Practice Exam

E4A01

1. Which of the following limits the highest frequency signal that can be accurately displayed on a digital oscilloscope?

• A. Q of the circuit
• B. Analog-to-digital converter reference frequency
• C. Sampling rate of the analog-to-digital converter
• D. All these choices are correct

E9H03

2. What is receiving directivity factor (RDF)?

• A. Relative directivity compared to isotropic
• B. Peak antenna gain compared to average gain over the hemisphere around and above the antenna
• C. Relative directivity compared to a dipole
• D. Forward gain compared to the gain in the reverse direction

E6E05

3. Which of the following noise figure values is typical of a low-noise UHF preamplifier?

• A. -20 dBm
• B. -10 dB
• C. 44 dBm
• D. 0.5 dB

E6C08

4. In Figure E6-3, which is the schematic symbol for a NAND gate?

• A. 3
• B. 1
• C. 4
• D. 2

E9C05

5. What is the purpose of feeding an off-center-fed dipole (OCFD) between the center and one end instead of at the midpoint?

• A. To reduce common-mode current coupling on the feed line shield
• B. To resonate the antenna across a wider range of frequencies
• C. To suppress off-center lobes at higher frequencies
• D. To create a similar feed point impedance on multiple bands

E7H04

6. How is positive feedback supplied in a Colpitts oscillator?

• A. Through a neutralizing capacitor
• B. Through a tapped coil
• C. Through a capacitive divider
• D. Through link coupling

E9G02

7. What type of coordinate system is used in a Smith chart?

• A. Voltage circles and current arcs
• B. Voltage chords and current chords
• C. Resistance lines and reactance chords
• D. Resistance circles and reactance arcs

E2C08

8. Which of the following contacts may be confirmed through the Logbook of The World (LoTW)?

• A. All these choices are correct
• B. Contacts for Worked All States credit
• C. Contacts between a US station and a non-US station
• D. Special event contacts between stations in the US

E0A05

9. What hazard is created by operating at microwave frequencies?

• A. Microwaves are in the frequency range where wave velocity is higher
• B. Microwaves are ionizing radiation
• C. The high gain antennas commonly used can result in high exposure levels
• D. The extremely high frequency energy can damage the joints of antenna structures

E2E09

10. Which of the following HF digital modes uses variable-length character coding?

• A. RTTY
• B. MT63
• C. PACTOR
• D. PSK31

E4C11

11. Why does input attenuation reduce receiver overload on the lower frequency HF bands with little or no impact on signal-to-noise ratio?

• A. Signals are attenuated separately from the noise
• B. Atmospheric noise is generally greater than internally generated noise even after attenuation
• C. The attenuator has a low-pass filter to increase the strength of lower frequency signals
• D. The attenuator has a noise filter to suppress interference

E7E06

12. Why is de-emphasis used in FM communications receivers?

• A. To reduce impulse noise reception
• B. For higher efficiency
• C. For compatibility with transmitters using phase modulation
• D. To remove third-order distortion products

E8A08

13. Why are direct or flash conversion analog-to-digital converters used for a software defined radio?

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

E8D02

14. What spread spectrum communications technique uses a high-speed binary bit stream to shift the phase of an RF carrier?

• A. Binary phase-shift keying
• B. Frequency hopping
• C. Direct sequence
• D. Phase compandored spread spectrum

E8B01

15. What is the modulation index of an FM signal?

• A. The ratio of frequency deviation to modulating signal frequency
• B. The modulating signal frequency divided by the bandwidth of the transmitted signal
• C. The bandwidth of the transmitted signal divided by the modulating signal frequency
• D. The ratio of modulating signal amplitude to frequency deviation

E5C07

16. Where is the impedance of a pure resistance plotted on rectangular coordinates?

• A. On the horizontal axis
• B. On a horizontal line, offset vertically above the horizontal axis
• C. On a line through the origin, slanted at 45 degrees
• D. On the vertical axis

E3A08

17. When a meteor strikes the Earth's atmosphere, a linear ionized region is formed at what region of the ionosphere?

• A. The F2 region
• B. The D region
• C. The E region
• D. The F1 region

E7A06

18. What is a characteristic of a monostable multivibrator?

• A. It produces a continuous square wave
• B. It switches temporarily to an alternate state for a set time
• C. It stores one bit of data
• D. It maintains a constant output voltage, regardless of variations in the input voltage

E3C09

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

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

E1F05

20. Amateur stations may not transmit in which of the following frequency segments if they are located in the contiguous 48 states and north of Line A?

• A. 53 MHz - 54 MHz
• B. 440 MHz - 450 MHz
• C. 222 MHz - 223 MHz
• D. 420 MHz - 430 MHz

E7F10

21. What aspect of receiver analog-to-digital conversion determines the maximum receive bandwidth of a direct-sampling software defined radio (SDR)?

• A. Sample rate
• B. Integral non-linearity
• C. Differential non-linearity
• D. Sample width in bits

E8C02

22. What is the definition of symbol rate in a digital transmission?

• A. The rate at which the waveform changes to convey information
• B. The maximum rate at which the forward error correction code can make corrections
• C. The number of characters carried per second by the station-to-station link
• D. The number of control characters in a message packet

E9D01

23. 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. 6 dB
• D. 4 dB

E2B08

24. What technique allows commercial analog TV receivers to be used for fast-scan TV operations on the 70- centimeter band?

• A. Transmitting on the abandoned TV channel 2
• B. Transmitting on channels shared with cable TV
• C. Using converted satellite TV dishes
• D. Using USB and demodulating the signal with a computer sound card

E6A04

25. What is the name given to an impurity atom that adds holes to a semiconductor crystal structure?

• A. Acceptor impurity
• B. Donor impurity
• C. N-type impurity
• D. Insulator impurity

E7G03

26. What is the typical input impedance of an op-amp?

• A. Very low
• B. 100 ohms
• C. Very high
• D. 10,000 ohms

E1E10

27. What must the administering VEs do after the administration of a successful examination for an amateur operator license?

• A. They must collect and send the documents directly to the FCC
• B. They must collect and submit the documents to the coordinating VEC for grading
• C. They must return the documents to the applicant for submission to the FCC according to the FCC instructions
• D. They must submit the application document to the coordinating VEC according to the coordinating VEC instructions

E1A09

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

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

E4B07

29. What do the subscripts of S parameters represent?

• A. Frequency order of the measurements
• B. The relative time between measurements
• C. Relative quality of the data
• D. The port or ports at which measurements are made

E3B08

30. How does the maximum range of ground-wave propagation change when the signal frequency is increased?

• A. It increases
• B. It peaks at roughly 8 MHz
• C. It decreases
• D. It stays the same

E6F08

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

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

E5D07

32. What combines to create the self-resonance of a component?

• A. The component's inductance and capacitance
• B. The component's electrical length and impedance
• C. The component's nominal and parasitic reactance
• D. The component's resistance and reactance

E5B04

33. What is the time constant of a circuit having two 220-microfarad capacitors and two 1-megohm resistors, all in parallel?

• A. 440 seconds
• B. 220 seconds
• C. 110 seconds
• D. 55 seconds

E6B11

34. What is used to control the attenuation of RF signals by a PIN diode?

• A. Capacitance of an RF coupling capacitor
• B. Forward DC bias current
• C. A variable RF reference voltage
• D. Reverse voltage larger than the RF signal

E5A13

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

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

E1B10

36. What frequencies are authorized to an amateur station operating under RACES rules?

• A. All these choices are correct
• B. Specific local government channels
• C. Specific segments in the amateur service MF, HF, VHF, and UHF bands
• D. All amateur service frequencies authorized to the control operator

E9E09

37. Which of the following is used to shunt feed a grounded tower at its base?

• A. All these choices are correct
• B. Double-bazooka match
• C. Gamma match
• D. Beta or hairpin match

E7C07

38. Which describes a Pi-L network?

• A. A Pi-network with an additional output series inductor
• B. A matching network in which all components are isolated from ground
• C. A network with only three discrete parts
• D. A Phase Inverter Load network

E4E05

39. What is used to suppress radio frequency interference from a line-driven AC motor?

• A. A bypass choke in parallel with the motor's field winding
• B. A brute-force AC-line filter in series with the motor's power leads
• C. A bypass capacitor in series with the motor's field winding
• D. A high-pass filter in series with the motor's power leads

E6D05

40. How do ferrite and powdered iron compare for use in an inductor core?

• A. Ferrite cores generally require fewer turns to produce a given inductance value
• B. Ferrite cores generally have better temperature stability
• C. Ferrite cores generally have lower initial permeability
• D. Ferrite cores are easier to use with surface-mount technology

E2D03

41. Which of the following digital modes is designed for EME communications?

• A. Q65
• B. PACTOR III
• C. MSK144
• D. WSPR

E7B07

42. 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

E1C07

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

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

E7D09

44. How is battery operating time calculated?

• A. Capacity in amp-hours divided by average current
• B. Average current divided by capacity in amp-hours
• C. Average current divided by internal resistance
• D. Internal resistance divided by average current

E9B01

45. What is the 3 dB beamwidth of the antenna radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-1?

• A. 75 degrees
• B. 30 degrees
• C. 25 degrees
• D. 50 degrees

E9A06

46. What is the effective radiated power (ERP) of a repeater station with 200 watts transmitter power output, 4 dB feed line loss, 3.2 dB duplexer loss, 0.8 dB circulator loss, and 10 dBd antenna gain?

• A. 126 watts
• B. 2,000 watts
• C. 300 watts
• D. 317 watts

E9F01

47. What is the velocity factor of a transmission line?

• A. The ratio of its termination impedance to its characteristic impedance
• B. The velocity of a wave in the transmission line divided by the velocity of light in a vacuum
• C. The ratio of its characteristic impedance to its termination impedance
• D. The velocity of a wave in the transmission line multiplied by the velocity of light in a vacuum

E4D04

48. Which of the following is used to reduce or eliminate intermodulation interference in a repeater caused by a nearby transmitter?

• A. Utilizing a Class D final amplifier
• B. A properly terminated circulator at the output of the repeater's transmitter
• C. Utilizing a Class C final amplifier
• D. A band-pass filter in the feed line between the transmitter and receiver

E1D08

49. Which VHF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?

• A. 6 meters and 2 meters
• B. 2 meters and 1.25 meters
• C. 6 meters, 2 meters, and 1.25 meters
• D. 2 meters

E2A08

50. Why should effective radiated power (ERP) be limited to a satellite that uses a linear transponder?

• A. To avoid reducing the downlink power to all other users
• B. To prevent the satellite from emitting out-of-band signals
• C. To prevent creating errors in the satellite telemetry
• D. To avoid interfering with terrestrial QSOs