National University

Board of Electronics Engineers

Pre Board Exam Electronics Systems and Technologies

INSTRUCTION: Read the questions carefully. Mark the box on your answer
sheet corresponding to the letter of the best choice.

NO ERASURES ALLOWED. Use pencil no. 2 only.

NOTE: Whenever you come across a caret (^) sign, it means

exponentiation.
Ex. x^2 mean x2; (x+y)^(x-z) means
(x+y) raised to the (x-z). Pi =3.1416

MULTIPLE CHOICES

1. If the wavelength of sound is 3.5 cm in sea water, calculate its

frequency.

A. 47Hz C. 43 Hz
B. 47 kHz D. 43 kHz
2. Information signals may be transmitted across the network in two
ways. One system is to put the information signals directly into the
medium. Another system may use the information signal to modulate a
carrier for transmission over the medium. The first method described
is known as _____.
A. carrier transmission C. Baseband Modulation
B. modulation D. Direct Transmission
3. For an FM system w/ 80% modulation. Determine the carrier swing.
A. 60 kHz C. 60 Hz
B. 120 kHz D. 120 Hz
4. There are two ways of companding analog and digital. Between the
two, which companding technique first samples the analog signal and
converts the samples to a linear code PCM code before compression is
performed?
A. Analog C. either analog or digital
B. Digital D. such schemes is not possible
5. A material 1 has a refractive index of 1.6 and material 2 has a
refractive index of 1.45, with angle of refraction of 38.37.
Determine the angle of incidence.
A. 38.37 C. 37.83
B. 34.23 D. 32.34
6. The signal power at input to an amplifier is 150 W, noise power is
2W. At the output, signal power is 1W, noise power of 80 mW.
Calculate the noise figure.
A. 67.78 dB C. 68.87
b. 77.68 dB D. 86.687
7. Reliability = 99.999%, determine the amount of outage in minute
measurement.
A. 5.26 min/year C. 8.35 min/year
B. 7.34 min/year D. 5.69 min/year
8. What is the main purpose of a repeater?
A. To link amateur stations with the telephone system
B. To increase the range of portable and mobile stations
C. To retransmit weather information during severe storm warnings
D. To make local information available 24 hours a day
9. What is one way to shorten transmitter tune-up time on the air to
cut down on interference?
A. Use a random wire antenna
B. Tune up on 40 metres first, then switch to the desired band
C. Use twin lead instead of coaxial cable feed lines
D. Tune the transmitter into a dummy load
10. If you receive a weak, distorted signal from a distance, and close
to the maximum usable frequency, what type of propagation is probably
occurring?
A. Ground-wave
B. Line-of-sight
C. Scatter
D. Ducting
11. Stereo speaker leads often act as antennas to pick up RF signals.
What is one method you can use to minimize this effect?
A. Shorten the leads
B. Lengthen the leads
C. Connect the speaker through an audio attenuator
D. Connect a diode across the speaker
12. If someone tells you that signals from your hand-held transceiver
are interfering with other signals on a frequency near yours, what may
be the cause?
A. Your hand-held may be transmitting spurious emissions
B. You may need a power amplifier for your hand-held
C. Your hand-held may have chirp from weak batteries
D. You may need to turn the volume up on your hand-held
13. If your transmitter sends signals outside the band where it is
transmitting, what is this called?
A. Side tones
B. Transmitter chirping
C. Spurious emissions
D. Off-frequency emissions
14. What problem may occur if your transmitter is operated without the
cover and other shielding in place?
A. It may transmit a weak signal
B. It may transmit spurious emissions
C. It may interfere with other stations operating near its frequency
D. It may transmit a chirpy signal
15. What is meant by harmonic radiation?
A. Unwanted signals at frequencies which are multiples of the
fundamental (chosen) frequency
B. Unwanted signals that are combined with a 60-Hz hum
C. Unwanted signals caused by sympathetic vibrations from a nearby
transmitter
D. Signals which cause skip propagation to occur
16. Why is harmonic radiation from an amateur station not wanted?
A. It uses large amounts of electric power
B. It may cause sympathetic vibrations in nearby transmitters
C. It may cause auroras in the air
D. It may cause interference to other stations and may result in
out-of-band signals
17. What type of interference may come from a multi-band antenna
connected to a poorly tuned transmitter?
A. Parasitic excitation
B. Harmonic radiation
C. Intermodulation
D. Auroral distortion
18. If you are told your station was heard on 21 375 kHz, but at the
time you were operating on 7125 kHz, what is one reason this could
happen?
A. Your transmitter's power-supply filter choke was bad
B. You were sending CW too fast
C. Your transmitter was radiating harmonic signals
D. Your transmitter's power-supply filter capacitor was bad
19. What causes splatter interference?
A. Keying a transmitter too fast
B. Signals from a transmitter's output circuit are being sent back
to its input circuit
C. The transmitting antenna is the wrong length
D. Overmodulation of a transmitter
20. Any length of transmission line may be made to appear as an
infinitely long line by:
A. terminating the line in its characteristic impedance
B. leaving the line open at the end
C. shorting the line at the end
D. increasing the standing wave ratio above unity
21. What factors determine the characteristic impedance of a parallel-
conductor antenna feed line?
A. The distance between the centres of the conductors and the radius
of the conductors
 B. The distance between the centres of the conductors and the length
of the line
C. The radius of the conductors and the frequency of the signal
D. The frequency of the signal and the length of the line
22. What factors determine the characteristic impedance of a coaxial
antenna feed line?
A. The ratio of the diameter of the inner conductor to the diameter
of the braid
B. The diameter of the braid and the length of the line
C. The diameter of the braid and the frequency of the signal
D. The frequency of the signal and the length of the line
23. What is a coaxial cable?
A. Two wires side-by-side in a plastic ribbon
B. Two wires side-by-side held apart by insulating rods
C. Two wires twisted around each other in a spiral
D. A center wire inside an insulating material which is covered by a
metal sleeve or shield
24. What is parallel-conductor feed line?
A. Two wires twisted around each other in a spiral
B. A center wire inside an insulating material which is covered by a
metal sleeve or shield
C. A metal pipe which is as wide or slightly wider than a wavelength
of the signal it carries
D. Two wires side-by-side held apart by insulating rods
25. What kind of antenna feed line is made of two conductors held
apart by insulated rods?
A. Open-conductor ladder line
B. Coaxial cable
C. Twin lead in a plastic ribbon
D. Twisted pair
26. What does the term "balun" mean?
A. Balanced unloader
B. Balanced to unbalanced
C. Balanced unmodulator
D. Balanced antenna network
27. Where would you install a balun to feed a dipole antenna with 50-
ohm coaxial cable?
A. Between the coaxial cable and the antenna
B. Between the transmitter and the coaxial cable
C. Between the antenna and the ground
D. Between the coaxial cable and the ground
28. What is an unbalanced line?
A. Feed line with neither conductor connected to ground
B. Feed line with both conductors connected to ground
C. Feed line with both conductors connected to each other
 D. Feed line with one conductor connected to ground
29. What device can be installed to feed a balanced antenna with an
unbalanced feed line?
A. A triaxial transformer
B. A balun
C. A wavetrap
D. A loading coil
30. As the length of a feed line is changed, what happens to signal
loss?
A. Signal loss decreases as length increases
B. Signal loss increases as length increases
C. Signal loss is the least when the length is the same as the
signal's wavelength
D. Signal loss is the same for any length of feed line
31. As the frequency of a signal is changed, what happens to signal
loss in a feed line?
A. Signal loss increases with decreasing frequency
B. Signal loss increases with increasing frequency
C. Signal loss is the least when the signal's wavelength is the same
as the feed line's length
D. Signal loss is the same for any frequency
32. Losses occurring on a transmission line between transmitter and
antenna results in:
A. an SWR reading of 1:1
B. less RF power being radiated
C. reflections occurring in the line
D. the wire radiating RF energy
33. The lowest loss feed line on HF is:
A. open-wire
B. 75 ohm twin-lead
C. coaxial cable
D. 300 ohm twin-lead
34. In what values are RF feed line losses expressed?
A. ohms per MHz
B. dB per MHz
C. ohms per metre
D. dB per unit length
35. If the length of coaxial feed line is increased from 20 metres
(65.6 ft) to 40 metres (131.2 ft), how would this affect the line
loss?
A. It would be increased by 100%
B. It would be reduced by 10%
C. It would be increased by 10%
D. It would be reduced to 50%
36. If the frequency is increased, how would this affect the loss on a
transmission line?
A. It is independent of frequency
B. It would increase
C. It depends on the line length
D. It would decrease
37. What does chirp mean?
A. A high-pitched tone which is received along with a CW signal
B. A small change in a transmitter's frequency each time it is keyed
C. A slow change in transmitter frequency as the circuit warms up
D. An overload in a receiver's audio circuit whenever CW is received
38. What can be done to keep a CW transmitter from chirping?
A. Add a key-click filter
B. Keep the power supply voltages very steady
C. Keep the power supply current very steady
D. CW transmitter doesnt chirp
39. What circuit has a variable-frequency oscillator connected to a
driver and a power amplifier?
A. A crystal-controlled transmitter
B. A VFO-controlled transmitter
C. A single-sideband transmitter
D. A packet-radio transmitter
40. What type of modulation system changes the amplitude of an RF wave
for the purpose of conveying information?
A. Phase modulation
B. Amplitude modulation
C. Amplitude-rectification modulation
D. Frequency modulation
41. In what emission type does the instantaneous amplitude (envelope)
of the RF signal vary in accordance with the modulating audio?
A. Frequency modulation
B. Pulse modulation
C. Amplitude modulation
D. Frequency shift keying
42. Morse code is usually transmitted by radio as:
A. a series of key-clicks
B. a continuous carrier
C. an interrupted carrier
D. a voice-modulated carrier
43. A mismatched antenna or feedline may present an incorrect load to
the transmitter. The result may be:
A. loss of modulation in the transmitted signal
B. the driver stage will not deliver power to the final
C. excessive heat produced in the final transmitter stage
D. the output tank circuit breaks down
44. One result of a slight mismatch between the power amplifier of a
transmitter and the antenna would be:
A. smaller DC current drain
B. lower modulation percentage
C. reduced antenna radiation
D. radiated key-clicks
45. An RF oscillator should be electrically and mechanically stable.
This is to ensure that the oscillator does not:
A. become over modulated
B. generate key-clicks
C. drift in frequency
D. cause undue distortion
46. The input power to the final stage of your transmitter is 200
watts and the output is 125 watts. What has happened to the remaining
power?
A. It has been dissipated as heat loss
B. It has been used to provide greater efficiency
C. It has been used to provide negative feedback
D. It has been used to provide positive feedback
47. The difference between DC input power and RF output power of a
transmitter RF amplifier:
A. is lost in the feed line
B. appears as heat dissipation
C. is due to oscillating
D. radiates from the antenna
48. Calculate the wavelength of sound wave in sea water whose
frequency is 150 kHz at 30 degrees Celsius.
A. 0.01 mm C. 0.01 cm
B. 0.01 m D. 0.01 nm
49. The transmitting antenna has a height of 500 ft, while the
receiving antenna has a height of 300 ft. Find the maximum
transmission distance.
A. 56.12 m C. 62.51 miles
B. 62.51 miles D. 56.12 miles
50. A coaxial cable used as a transmission line has an inner diameter
of the outer conductor of 0.2 inch and diameter of the inner conductor
of 0.05 inch. Calculate the characteristic impedance of the insulation
material used is polyethylene.
A. 55 ohms C. 55 M ohms
B. 55 k ohms D. 55 n ohms
51. The input current in a matched transmission line is 75 mA while
the load current is 3 mA. The line is 1.5 miles long. Calculate the
attenuation coefficient in dB per meters.
A. 0.11 B. 0.12 C. 0.13 D.0.14
52. Determine the noise density in dBW for an equivalent noise
bandwidth of 25 MHz (satellite system) and a noise power of 0.25
picowatt
A. -200 dBW C. 200 dBW
B. -200 dB D. 200 dB
53. What is one disadvantage of a random wire antenna?
A. It usually produces vertically polarized radiation
B. It must be longer than 1 wavelength
C. You may experience RF feedback in your station
D. You must use an inverted T matching network for multi-band
operation
54. What is the low angle radiation pattern of an ideal half-
wavelength dipole HF antenna installed parallel to the earth?
A. It is a figure-eight, perpendicular to the antenna
B. It is a circle (equal radiation in all directions)
C. It is two smaller lobes on one side of the antenna, and one
larger lobe on the other side
D. It is a figure-eight, off both ends of the antenna
55. The impedances in ohms at the feed point of the dipole and folded
dipole are, respectively:
A. 73 and 150
B. 73 and 300
C. 52 and 100
D. 52 and 200
56. A dipole transmitting antenna, placed so that the ends are
pointing North/South, radiates:
A. mostly to the South and North
B. mostly to the South
C. equally in all directions
D. mostly to the East and West
57. How does the bandwidth of a folded dipole antenna compare with
that of a simple dipole antenna?
A. It is essentially the same
B. It is less than 50%
C. It is 0.707 times the bandwidth
D. It is greater
58. What is a disadvantage of using an antenna equipped with traps?
A. It is too sharply directional at lower frequencies
B. It will radiate harmonics
C. It must be neutralized
D. It can only be used for one band
59. What is an advantage of using a trap antenna?
A. It may be used for multi- band operation
B. It has high directivity at the higher frequencies
C. It has high gain
 D. It minimizes harmonic radiation
60. How can on-the-air interference be minimized during a lengthy
transmitter testing or loading-up procedure?
A. Choose an unoccupied frequency
B. Use a non-resonant antenna
C. Use a resonant antenna that requires no loading-up procedure
D. Use a dummy load
61. Why would you use a dummy antenna?
A. To give comparative signal reports
B. To allow antenna tuning without causing interference
C. It is faster to tune
D. To reduce output power
62. If you are the net control station of a daily HF net, what should
you do if the frequency on which you normally meet is in use just
before the net begins?
A. Conduct the net on a frequency 3 to 5 kHz away from the regular
net frequency
B. Reduce your output power and start the net as usual
C. Increase your power output so that net participants will be able
to hear you over the existing activity
D. Cancel the net for that day
63. If a net is about to begin on a frequency which you and another
station are using, what should you do?
A. As a courtesy to the net, move to a different frequency
B. Increase your power output to ensure that all net participants
can hear you
C. Transmit as long as possible on the frequency so that no other
stations may use it
D. Turn off your radio
64. If propagation changes during your contact and you notice other
activity on the same increasing interference from frequency, what
should you do?
A. Tell the interfering stations to change frequency, since you were
there first
B. Report the interference to your local Amateur Auxiliary
Coordinator
C. Increase the output power of your transmitter to overcome the
interference
D. Move your contact to another frequency
65. When selecting a single- sideband phone transmitting frequency,
what minimum frequency separation from a contact in progress should
you allow (between suppressed carriers) to minimize interference?
A. Approximately 3 kHz
B. 150 to 500 Hz
C. Approximately 6 kHz
 D. Approximately 10 kHz
66. Why is a Yagi antenna often used for radiocommunications on the
20-metre band?
A. It provides excellent omnidirectional coverage in the horizontal
plane
B. It is smaller, less expensive and easier to erect than a dipole
or vertical antenna
C. It provides the highest possible angle of radiation for the HF
bands
D. It helps reduce interference from other stations off to the side
or behind
67. What does "antenna front-to- back ratio" mean in reference to a
Yagi antenna?
A. The relative position of the driven element with respect to the
reflectors and directors
B. The power radiated in the major radiation lobe compared to the
power radiated in exactly the opposite direction
C. The power radiated in the major radiation lobe compared to the
power radiated 90 degrees away from that direction
D. The number of directors versus the number of reflectors
68. What is a good way to get maximum performance from a Yagi antenna?
A. Optimize the lengths and spacing of the elements
B. Use RG-58 feed line
C. Use a reactance bridge to measure the antenna performance from
each direction around the antenna
D. Avoid using towers higher than 9 metres (30 feet) above the
ground
69. The spacing between the elements on a three-element Yagi antenna,
representing the best overall choice, is _______ of a wavelength.
A. 0.15
B. 0.5
C. 0.75
D. 0.2
70. What is a parasitic beam antenna?
A. An antenna where the driven element obtains its radio energy by
induction or radiation from director elements
B. An antenna where all elements are driven by direct connection to
the feed line
C. An antenna where some elements obtain their radio energy by
induction or radiation from a driven element
D. An antenna where wave traps are used to magnetically couple the
elements
71. How can the bandwidth of a parasitic beam antenna be increased?
A. Use traps on the elements
B. Use larger diameter elements
 C. Use tapered-diameter elements
D. Use closer element spacing
72. If a slightly shorter parasitic element is placed 0.1 wavelength
away from an HF dipole antenna, what effect will this have on the
antenna's radiation pattern?
A. A major lobe will develop in the horizontal plane, parallel to
the two elements
B. A major lobe will develop in the horizontal plane, toward the
parasitic element
C. A major lobe will develop in the vertical plane, away from the
ground
D. The radiation pattern will not be affected
73. If a slightly longer parasitic element is placed 0.1 wavelength
away from an HF dipole antenna, what effect will this have on the
antenna's radiation pattern?
A. A major lobe will develop in the horizontal plane, parallel to
the two elements
B. A major lobe will develop in the vertical plane, away from the
ground
C. A major lobe will develop in the horizontal plane, away from the
parasitic element, toward the dipole
D. The radiation pattern will not be affected
74. The property of an antenna, which defines the range of frequencies
to which it will respond, is called its:
A. bandwidth
B. front-to-back ratio
C. impedance
D. polarization
75. Approximately how much gain does a half-wave dipole have over an
isotropic radiator?
A. 1.5 dB
B. 3.0 dB
C. 6.0 dB
D. 2.1 dB
76. What is meant by antenna gain?
A. The numerical ratio of the signal in the forward direction to the
signal in the back direction
B. The numerical ratio of the amount of power radiated by an antenna
compared to the transmitter output power
C. The final amplifier gain minus the transmission line losses
D. The numerical ratio relating the radiated signal strength of an
antenna to that of another antenna
77. What is meant by antenna bandwidth?
A. Antenna length divided by the number of elements
B. The angle between the half- power radiation points
 C. The angle formed between two imaginary lines drawn through the
ends of the elements
D. The frequency range over which the antenna may be expected to
perform well
78. In free space, what is the radiation characteristic of a half-wave
dipole?
A. Minimum radiation from the ends, maximum broadside
B. Maximum radiation from the ends, minimum broadside
C. Omnidirectional
D. Maximum radiation at 45 degrees to the plane of the antenna
79. The gain of an antenna, especially on VHF and above, is quoted in
dBi. The "i" in this expression stands for:
A. isotropic
B. ideal
C. ionosphere
D. interpolated
80. The front-to-back ratio of a beam antenna is:
A. the forward power of the major lobe to the power in the backward
direction both being measured at the 3 dB points
B. the ratio of the maximum forward power in the major lobe to the
maximum backward power radiation
C. undefined
D. the ratio of the forward power at the 3 dB points to the power
radiated in the backward direction
81. Binary digital data is to be transmitted at 10 kbps, what minimum
BW is required to pass the fastest information change undistorted?
A. 5 kHz B. 10kHz C. 5 Hz D. 10 Hz
82. What is the characteristic impedance of a basic parallel-wire
line, if its diameter is 0.023 inch w/ spacing of 0.4 inch apart. If
it uses a dielectric material made of continuous polyvinyl chloride?
A. 123 ohm B. 234 ohm C. 567 ohm D. 789 ohm
83. A glass, with a refractive index of 1.56 is clad with another
glass having a refractive index of 1.53.Determine the acceptance
angle.
A. 17.7 B. 16.6 C. 15.5 D. 14.4
84. A linear PCM system has a maximum dynamic range of 98 dB.
Calculate the number of quantizing bits per sample.
A. 13 B. 14 C. 15 D. 16
85. The Noise figure of an RF amplifier with an input and output
signal to noise ratio of 15 and 5 respectively is _____ dB.
A. 4.77 dB B. 5.77 dB C. 7.44 dB D. 7.75 dB
86. Given 600 W Average power, 6 ohm loudspeaker, determine RMS
current.
A. 9 A B. 10 A C. 11 A D. 12 A
87. If the acceptance angle is 15, calculate the numerical aperture.
A. 0.26 B. 0.62 C. 0.74 D. 0.47
88. What effect does the D region of the ionosphere have on lower
frequency HF signals in the daytime?
A. It absorbs the signals
B. It bends the radio waves out into space
C. It refracts the radio waves back to earth
D. It has little or no effect on 80-metre radio waves
89. What causes the ionosphere to absorb radio waves?
A. The presence of ionized clouds in the E region
B. The ionization of the D region
C. The splitting of the F region
D. The weather below the ionosphere
90. Two or more parts of the radio wave follow different paths during
propagation and this may result in phase differences at the receiver.
This "change" at the receiver is called:
A. fading
B. baffling
C. absorption
D. skip
91. A change or variation in signal strength at the antenna, caused by
differences in path lengths, is called:
A. absorption
B. fluctuation
C. path loss
D. fading
92. When a transmitted radio signal reaches a station by a one-hop and
two-hop skip path, small changes in the ionosphere can cause:
A. consistent fading of received signal
B. consistently stronger signals
C. variations in signal strength
D. a change in the ground-wave signal
93. The usual effect of ionospheric storms is to:
A. produce extreme weather changes
B. cause a fade-out of sky- wave signals
C. prevent communications by ground wave
D. increase the maximum usable frequency
94. On the VHF and UHF bands, polarization of the receiving antenna is
very important in relation to the transmitting antenna, yet on HF
bands it is relatively unimportant. Why is that so?
A. The ionosphere can change the polarization of the signal from
moment to moment
B. The ground wave and the sky wave continually shift the
polarization
C. Anomalies in the earth's magnetic field produce a profound effect
on HF polarization
 D. Greater selectivity is possible with HF receivers making changes
in polarization redundant
95. What causes selective fading?
A. Phase differences between radio wave components of the same
transmission, as experienced at the receiving station
B. Small changes in beam heading at the receiving station
C. Time differences between the receiving and transmitting stations
D. Large changes in the height of the ionosphere at the receiving
station ordinarily occurring shortly before sunrise and sunset
96. How does the bandwidth of a transmitted signal affect selective
fading?
A. It is the same for both wide and narrow bandwidths
B. It is more pronounced at wide bandwidths
C. Only the receiver bandwidth determines the selective fading
effect
D. It is more pronounced at narrow bandwidths
97. Polarization change often takes place on radio waves that are
propagated over long distances. Which of these does not cause
polarization change?
A. Parabolic interaction
B. Reflections
C. Passage through magnetic fields (Faraday rotation)
D. Refractions
98. What is meant by antenna bandwidth?
A. Antenna length divided by the number of elements
B. The angle between the half- power radiation points
C. The angle formed between two imaginary lines drawn through the
ends of the elements
D. The frequency range over which the antenna may be expected to
perform well
99. In free space, what is the radiation characteristic of a half-wave
dipole?
A. Minimum radiation from the ends, maximum broadside
B. Maximum radiation from the ends, minimum broadside
C. Omnidirectional
D. Maximum radiation at 45 degrees to the plane of the antenna
100. The gain of an antenna, especially on VHF and above, is quoted in
dBi. The "i" in this expression stands for:
A. isotropic
B. ideal
C. ionosphere
D. interpolated