Frequency Asked Questions


What is the FccTestOnline website?

The FccTestOnline™ website provides adaptive question drill to prepare you for the FCC commercial radio operator license exams.


What makes the FccTestOnline website special?

Our special The Software that Knows You™ programming keeps track of your progress through the course. Like a patient tutor, our “intelligent repetition” algorithm repeats each question optimally — ones that give you trouble are repeated sooner, while ones you answer correctly are reviewed later.  Rather than repeating questions at random, it focuses your study time where you need it.


  Books Random exams FccTestOnline
Study materials Yes No No
Active learning No Yes Yes
Tracks your progress No No Yes
Adaptive learning No No Yes

Does the FccTestOnline website replace books and courses?

No.  First, use the books to learn the material.  Then, use this website to drill the questions and prepare for the actual exam.

One fairly popular book for elements 1, 3, and 8 is the GROL+RADAR Study Manual by Gordon West and the W5YI group.  (It gets about 4.5 stars out of 5 on Amazon Prime.)


Does the FccTestOnline website use the actual questions from the FCC question pools?

Yes, we use the questions directly from the FCC-published question pools (found here).  These are the exact same questions and answer choices you will see on the real exam, although we have corrected some typos.

As of July 2017, our site is completely up-to-date with the latest versions of the FCC question pools:

  • Element 1 (last updated June 2009)
  • Element 3 (last updated June 2009)
  • Element 6 (last updated June 2009)
  • Element 7 (last updated October 2012)
  • Element 7R (last updated October 2012)
  • Element 8 (last updated June 2009)
  • Element 9 (last updated October 2012)


Which elements do I need to take?

There are three permits, five licenses, three certificates, and two endorsements available.  Read up on the requirements for each on the FCC website here.

Then figure out which elements to take on the FCC website here.


I found an error in one of the questions!

You are not alone.  We have found numerous typos and outright errors in the official question pools.  Let us know what else you find, and we'll notify the FCC.


Are all of these questions really on the exam?



Where do I take the actual exam?

After you have prepared on our website, you must pass the actual exam in person at a Commercial Operator License Examination Manager (COLEM).  Contact the COLEM directly for pricing and scheduling information.


Is the FccTestOnline website easy to use?





How does the FccTestOnline website decide which questions to present?


  • Your correct and incorrect answer history for the question.
  • How difficult other students find the question.
  • How quickly you learned other questions in the same topic.






The User options screen also includes a Repetition delay factor option that influences the program's question choosing algorithm.  Increase this factor to increase the time between question repetitions.  Decrease it to see questions sooner.  Regardless of this setting, the program still uses "intelligent repetition" and shows you questions with low scores sooner than questions with high scores.


What if the FccTestOnline website asks a question I don't know the answer to?

If you don't know the answer, your can guess.  Trying to puzzle out answer keeps the brain awake.  If you can't make an educated guess, press the Show answer button.


What does the Show answer button do?




What does the 50/50 button do?



What does the Skip subject for now button do?

Skip subject for now allows you to temporarily delay dealing with a set of related questions.  For instance, if you are just not in the mood to deal with questions that require calculations, you can skip them.  However, the program continues to pester you about them periodically, so you may prefer to learn them and get them out of the way.


Is guessing bad?



How can I coordinate my studies on your website with information in the study manuals?

If you plan to use other study materials in conjunction with the website, you should turn on the Show question numbers option on the User options screen.  You will see the official question number in small gray letters after each question.  These are the same question numbers used in the various study materials. 


What are topics?

Click Choose topics and notice the hierarchy of topics.  The top level is the country you currently have selected, the second is the exam, and the third is the topic within the exam.  Check the checkboxes beside the exams or topics you want to study.  To change countries, click one of the links at the bottom of the Choose topics screen.


How are topic scores calculated?


Topic scores are a good way to get an idea of your progress through the material.  Once your score for an exam level reaches 90% or more, you have a good shot at a perfect score on that exam! (When you get a perfect score, please tell everyone that you studied with the FccTestOnline™ website!)








Many questions are repeated, either identically or with slightly different phrasing, on different exams.  The FccTestOnline™ website links these questions together.  When you answer one in the group, you get full or partial credit for the others.

So, while you may only be studying the questions for one license exam, you are actually learning material that appears on other exams, and the program reflects this fact in your scores for those exams.  If you eventually switch over to study for that other exam, the material you have already learned will appropriately be treated as review, rather than new material.


How do I interpret the "score bars"?




What does it mean when the program says “No new questions available in the course” in study mode?



What is User Rank?

User rank shows how your total score (for all exams) compares to other student's.  You start below thousands of other students.  Do you have what it takes to get into the Top 10?


What is the Session score?




What is the View Courses screen?

View Courses input options


  • Select which question pool to view.
  • Select a sort order:
    • “Question pool” is the FCC's order, including headings to show the FCC's question pool organization.
    • “Last answered” shows how long since you've seen each question.
  • Limit the questions if desired:
    • “Weak” questions (pink background) need work.
    • “Due for review” questions (red outline) are ones that the intelligent repetition algorithm wants you to review now, based on your study history and your repetition delay factor.
  • If you're blind, you can turn off the questions with figures.
  • Choose display options:
    • The background colors show how you're doing with each question, but you might turn that off if you're printing out the question pool for someone else.
    • The FCC question numbers let you coordinate you studies with other resources.


  • View courses is the manual mode, where you choose for yourself.  Just list the questions you want to study, then click “Drill these questions” to drill them all.  Or you can click on a section heading or single question to drill smaller pieces.

Drill these questions button
Do you think you can do a better job than our intelligent repetition algorithm?  The View courses screen gives you the power, but use it wisely!  You might be tempted to start at the beginning and try to turn everything green, but long-term retention is best served by seeing questions at expanding intervals over a long period of time.  If it doesn't yet have a red border, then our intelligent repetition algorithm thinks it's too soon for a repeat.  Focusing on unseen questions might be a better use of your time.

If you want to approximate our intelligent repetition algorithm:

  • Give first priority to questions that are due for repeat (red border), in question pool order.
  • Give next priority to unseen questions (yellow background), in question pool order.
  • When there are no unseen or due questions, drill questions in “repeat due” order.


Why should I create an account?


Please note that free trial accounts are deleted after 5000 days of inactivity.  To keep your free trial going, you should login and answer a few questions at least once every 5000 days.


Do I have to supply my name?



Why does it ask for my birthday?




How much does it cost?

The site is currently free.  We reserve the right to switch to subscription-access at any time.


Can I share my username/password with others?




Can I purchase the program on CD?


  • There is no software to download or install.
  • You can access your account from any Internet connection — home, work, school, etc.
  • Because all transactions go through our server, we can gather statistics on which questions people get wrong most often, which allows us to put more focus on the harder questions.