devices
• B. Lack of neutralization
• C. Negative feedback
• D. Positive feedback

E8D03

26. Which describes spread spectrum frequency hopping?

• A. RF signals are clipped to generate a wide band of harmonics which provides redundancy to correct errors
• B. If interference is detected by the receiver, it will signal the transmitter to change frequencies
• C. A binary bit stream is used to shift the phase of an RF carrier very rapidly in a pseudorandom sequence
• D. Rapidly varying the frequency of a transmitted signal according to a pseudorandom sequence

E4A10

27. Which trigger mode is most effective when using an oscilloscope to measure a linear power supply's output ripple?

• A. Level
• B. Single-shot
• C. Line
• D. Edge

E7A01

28. Which circuit is bistable?

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

E6B10

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

• A. 3
• B. 6
• C. 2
• D. 1

E1D05

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

E1E02

31. Who is tasked by Part 97 with maintaining the pools of questions for all US amateur license examinations?

• A. The VECs
• B. The ARRL
• C. The VEs
• D. The FCC

E6F10

32. What is the most common material used in power-generating photovoltaic cells?

• A. Silicon
• B. Indium arsenide
• C. Cadmium sulfide
• D. Selenium

E2B04

33. How is color information sent in analog SSTV?

• A. Color is sent in a color burst at the end of each line
• B. Color information is sent on a 2.8 kHz subcarrier
• C. Color is amplitude modulated on the frequency modulated intensity signal
• D. Color lines are sent sequentially

E3A13

34. Which of these emission modes is best for auroral propagation?

• A. FM
• B. RTTY
• C. CW
• D. SSB

E4B01

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

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

E7F06

36. What is the minimum number of bits required to sample a signal with a range of 1 volt at a resolution of 1 millivolt?

• A. 8 bits
• B. 10 bits
• C. 4 bits
• D. 6 bits

E9C14

37. How does the radiation pattern of a horizontally-polarized antenna mounted above a long slope compare with the same antenna mounted above flat ground?

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

E6C04

38. Which of the following is an advantage of BiCMOS logic?

• A. Its simplicity results in much less expensive devices than standard CMOS
• B. All these choices are correct
• C. It is immune to electrostatic damage
• D. It has the high input impedance of CMOS and the low output impedance of bipolar transistors

E7C10

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

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

E6E09

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

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

E2A04

41. What is meant by the "mode" of an amateur radio satellite?

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

E8B07

42. Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is a technique used for which types of amateur communication?

• A. Digital modes
• B. OFDM signals are not allowed on amateur bands
• C. EME
• D. Extremely low-power contacts

E1B06

43. Which of the following additional rules apply if you are erecting an amateur station antenna structure at a site at or near a public use airport?

• A. You must file an Environmental Impact Statement with the EPA before construction begins
• B. You may have to notify the Federal Aviation Administration and register it with the FCC as required by Part 17 of the FCC rules
• C. You must obtain a construction permit from the airport zoning authority per Part 119 of the FAA regulations
• D. You may have to enter the height above ground in meters, and the latitude and longitude in degrees, minutes, and seconds on the FAA website

E7B07

44. Which of the following is the likely result of using a Class C amplifier to amplify a single-sideband phone signal?

• A. Reduced third-order intermodulation
• B. Reduced intermodulation products
• C. Increased overall intelligibility
• D. Signal distortion and excessive bandwidth

E7H09

45. What type of frequency synthesizer circuit uses a phase accumulator, lookup table, digital-to-analog converter, and a low-pass anti-alias filter?

• A. A direct conversion synthesizer
• B. A hybrid synthesizer
• C. A phase-locked loop synthesizer
• D. A direct digital synthesizer

E3B07

46. What effect does lowering a signal's transmitted elevation angle have on ionospheric HF skip propagation?

• A. The critical frequency increases
• B. Faraday rotation becomes stronger
• C. The distance covered by each hop increases
• D. The MUF decreases

E7E07

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

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

E4C10

48. What is an advantage of having a variety of receiver bandwidths from which to select?

• A. The noise figure of the RF amplifier can be adjusted to match the modulation type, thus increasing receiver sensitivity
• B. Receive bandwidth can be set to match the modulation bandwidth, maximizing signal-to-noise ratio and minimizing interference
• C. Receiver power consumption can be reduced when wider bandwidth is not required
• D. Multiple frequencies can be received simultaneously if desired

E9H09

49. What type of radiation pattern is created by a single-turn, terminated loop such as a pennant antenna?

• A. Bidirectional
• B. Cardioid
• C. Omnidirectional
• D. Hyperbolic

E9A03

50. What term describing total radiated power takes into account all gains and losses?

• A. Apparent power
• B. Effective radiated power
• C. Half-power bandwidth
• D. Power factor