Practice Exam

E7D11

1. What is the purpose of an inverter connected to a solar panel output?

• A. Prevent discharge when panel is not illuminated
• B. Convert the panel's output from DC to AC
• C. Maintain voltage with varying illumination levels
• D. Reduce AC ripple on the output

E3A10

2. What determines the speed of electromagnetic waves through a medium?

• A. The index of refraction
• B. Resistance and reactance
• C. Evanescence
• D. Birefringence

E2E12

3. How do ALE stations establish contact?

• A. ALE radios monitor an internet site for the frequency they are being paged on
• B. ALE radios send a constant tone code to establish a frequency for future use
• C. ALE constantly scans a list of frequencies, activating the radio when the designated call sign is received
• D. ALE radios activate when they hear their signal echoed by back scatter

E1E11

4. What must the VE team do if an examinee scores a passing grade on all examination elements needed for an upgrade or new license?

• A. Issue the examinee the new or upgrade license
• B. All these choices are correct
• C. Photocopy all examination documents and forward them to the FCC for processing
• D. Three VEs must certify that the examinee is qualified for the license grant and that they have complied with the administering VE requirements

E5C11

5. Which point in Figure E5-1 best represents the impedance of a series circuit consisting of a 300-ohm resistor and an 18-microhenry inductor at 3.505 MHz?

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

E9F06

6. What is the approximate physical length of an air-insulated, parallel conductor transmission line that is electrically 1/2 wavelength long at 14.10 MHz?

• A. 13.3 meters
• B. 10.6 meters
• C. 8.5 meters
• D. 7.0 meters

E4E05

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

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

E3B07

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

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

E1A03

9. What is the highest legal carrier frequency on the 20-meter band for transmitting a 2.8 kHz wide USB data signal?

• A. 14.3490 MHz
• B. 14.1002 MHz
• C. 14.1472 MHz
• D. 14.0708 MHz

E4C10

10. 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. Multiple frequencies can be received simultaneously if desired
• C. Receiver power consumption can be reduced when wider bandwidth is not required
• D. Receive bandwidth can be set to match the modulation bandwidth, maximizing signal-to-noise ratio and minimizing interference

E9G11

11. In what units are the wavelength scales on a Smith chart calibrated?

• A. In fractions of antenna electrical wavelength
• B. In fractions of antenna electrical frequency
• C. In fractions of transmission line electrical wavelength
• D. In fractions of transmission line electrical frequency

E9D11

12. Why do most two-element Yagis with normal spacing have a reflector instead of a director?

• A. Higher receiving directivity factor
• B. Lower SWR
• C. Higher gain
• D. Greater front-to-side

E5B06

13. What is susceptance?

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

E6A08

14. What is the term for the frequency at which the grounded-base current gain of a bipolar junction transistor has decreased to 0.7 of the gain obtainable at 1 kHz?

• A. Alpha rejection frequency
• B. Beta cutoff frequency
• C. Alpha cutoff frequency
• D. Corner frequency

E7A06

15. What is a characteristic of a monostable multivibrator?

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

E1D07

16. Which of the following HF amateur bands include allocations for space stations?

• A. 40 meters, 20 meters, 15 meters, and 10 meters
• B. 30 meters, 17 meters, and 10 meters
• C. Satellite operation is permitted on all HF bands
• D. Only 10 meters

E1C04

17. What is an IARP?

• A. A permit that allows US amateurs to operate in certain countries of the Americas
• B. A forecast of intermittent aurora radio propagation
• C. The internal amateur radio practices policy of the FCC
• D. An indication of increased antenna reflected power

E9B07

18. What is the difference in radiated power between a lossless antenna with gain and an isotropic radiator driven by the same power?

• A. They are the same
• B. The power radiated from the directional antenna is increased by the gain of the antenna
• C. The power radiated from the directional antenna is stronger by its front-to-back ratio
• D. The power radiated from the isotropic radiator is 2.15 dB greater than that from the directional antenna

E2C07

19. What is the Cabrillo format?

• A. A method of exchanging information during a contest QSO
• B. The most common set of contest rules
• C. A standard for submission of electronic contest logs
• D. A digital protocol specifically designed for rapid contest exchanges

E4D06

20. What is the term for the reduction in receiver sensitivity caused by a strong signal near the received frequency?

• A. Quieting
• B. Desensitization
• C. Reciprocal mixing
• D. Cross modulation interference

E6E08

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

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

E4B04

22. Which S parameter represents input port return loss or reflection coefficient (equivalent to VSWR)?

• A. S22
• B. S11
• C. S21
• D. S12

E8A01

23. What technique shows that a square wave is made up of a sine wave and its odd harmonics?

• A. Fourier analysis
• B. Vector analysis
• C. Differential analysis
• D. Numerical analysis

E8D05

24. What is the most common method of reducing key clicks?

• A. Increase keying waveform rise and fall times
• B. Insert low-pass filters at the transmitter output
• C. Insert high-pass filters at the transmitter output
• D. Reduce keying waveform rise and fall times

E9C11

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

• A. Radiation at low angles increases
• B. Additional lobes appear at higher elevation angles
• C. Radiation at low angles decreases
• D. Separate elevation lobes will combine into a single lobe

E6D03

26. Which of the following is an aspect of the piezoelectric effect?

• A. Mechanical deformation of material due to the application of a voltage
• B. Mechanical deformation of material due to the application of a magnetic field
• C. Generation of electrical energy in the presence of light
• D. Increased conductivity in the presence of light

E3C02

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

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

E7C11

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

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

E2D10

29. What does the packet path WIDE3-1 designate?

• A. Three subcarriers are permitted, subcarrier one is being used
• B. Three internet gateway stations may receive one transmission
• C. Three stations are allowed on frequency, one transmitting at a time
• D. Three digipeater hops are requested with one remaining

E9H04

30. What is the purpose of placing an electrostatic shield around a small-loop direction-finding antenna?

• A. It eliminates unbalanced capacitive coupling to the antenna's surroundings, improving the depth of its nulls
• B. It increases signal strength by providing a better match to the feed line
• C. It eliminates tracking errors caused by strong out-of-band signals
• D. It adds capacitive loading, increasing the bandwidth of the antenna

E7E02

31. What is the function of a reactance modulator?

• A. Produce AM signals by varying a resistance
• B. Produce PM or FM signals by varying a capacitance
• C. Produce PM or FM signals by varying a resistance
• D. Produce AM signals by varying an inductance

E8B01

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

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

E7H04

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

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

E7B05

34. What can be done to prevent unwanted oscillations in an RF power amplifier?

• A. Tune the stage for minimum loading
• B. Use a phase inverter in the output filter
• C. Install parasitic suppressors and/or neutralize the stage
• D. Tune both the input and output for maximum power

E2A12

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

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

E7G09

36. What will be the output voltage of the circuit shown in Figure E7-3 if R1 is 1,000 ohms, RF is 10,000 ohms, and 0.23 volts DC is applied to the input?

• A. -0.23 volts
• B. 0.23 volts
• C. 2.3 volts
• D. -2.3 volts

E1B09

37. Which amateur stations may be operated under RACES rules?

• A. Any FCC-licensed amateur station except a Technician class
• B. Only stations meeting the FCC Part 97 technical standards for operation during an emergency
• C. Any FCC-licensed amateur station certified by the responsible civil defense organization for the area served
• D. Only those club stations licensed to Amateur Extra class operators

E8C15

38. What technique do individual nodes use to form a mesh network?

• A. Forward error correction and Viterbi codes
• B. Acting as store-and-forward digipeaters
• C. Discovery and link establishment protocols
• D. Custom code plugs for the local trunking systems

E4A04

39. How is compensation of an oscilloscope probe performed?

• A. A DC voltage standard is displayed, and the probe is adjusted until the displayed voltage is accurate
• B. A high frequency sine wave is displayed, and the probe is adjusted for maximum amplitude
• C. A frequency standard is displayed, and the probe is adjusted until the deflection time is accurate
• D. A square wave is displayed, and the probe is adjusted until the horizontal portions of the displayed wave are as nearly flat as possible

E0A03

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

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

E7F14

41. Which of the following would allow a digital signal processing filter to create a sharper filter response?

• A. Double-precision math routines
• B. More taps
• C. Higher data rate
• D. Lower Q

E2B02

42. How many horizontal lines make up a fast-scan (NTSC) television frame?

• A. 30
• B. 525
• C. 1080
• D. 60

E1F03

43. Under what circumstances may a dealer sell an external RF power amplifier capable of operation below 144 MHz if it has not been granted FCC certification?

• A. The equipment dealer assembled it from a kit
• B. Gain is less than 23 dB when driven by power of 10 watts or less
• C. The amplifier is constructed or modified by an amateur radio operator for use at an amateur station
• D. It was manufactured and certificated in a country which has a reciprocal certification agreement with the FCC

E5D06

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

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

E6B08

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

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

E9E01

46. Which matching system for Yagi antennas requires the driven element to be insulated from the boom?

• A. T-match
• B. Gamma
• C. Beta or hairpin
• D. Shunt-fed

E5A08

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

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

E6F10

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

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

E9A11

49. Which of the following determines ground losses for a ground-mounted vertical antenna operating on HF?

• A. Distance from the transmitter
• B. The standing wave ratio
• C. Soil conductivity
• D. Take-off angle

E6C03

50. What is tri-state logic?

• A. Logic devices with 0, 1, and high-impedance output states
• B. Logic with three output impedances which can be selected to better match the load impedance
• C. A counter with eight states
• D. Logic devices that utilize ternary math