General exam question G4A13
Subelement G4, AMATEUR RADIO PRACTICES· Group G4A
What is the purpose of using a receive attenuator?
- A.To prevent receiver overload from strong incoming signals (correct answer)
- B.To reduce the transmitter power when driving a linear amplifier
- C.To reduce power consumption when operating from batteries
- D.To reduce excessive audio level on strong signals
WhyA receive attenuator is used to prevent receiver overload from strong incoming signals. A receive attenuator inserts a fixed amount of loss ahead of the receiver's front end, which keeps very strong nearby signals from overloading (desensitizing) the receiver and creating spurious intermodulation products, answer A. It doesn't touch transmit power, doesn't reduce battery drain, and it lowers the incoming RF level rather than acting on the audio stage, so it isn't specifically an audio-level control.
Published 2026-08-28 · Last updated 2026-08-28 · Question text is verbatim from the 2023-2027 NCVEC Element 3 pool (public domain); the explanation above is original writing, see our methodology.
Related questions
- G4A01What is the purpose of the notch filter found on many HF transceivers?
- G4A02What is the benefit of using the opposite or “reverse” sideband when receiving CW?
- G4A03How does a noise blanker work?
- G4A04What is the effect on plate current of the correct setting of a vacuum-tube RF power amplifier’s TUNE control?
- G4A05Why is automatic level control (ALC) used with an RF power amplifier?