Ham Radio for Smart People
These posts are based on actual questions from the FCC’s amateur radio Technician Class License exam pool.
You can take a Technician Class Practice Test via this link.
How is a simple ammeter connected to a circuit? A. In series with the circuitB. In parallel with the circuitC. In quadrature with the circuitD. In phase with the circuit This is a really easy question, if you’ve ever used an ammeter before, that is. If you haven’t how are you supposed to know, right? …
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 …
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 …
Which of the following is a good way to judge whether your uplink power is neither too low nor too high? A. Check your signal strength report in the telemetry data B. Listen for distortion on your downlink signal C. Your signal strength on the downlink should be about the same as the beacon D. …
What is a way to enable quick access to a favorite frequency on your transceiver? A. Enable the CTCSS tones B. Store the frequency in a memory channel C. Disable the CTCSS tones D. Use the scan mode to select the desired frequency Well, here’s the thing. I’m fairly certain since you’re a smart person …
What type of electrical component consists of two or more conductive surfaces separated by an insulator?* A. ResistorB. PotentiometerC. OscillatorD. Capacitor [T6A05] Well, I guess I gave it away in the post title. Yes, the answer is D. Capacitor. But what exactly is going on here? A capacitor is a device that has the “capacity” …
What is the current flowing through a 24-ohm resistor connected across 240 volts? [T5D09] A. 24,000 amperes B. 0.1 amperes C. 10 amperes D. 216 amperes Get out your calculators, because this is a cut-and-dried case of needing to use Ohm’s law. Ohm’s law defines the relationship beteween voltage, current, and resistance in a circuit. …
Which of the following electronic components can amplify signals? [T6B05] A. Transistor B. Variable resistor C. Electrolytic capacitor D. Multi-cell battery The answer is, as luck would have it, A. Transistor. The transistor is probably the miracle of 20th century technology. It’s an amplifier, a switch, and so much more. None of the other components …
What is the ability to store energy in an electric field called? [T5C01] A. Inductance B. Resistance C. Tolerance D. Capacitance Hate to say it, but this is basically a definition question. The answer is D. Capacitance. The easy way to remember this is just think about capacitors, the devices that actually store the electric …
If an ammeter calibrated in amperes is used to measure a 3000-milliampere current, what reading would it show? [T5B06] A. 0.003 amperes B. 0.3 amperes C. 3 amperes D. 3,000,000 amperes Don’t panic! This is a simple question about unit conversions, nothing more. Remember your definitions of metric prefixes. Milli means one one-thousandth, or 0.001. …
