HAM Radio Extra Class MCQ 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the maximum power output permitted for an amateur station transmitting on 60 meters (5 MHz) in the US?
- 100 watts PEP ERP (Correct answer)
- 1500 watts PEP
- 200 watts PEP
- 50 watts PEP ERP
Correct answer: 100 watts PEP ERP
FCC Part 97 limits amateur stations on 60 meters to 100 watts PEP effective radiated power (ERP) relative to a dipole.
Question 2: Which ionospheric layer is primarily responsible for long-distance HF propagation during daylight hours?
- D layer
- E layer
- F2 layer (Correct answer)
- F1 layer
Correct answer: F2 layer
The F2 layer, highest and most stable, is the primary reflector for long-distance HF signals during the day.
Question 3: In a parallel RLC circuit at resonance, the circuit impedance is at its:
- Minimum value
- Maximum value (Correct answer)
- Equal to the reactance of the inductor
- Equal to zero
Correct answer: Maximum value
At resonance, a parallel RLC circuit exhibits maximum impedance because the inductive and capacitive currents cancel.
Question 4: What does the term 'third-order intercept point' (IP3) indicate about an amplifier?
- The frequency where gain drops 3 dB
- A measure of the amplifier's linearity and susceptibility to intermodulation distortion (Correct answer)
- The power level at which the transistor saturates
- The minimum detectable signal level
Correct answer: A measure of the amplifier's linearity and susceptibility to intermodulation distortion
IP3 is a theoretical point extrapolated from gain curves that indicates how well an amplifier handles strong signals without generating intermodulation products.
Question 5: What type of emission is produced when a single-sideband suppressed-carrier signal is transmitted?
- A3E
- J3E (Correct answer)
- F3E
- R3E
Correct answer: J3E
J3E designates single-sideband suppressed-carrier telephony per ITU emission designators.
Question 6: A Yagi antenna's front-to-back ratio describes:
- The ratio of forward gain to free-space path loss
- The difference in gain between the main forward lobe and rearward radiation (Correct answer)
- The number of elements divided by boom length
- The SWR measured at the feed point
Correct answer: The difference in gain between the main forward lobe and rearward radiation
Front-to-back ratio is expressed in dB as the difference in signal strength between the forward direction and the 180-degree rear direction.
Question 7: Which digital mode uses frequency-shift keying with 8 tones to achieve high throughput on HF?
- PSK31
- RTTY
- 8FSK (FT4/FT8 variant)
- PACTOR IV (Correct answer)
Correct answer: PACTOR IV
PACTOR IV uses 8-tone DPSK modulation to achieve data rates up to 5,400 bits per second on HF bands.
HAM Radio Extra Class MCQ 2
What is the maximum power output permitted for an amateur station transmitting on 60 meters (5 MHz) in the US?