Ham Amateur Radio Technician Practice Exam 2026 - Free Technician Practice Questions and Study Guide

The term that describes a filter's attenuation within its passband is passband ripple. This refers to the variations in signal strength that occur within the designated frequency range that the filter is designed to allow through, known as the passband.

In more detail, a filter's performance is characterized not only by the frequencies it allows or blocks but also by how much it attenuates signals within the passband. Ideally, a filter would have a flat response across its passband, meaning it would allow all frequencies within that range to pass through with minimal variation in level. However, practical filters often experience some fluctuations in attenuation, which is captured by the term passband ripple. This indicates the degree to which the signal strength can vary within the passband.

The other terms refer to different concepts: cutoff frequency pertains to the frequency at which the output signal begins to be attenuated significantly, insertion loss measures the amount of signal loss resulting from inserting a filter into a circuit, and is not specifically about the characteristics within the passband itself.