Practice Exam

E9G03

1. Which of the following is often determined using a Smith chart?

• A. Beam headings and radiation patterns
• B. Satellite azimuth and elevation bearings
• C. Impedance and SWR values in transmission lines
• D. Point-to-point propagation reliability as a function of frequency

E9C12

2. Which of the following describes an extended double Zepp antenna?

• A. An end-fed 2-wavelength dipole antenna
• B. An end-fed full-wave dipole antenna
• C. A center-fed 1.5-wavelength dipole antenna
• D. A center-fed 1.25-wavelength dipole antenna

E9F09

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

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

E1A09

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

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

E3A07

5. Atmospheric ducts capable of propagating microwave signals often form over what geographic feature?

• A. Large bodies of water
• B. Mountain ranges
• C. Nimbus clouds
• D. Stratocumulus clouds

E6A01

6. In what application is gallium arsenide used as a semiconductor material?

• A. In high-power audio circuits
• B. In very low-frequency RF circuits
• C. In microwave circuits
• D. In high-current rectifier circuits

E7C06

7. 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

E8B02

8. How does the modulation index of a phase-modulated emission vary with RF carrier frequency?

• A. It varies with the square root of the RF carrier frequency
• B. It does not depend on the RF carrier frequency
• C. It increases as the RF carrier frequency increases
• D. It decreases as the RF carrier frequency increases

E4C11

9. 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 noise filter to suppress interference
• D. The attenuator has a low-pass filter to increase the strength of lower frequency signals

E9D09

10. What is the function of a loading coil in an electrically short antenna?

• A. To lower the Q
• B. To increase the SWR bandwidth by increasing net reactance
• C. To lower the losses
• D. To resonate the antenna by cancelling the capacitive reactance

E7F05

11. How frequently must an analog signal be sampled to be accurately reproduced?

• A. At least twice the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal
• B. At four times the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal
• C. At least half the rate of the highest frequency component of the signal
• D. At the same rate as the highest frequency component of the signal

E1B09

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

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

E8C09

13. Which digital code allows only one bit to change between sequential code values?

• A. Gray code
• B. Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code
• C. Extended ASCII
• D. Binary Coded Decimal Code

E2C01

14. What indicator is required to be used by US-licensed operators when operating a station via remote control and the remote transmitter is located in the US?

• A. /R# where # is the district of the remote station
• B. / followed by the USPS two-letter abbreviation for the state in which the remote station is located
• C. / followed by the ARRL Section of the remote station
• D. No additional indicator is required

E7D06

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

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

E7A05

16. Which of the following circuits continuously alternates between two states without an external clock signal?

• A. Monostable multivibrator
• B. J-K flip-flop
• C. Astable multivibrator
• D. T flip-flop

E9H03

17. What is receiving directivity factor (RDF)?

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

E2B06

18. What is vestigial sideband modulation?

• A. Spread spectrum modulation achieved by applying FM modulation following single sideband amplitude modulation
• B. A type of modulation in which one sideband is inverted
• 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

E4A05

19. What is the purpose of using a prescaler with a frequency counter?

• A. Prevent oscillation in a low-frequency counter circuit
• B. Multiply a higher frequency signal so a low-frequency counter can display the operating frequency
• C. Amplify low-level signals for more accurate counting
• D. Reduce the signal frequency to within the counter's operating range

E6B09

20. What is a common use for point-contact diodes?

• A. As a high-voltage rectifier
• B. As an RF detector
• C. As a constant current source
• D. As a constant voltage source

E7G03

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

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

E9B04

22. What is the front-to-back ratio of the radiation pattern shown in Figure E9-2?

• A. 3 dB
• B. 28 dB
• C. 38 dB
• D. 15 dB

E1F08

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

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

E7E11

24. Which type of detector is used for demodulating SSB signals?

• A. Product detector
• B. Phase detector
• C. Discriminator
• D. Phase comparator

E3C04

25. What does the value of Bz (B sub z) represent?

• A. Duration of long-delayed echoes
• B. Critical frequency for vertical transmissions
• C. Geomagnetic field stability
• D. North-south strength of the interplanetary magnetic field

E8A11

26. Which of the following is a measure of the quality of an analog-to-digital converter?

• A. Peak envelope power
• B. Total harmonic distortion
• C. Power factor
• D. Reciprocal mixing

E6E01

27. Why is gallium arsenide (GaAs) useful for semiconductor devices operating at UHF and higher frequencies?

• A. Lower junction voltage drop
• B. Lower transconductance
• C. Higher noise figures
• D. Higher electron mobility

E2D01

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

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

E8D02

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

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

E6D04

30. Why are cores of inductors and transformers sometimes constructed of thin layers?

• A. To reduce power loss from eddy currents in the core
• B. To save cost by reducing the amount of magnetic material
• C. To simplify assembly during manufacturing
• D. To increase the cutoff frequency by reducing capacitance

E9E08

31. What is a use for a Wilkinson divider?

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

E6C02

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

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

E2A01

33. What is the direction of an ascending pass for an amateur satellite?

• A. From west to east
• B. From east to west
• C. From south to north
• D. From north to south

E1D10

34. Which amateur stations are eligible to be telecommand stations of space stations, subject to the privileges of the class of operator license held by the control operator of the station?

• A. Any amateur station so designated by the ITU
• B. Any amateur station so designated by the space station licensee
• C. Any amateur station approved by AMSAT
• D. All these choices are correct

E0A11

35. To what should lanyards be attached while climbing?

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

E6F02

36. What happens to photoconductive material when light shines on it?

• A. Reflectivity decreases
• B. Reflectivity increases
• C. Resistance increases
• D. Resistance decreases

E1C06

37. Which of the following is required in order to operate in accordance with CEPT rules in foreign countries where permitted?

• A. The US embassy must approve of your operation
• B. You must identify in the official language of the country in which you are operating
• C. You must append "/CEPT" to your call sign
• D. You must have a copy of FCC Public Notice DA 16-1048

E7H02

38. What is a microphonic?

• A. An IC used for amplifying microphone signals
• B. Changes in oscillator frequency caused by mechanical vibration
• C. Distortion caused by RF pickup on the microphone cable
• D. Excess loading of the microphone by an oscillator

E5C03

39. Which of the following represents a pure inductive reactance in polar coordinates?

• A. A negative 45 degree phase angle
• B. A positive 90 degree phase angle
• C. A positive 45 degree phase angle
• D. A negative 90 degree phase angle

E5A07

40. What is the magnitude of the current at the input of a parallel RLC circuit at resonance?

• A. R/L
• B. Minimum
• C. L/R
• D. Maximum

E4B08

41. Which of the following can be used to determine the Q of a series-tuned circuit?

• A. The frequency shift
• B. The ratio of inductive reactance to capacitive reactance
• C. The bandwidth of the circuit's frequency response
• D. The resonant frequency of the circuit

E9A12

42. How much gain does an antenna have compared to a half-wavelength dipole if it has 6 dB gain over an isotropic radiator?

• A. 6.0 dB
• B. 3.85 dB
• C. 8.15 dB
• D. 2.79 dB

E5D11

43. How much real power is consumed in a circuit consisting of a 100-ohm resistor in series with a 100-ohm inductive reactance drawing 1 ampere?

• A. 200 watts
• B. 100 watts
• C. 141.4 watts
• D. 70.7 watts

E1E08

44. To which of the following examinees may a VE not administer an examination?

• A. Employees of the VE
• B. All these choices are correct
• C. Relatives of the VE as listed in the FCC rules
• D. Friends of the VE

E5B10

45. What is the relationship between the AC current through an inductor and the voltage across an inductor?

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

E4E01

46. What problem can occur when using an automatic notch filter (ANF) to remove interfering carriers while receiving CW signals?

• A. All these choices are correct
• B. Any nearby signal passing through the DSP system will overwhelm the desired signal
• C. Excessive ringing
• D. Removal of the CW signal as well as the interfering carrier

E7B11

47. In Figure E7-1, what is the purpose of R3?

• A. Emitter bypass
• B. Self bias
• C. Fixed bias
• D. Output load resistor

E3B03

48. At what time of day is transequatorial propagation most likely to occur?

• A. Noon
• B. Morning
• C. Late at night
• D. Afternoon or early evening

E2E10

49. Which of these digital modes has the narrowest bandwidth?

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

E4D08

50. What causes intermodulation in an electronic circuit?

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