Amateur Radio for Smart People
K5HRA 
What unit is used to measure reactance? A. FaradB. OhmC. AmpereD. Siemens This is a really easy question, when you understand what reactance is exactly. Reactance is one part of what we call Impedance. The problem is that impedance is in mathematical terms, a complex number. That means there’s a “real” part, and an “imaginary” … Read more
What is a telecommand station in the amateur satellite service? A. An amateur station located on the Earth’s surface for communication with other Earth stations by means of Earth satellitesB. An amateur station that transmits communications to initiate, modify or terminate functions of a space stationC. An amateur station located more than 50 km above … Read more
Part of the Amateur Extra exam is meant to prepare you for the possibility of becoming a VEC or Volunteer Exam Coordinator, and so they want you to know and understand some of the mechanics of the exams themselves. So, here’s one: What is the minimum passing score on amateur operator license examinations? A. Minimum … Read more
Ah a little down one of the side paths of amateur radio for this question from the General Class exam pool. How many states does a 3-bit binary counter have? A. 3B. 6C. 8D. 16 The answer depends on us knowing how to count in binary. Essentially the question is asking us what the maximum … Read more
Which of the following must be done to insure that a crystal oscillator provides the frequency specified by the crystal manufacturer? A. Provide the crystal with a specified parallel inductanceB. Provide the crystal with a specified parallel capacitanceC. Bias the crystal at a specified voltageD. Bias the crystal at a specified current A crystal oscillator … Read more
In which type of circuit is current the same through all components? A. SeriesB. ParallelC. ResonantD. Branch The answer here is A. Series. The reason why is pretty straight forward. If you line up a series (ha!) of components in a straight line, the output of each going into the input of the next, then … Read more
At what time of year is Sporadic E propagation most likely to occur? A. Around the solstices, especially the summer solsticeB. Around the solstices, especially the winter solsticeC. Around the equinoxes, especially the spring equinoxD. Around the equinoxes, especially the fall equinox Sporadic E Propagation refers to the phenomena where radio signals bounce off of … Read more
What frequency range is occupied by a 3 kHz LSB signal when the displayed carrier frequency is set to 7.178 MHz? A. 7.178 to 7.181 MHzB. 7.178 to 7.184 MHzC. 7.175 to 7.178 MHzD. 7.1765 to 7.1795 MHz LSB, or Lower Side Band, is a transmission mode where all of the transmitted signal exists to … Read more
Which of these precautions should be taken when installing devices for lightning protection in a coaxial cable feed line? A. Include a parallel bypass switch for each protector so that it can be switched out of the circuit when running high powerB. Include a series switch in the ground line of each protector to prevent … Read more
What is an advantage of Gray code in digital communications where symbols are transmitted as multiple bits? A. It increases security B. It has more possible states than simple binary C. It has more resolution than simple binary D. It facilitates error detection Firstly, what the heck is “Gray code” anyway? The reflected binary code … Read more
