Practice Exam

E6A09

1. What is a depletion-mode field-effect transistor (FET)?

• A. An FET that exhibits very high electron mobility due to a lack of holes in the N-type material
• B. An FET that exhibits a current flow between source and drain when no gate voltage is applied
• C. An FET that has no current flow between source and drain when no gate voltage is applied
• D. An FET for which holes are the majority carriers

E1B01

2. Which of the following constitutes a spurious emission?

• A. An amateur station transmission made without the proper call sign identification
• B. Any transmitted signal that unintentionally interferes with another licensed radio station and whose levels exceed 40 dB below the fundamental power level
• C. An emission outside the signal's necessary bandwidth that can be reduced or eliminated without affecting the information transmitted
• D. A signal transmitted to prevent its detection by any station other than the intended recipient

E8C02

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

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

E9B09

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

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

E7A06

5. 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 maintains a constant output voltage, regardless of variations in the input voltage
• D. It stores one bit of data

E0A09

6. Which of the following types of equipment are exempt from RF exposure evaluations?

• A. Hand-held transceivers sold before May 3, 2021
• B. Transceivers with less than 7 watts of RF output
• C. Dish antennas less than one meter in diameter
• D. Antennas that radiate only in the near field

E6F06

7. Which of these materials is most commonly used to create photoconductive devices?

• A. Polyphenol acetate
• B. Argon
• C. Crystalline semiconductor
• D. All these choices are correct

E8B04

8. What is the modulation index of an FM phone signal having a maximum carrier deviation of plus or minus 6 kHz if the highest modulating frequency is 2 kHz?

• A. 0.3
• B. 3
• C. 6
• D. 0.6

E9G07

9. On the Smith chart shown in Figure E9-3, what is the only straight line shown?

• A. The resistance axis
• B. The reactance axis
• C. The voltage axis
• D. The current axis

E5D07

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

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

E9C03

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

E7G11

12. What absolute voltage gain can be expected from the circuit in Figure E7-3 when R1 is 3,300 ohms and RF is 47 kilohms?

• A. 28
• B. 0.07
• C. 7
• D. 14

E4D12

13. 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. -14dB
• C. +8dB
• D. +14dB

E5B08

14. What is the phase angle between the voltage across and the current through a series RLC circuit if XC is 300 ohms, R is 100 ohms, and XL is 100 ohms?

• A. 27 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
• B. 63 degrees with the voltage lagging the current
• C. 63 degrees with the voltage leading the current
• D. 27 degrees with the voltage leading the current

E1A09

15. 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. 1 watt EIRP (equivalent isotropic radiated power)
• C. 100 watts PEP (peak envelope power)
• D. 5 watts EIRP (equivalent isotropic radiated power)

E7H06

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

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

E7B12

17. What type of amplifier circuit is shown in Figure E7-1?

• A. Emitter follower
• B. Common collector
• C. Common emitter
• D. Common base

E9D05

18. Approximately how long is a Yagi's driven element?

• A. 1/2 wavelength
• B. 1005 divided by frequency in MHz
• C. 1/4 wavelength
• D. 234 divided by frequency in MHz

E1E09

19. What may be the penalty for a VE who fraudulently administers or certifies an examination?

• A. Revocation of the VE's amateur station license grant and the suspension of the VE's amateur operator license grant
• B. All these choices are correct
• C. A sentence of up to one year in prison
• D. A fine of up to $1,000 per occurrence

E8A03

20. Which of the following describes a signal in the time domain?

• A. Frequency at different times
• B. Amplitude at different times
• C. Discrete impulses in time order
• D. Power at intervals of phase

E5A01

21. What can cause the voltage across reactances in a series RLC circuit to be higher than the voltage applied to the entire circuit?

• A. Resonance
• B. Capacitance
• C. Resistance
• D. Low quality factor (Q)

E8D08

22. What parameter evaluates distortion of an AFSK signal caused by excessive input audio levels?

• A. Signal-to-noise ratio
• B. Repeat Request Rate (RRR)
• C. Baud error rate
• D. Intermodulation Distortion (IMD)

E3A14

23. What are circularly polarized electromagnetic waves?

• A. Waves produced by a loop antenna
• B. Waves that circle Earth
• C. Waves with an electric field bent into a circular shape
• D. Waves with rotating electric and magnetic fields

E5C08

24. What coordinate system is often used to display the phase angle of a circuit containing resistance, inductive, and/or capacitive reactance?

• A. Polar coordinates
• B. Elliptical coordinates
• C. Maidenhead grid
• D. Faraday grid

E1C01

25. What is the maximum bandwidth for a data emission on 60 meters?

• A. 2.8 kHz
• B. 170 Hz
• C. 60 Hz
• D. 1.5 kHz

E4A07

26. Which of the following is an advantage of using an antenna analyzer compared to an SWR bridge?

• A. Antenna analyzers display a time-varying representation of the modulation envelope
• B. Antenna analyzers compute SWR and impedance automatically
• C. Antenna analyzers automatically tune your antenna for resonance
• D. All these choices are correct

E1D12

27. Which of the following amateur stations may transmit one-way communications?

• A. All these choices are correct
• B. A message forwarding station or automatically controlled digital station
• C. A space station, beacon station, or telecommand station
• D. A local repeater or linked repeater station

E6D07

28. What is the current that flows in the primary winding of a transformer when there is no load on the secondary winding?

• A. Stabilizing current
• B. Direct current
• C. Magnetizing current
• D. Excitation current

E3B08

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

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

E9H09

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

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

E7C06

31. What are the characteristics of an elliptical filter?

• A. Extremely sharp cutoff with one or more notches in the stop band
• B. Gradual passband rolloff with minimal stop-band ripple
• C. Extremely flat response over its pass band with gradually rounded stop-band corners
• D. Gradual passband rolloff with extreme stop-band ripple

E4C06

32. How much does increasing a receiver's bandwidth from 50 Hz to 1,000 Hz increase the receiver's noise floor?

• A. 5 dB
• B. 3 dB
• C. 10 dB
• D. 13 dB

E6E08

33. How is power supplied to the most common type of MMIC?

• A. MMICs require no operating bias
• B. Through a resistor and/or RF choke connected to the amplifier output lead
• C. Through a capacitor and RF choke connected to the amplifier input lead
• D. Directly to the bias voltage (Vcc) lead

E2A05

34. What do the letters in a satellite's mode designator specify?

• A. Power limits for uplink and downlink transmissions
• B. The location of the ground control station
• C. The polarization of uplink and downlink signals
• D. The uplink and downlink frequency ranges

E7F01

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

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

E2C09

36. What type of equipment is commonly used to implement an amateur radio mesh network?

• A. A 2-meter VHF transceiver with a 1,200-baud modem
• B. A 440 MHz transceiver with a 9,600-baud modem
• C. A wireless router running custom firmware
• D. A computer running EchoLink to provide interface from the radio to the internet

E1F07

37. When may an amateur station send a message to a business?

• A. When the pecuniary interest of the amateur or his or her employer is less than $50
• B. At no time
• C. When neither the amateur nor their employer has a pecuniary interest in the communications
• D. When the pecuniary interest of the amateur or his or her employer is less than $25

E6B07

38. What causes a junction diode to fail from excessive current?

• A. Excessive junction temperature
• B. Excessive inverse voltage
• C. Insufficient forward voltage
• D. Charge carrier depletion

E3C11

39. What does VOACAP software model?

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

E9F03

40. Why is the electrical length of a coaxial cable longer than its physical length?

• A. Skin effect is more pronounced in the coaxial cable
• B. Electromagnetic waves move more slowly in a coaxial cable than in air
• C. Electromagnetic waves move faster in coaxial cable than in air
• D. Skin effect is less pronounced in the coaxial cable

E7D06

41. What is the purpose of Q1 in the circuit shown in Figure E7-2?

• A. It provides a constant load for the voltage source
• B. It controls the current to keep the output voltage constant
• C. It provides regulation by switching or "chopping" the input DC voltage
• D. It provides negative feedback to improve regulation

E9A06

42. 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. 300 watts
• C. 2,000 watts
• D. 317 watts

E7E07

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

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

E9E08

44. What is a use for a Wilkinson divider?

• A. To divide the operating frequency of a transmitter signal so it can be used on a lower frequency band
• B. To divide power equally between two 50-ohm loads while maintaining 50-ohm input impedance
• C. To feed high-impedance antennas from a low-impedance source
• D. To divide the frequency of the input to a counter to increase its frequency range

E6C02

45. What happens when the level of a comparator's input signal crosses the threshold voltage?

• A. The reference level appears at the output
• B. The comparator changes its output state
• C. The IC input can be damaged
• D. The feedback loop becomes unstable

E4E04

46. How can conducted noise from an automobile battery charging system be suppressed?

• A. By installing filter capacitors in series with the alternator leads
• B. By installing ferrite chokes on the charging system leads
• C. By installing a high-pass filter in series with the radio's power lead and a low-pass filter in parallel with the antenna feed line
• D. By installing a noise suppression resistor and a blocking capacitor at the battery

E2D02

47. What information replaces signal-to-noise ratio when using the FT8 or FT4 modes in a VHF contest?

• A. State abbreviation
• B. Grid square
• C. RST report
• D. Serial number

E2B09

48. What kind of receiver can be used to receive and decode SSTV using the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) protocol?

• A. SSB
• B. AREDN
• C. AM
• D. CDMA

E2E13

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

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

E4B05

50. What three test loads are used to calibrate an RF vector network analyzer?

• A. 50 ohms through 1/8 wavelength, 1/4 wavelength, and 1/2 wavelength of coaxial cable
• B. Short circuit, open circuit, and 50 ohms
• C. 50 ohms, 75 ohms, and 90 ohms
• D. Short circuit, open circuit, and resonant circuit