Practice Exam

E8A07

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

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

E3B02

2. What is the approximate maximum range for signals using transequatorial propagation?

• A. 1,000 miles
• B. 5,000 miles
• C. 7,500 miles
• D. 2,500 miles

E7A06

3. 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

E6C10

4. In Figure E6-3, which is the schematic symbol for a NOR gate?

• A. 1
• B. 4
• C. 2
• D. 3

E7F01

5. What is meant by "direct sampling" in software defined radios?

• A. Incoming RF is digitized by an analog-to-digital converter without being mixed with a local oscillator signal
• B. A switching mixer is used to generate I and Q signals directly from the RF input
• C. I and Q signals are generated by digital processing without the use of RF amplification
• D. Software is converted from source code to object code during operation of the receiver

E4C07

6. What does the MDS of a receiver represent?

• A. The minimum discernible signal
• B. The modulation distortion specification
• C. The meter display sensitivity
• D. The maximum detectable spectrum

E8B08

7. What describes orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM)?

• A. A digital modulation technique using subcarriers at frequencies chosen to avoid intersymbol interference
• B. A frequency modulation technique that uses non-harmonically related frequencies
• C. A digital mode for narrow-band, slow-speed transmissions
• D. A bandwidth compression technique using Fourier transforms

E9E02

8. What antenna matching system matches coaxial cable to an antenna by connecting the shield to the center of the antenna and the conductor a fraction of a wavelength to one side?

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

E1E05

9. What must the VE team do with the application form if the examinee does not pass the exam?

• A. Destroy the application form
• B. Send the application form to the FCC and inform the FCC of the grade
• C. Maintain the application form with the VEC's records
• D. Return the application document to the examinee

E5B03

10. How is impedance in polar form converted to an equivalent admittance?

• A. Square the magnitude and subtract 90 degrees from the angle
• B. Take the reciprocal of the angle and change the sign of the magnitude
• C. Take the reciprocal of the magnitude and change the sign of the angle
• D. Take the square root of the magnitude and add 180 degrees to the angle

E4B03

11. Which S parameter is equivalent to forward gain?

• A. S12
• B. S22
• C. S21
• D. S11

E9G08

12. How is a Smith chart normalized?

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

E4A02

13. Which of the following parameters does a spectrum analyzer display on the vertical and horizontal axes?

• A. Signal amplitude and time
• B. SWR and time
• C. SWR and frequency
• D. Signal amplitude and frequency

E2C10

14. Why do DX stations often transmit and receive on different frequencies?

• A. Because the DX station may be transmitting on a frequency that is prohibited to some responding stations
• B. All these choices are correct
• C. To separate the calling stations from the DX station
• D. To improve operating efficiency by reducing interference

E9B06

15. What is the elevation angle of peak response in the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-2?

• A. 25 degrees
• B. 7.5 degrees
• C. 75 degrees
• D. 45 degrees

E1F08

16. Which of the following types of amateur station communications are prohibited?

• A. Communications that have religious content
• B. Communications transmitted for hire or material compensation, except as otherwise provided in the rules
• C. Communications in a language other than English
• D. Communications that have political content, except as allowed by the Fairness Doctrine

E1A04

17. May an Extra class operator answer the CQ of a station on 3.601 MHz LSB phone?

• A. No, US stations are not permitted to use phone emissions below 3.610 MHz
• B. Yes, the displayed frequency is within the 75-meter phone band segment
• C. Yes, the entire signal will be inside the SSB allocation for Extra class operators
• D. No, the sideband components will extend beyond the edge of the phone band segment

E7E10

18. How does a diode envelope detector function?

• A. By sensing the change of reactance in the diode with respect to frequency
• B. By mixing signals with noise in the transition region of the diode
• C. By breakdown of the Zener voltage
• D. By rectification and filtering of RF signals

E9D08

19. What happens as the Q of an antenna increases?

• A. More common-mode current is present on the feed line
• B. Gain is reduced
• C. SWR bandwidth increases
• D. SWR bandwidth decreases

E7B01

20. For what portion of the signal cycle does each active element in a push-pull, Class AB amplifier conduct?

• A. Exactly 180 degrees
• B. The entire cycle
• C. Less than 180 degrees
• D. More than 180 degrees but less than 360 degrees

E6F04

21. What is the photovoltaic effect?

• A. The effect that causes a phototransistor's beta to decrease when exposed to light
• B. The conversion of light to electrical energy
• C. The conversion of voltage to current when exposed to light
• D. The effect that causes a photodiode to emit light when a voltage is applied

E9C02

22. What type of radiation pattern is created by two 1/4-wavelength vertical antennas spaced 1/4- wavelength apart and fed 90 degrees out of phase?

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

E1D05

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

E5D06

24. What parasitic characteristic creates an inductor's self-resonance?

• A. Skin effect
• B. Dielectric loss
• C. Coupling
• D. Inter-turn capacitance

E9F12

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

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

E2A12

26. What is the purpose of digital store-and-forward functions on an amateur radio satellite?

• A. To delay download of telemetry between satellites
• B. To hold digital messages in the satellite for later download
• C. To relay messages between satellites
• D. To upload operational software for the transponder

E1C10

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

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

E6A05

28. How does DC input impedance at the gate of a field-effect transistor (FET) compare with that of a bipolar transistor?

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

E5A03

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

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

E7C11

30. Which of the following measures a filter's ability to reject signals in adjacent channels?

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

E8C12

31. What factors affect the bandwidth of a transmitted CW signal?

• A. IF bandwidth and Q
• B. Keying speed and shape factor (rise and fall time)
• C. Modulation index and output power
• D. All these choices are correct

E7G12

32. What is an operational amplifier?

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

E6B01

33. What is the most useful characteristic of a Zener diode?

• A. An internal capacitance that varies with the applied voltage
• B. A negative resistance region
• C. A constant voltage drop under conditions of varying current
• D. A constant current drop under conditions of varying voltage

E7D03

34. What device is used as a stable voltage reference?

• A. An analog-to-digital converter
• B. An SCR
• C. A digital-to-analog converter
• D. A Zener diode

E4E03

35. Which of the following types of noise are removed by a noise blanker?

• A. Impulse noise
• B. All these choices are correct
• C. Hum and buzz
• D. Broadband white noise

E6D02

36. What is the equivalent circuit of a quartz crystal?

• A. Parallel RLC, where C is the parallel combination of resonance capacitance of the crystal and electrode and stray capacitance
• B. Series RLC, where C is the parallel combination of resonance capacitance of the crystal and electrode and stray capacitance
• C. Series RLC in parallel with a shunt C representing electrode and stray capacitance
• D. Parallel RLC, where C is the series combination of resonance capacitance of the crystal and electrode and stray capacitance

E2E13

37. Which of these digital modes has the highest data throughput under clear communication conditions?

• A. PACTOR IV
• B. 170 Hz shift, 45 baud RTTY
• C. MFSK16
• D. FT8

E8D11

38. What is one advantage of using ASCII code for data communications?

• A. It includes built-in error correction features
• B. It uses one character as a shift code to send numeric and special characters
• C. It contains fewer information bits per character than any other code
• D. It is possible to transmit both uppercase and lowercase text

E9A09

39. What is antenna efficiency?

• A. Effective radiated power divided by transmitter output
• B. Total resistance divided by radiation resistance
• C. Radiation resistance divided by total resistance
• D. Radiation resistance divided by transmission resistance

E4D12

40. 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. +8dB
• B. -8dB
• C. +14dB
• D. -14dB

E0A03

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

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

E7H06

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

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

E5C02

43. How are impedances described in polar coordinates?

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

E9H05

44. 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 is practical for use only on VHF and higher bands
• D. It does not have a clearly defined null

E2D01

45. Which of the following digital modes is designed for meteor scatter communications?

• A. Hellschreiber
• B. APRS
• C. WSPR
• D. MSK144

E2B06

46. What is vestigial sideband modulation?

• A. A type of modulation in which one sideband is inverted
• B. Spread spectrum modulation achieved by applying FM modulation following single sideband amplitude modulation
• C. Narrow-band FM modulation achieved by filtering one sideband from the audio before frequency modulating the carrier
• D. Amplitude modulation in which one complete sideband and a portion of the other are transmitted

E1B11

47. 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. No limitations may be placed on antenna size or placement
• C. Such structures must be permitted if certified by a registered professional engineer
• D. Reasonable accommodations of amateur radio must be made

E3A02

48. What characterizes libration fading of an EME signal?

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

E6E12

49. Why are DIP through-hole package ICs not typically used at UHF and higher frequencies?

• A. Excessive lead length
• B. Excessive dielectric loss
• C. Unsuitable for combining analog and digital signals
• D. Epoxy coating is conductive above 300 MHz

E3C01

50. What is the cause of short-term radio blackouts?

• A. Sunspots on the solar equator
• B. Coronal mass ejections
• C. North-oriented interplanetary magnetic field
• D. Solar flares