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Marine Radio Operator Permit
Element 1
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Marine Radio Operator Permit · 144 questions

Element 1 - USCG Exam Questions

Basic radio law and operating practice for the Marine Radio Operator Permit: equipment and licence requirements, watchkeeping, distress and safety procedures, and frequency rules. The exam asks 24 questions from this pool; 18 correct passes.

Every question below is a real U.S. Coast Guard exam question with four choices. Answer one and the correct choice is revealed instantly, with the USCG reference and illustration where the question uses one.

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All Element 1 questions

Questions 1–100 of 144 · page 1 of 2

  1. #1 What is a requirement of all marine transmitting apparatus used aboard United States vessels?
  2. #2 What transmitting equipment is authorized for use by a station in the maritime services?
  3. #3 Small passenger vessels that sail 20 to 150 nautical miles from the nearest land must have what additional equipment?
  4. #4 What equipment is programmed to initiate transmission of distress alerts and calls to individual stations?
  5. #5 What is the minimum transmitter power level required by the FCC for a medium-frequency transmitter aboard a compulsorily fitted vessel?
  6. #6 Shipboard transmitters using F3E emission (FM voice) may not exceed what carrier power?
  7. #7 Which commercial radio operator license is required to operate a fixed-tuned ship RADAR station with external controls?
  8. #8 When is a Marine Radio Operator Permit or higher license required for aircraft communications?
  9. #9 Which of the following persons are ineligible to be issued a commercial radio operator license?
  10. #10 What are the radio operator requirements of a passenger ship equipped with a GMDSS installation?
  11. #11 What is the minimum radio operator requirement for ships subject to the Great Lakes Radio Agreement?
  12. #12 What is a requirement of every commercial operator on duty and in charge of a transmitting system?
  13. #13 Radio watches for compulsory radiotelephone stations will include the following:
  14. #14 All compulsory equipped cargo ships (except those operating under GMDSS regulations or in a VTS) while being navigated outside of a harbor or port, sh...
  15. #15 What channel must all compulsory, non-GMDSS vessels monitor at all times in the open sea?
  16. #16 When a watch is required on 2182 kHz, at how many minutes past the hour must a 3 minute silent period be observed?
  17. #17 Which is true concerning a required watch on VHF Ch-16?
  18. #18 What are the mandatory DSC watchkeeping bands/channels?
  19. #19 Who is required to make entries in a required service or maintenance log?
  20. #20 Who is responsible for the proper maintenance of station logs?
  21. #21 Where must ship station logs be kept during a voyage?
  22. #22 What is the proper procedure for making a correction in the station log?
  23. #23 How long should station logs be retained when there are entries relating to distress or disaster situations?
  24. #24 How long should station logs be retained when there are no entries relating to distress or disaster situations?
  25. #25 Radiotelephone stations required to keep logs of their transmissions must include:
  26. #26 Which of the following is true?
  27. #27 Where should the GMDSS radio log be kept on board ship?
  28. #28 Which of the following statements is true?
  29. #29 Which of the following logkeeping statements is true?
  30. #30 Which of the following statements concerning log entries is false?
  31. #31 What regulations govern the use and operation of FCC-licensed ship stations in international waters?
  32. #32 When may the operator of a ship radio station allow an unlicensed person to speak over the transmitter?
  33. #33 Where do you make an application for inspection of a ship GMDSS radio station?
  34. #34 Who has ultimate control of service at a ship’s radio station?
  35. #35 Where must the principal radiotelephone operating position be installed in a ship station?
  36. #36 By international agreement, which ships must carry radio equipment for the safety of life at sea?
  37. #37 What traffic management service is operated by the U.S. Coast Guard in certain designated water areas to prevent ship collisions, groundings and envir...
  38. #38 What is a bridge-to-bridge station?
  39. #39 When may a bridge-to-bridge transmission be more than 1 watt?
  40. #40 When is it legal to transmit high power on Channel 13?
  41. #41 A ship station using VHF bridge-to-bridge Channel 13:
  42. #42 The primary purpose of bridge-to-bridge communications is:
  43. #43 What is the best way for a radio operator to minimize or prevent interference to other stations?
  44. #44 Under what circumstances may a coast station using telephony transmit a general call to a group of vessels?
  45. #45 Who determines when a ship station may transmit routine traffic destined for a coast or government station in the maritime mobile service?
  46. #46 What is required of a ship station which has established initial contact with another station on 2182 kHz or Ch-16?
  47. #47 How does a coast station notify a ship that it has a message for the ship?
  48. #48 What is the priority of communications?
  49. #49 Under what circumstances may a ship or aircraft station interfere with a public coast station?
  50. #50 Ordinarily, how often would a station using a telephony emission identify?
  51. #51 When using a SSB station on 2182 kHz or VHF-FM on channel 16:
  52. #52 What should a station operator do before making a transmission?
  53. #53 On what frequency should a ship station normally call a coast station when using a radiotelephony emission?
  54. #54 In the International Phonetic Alphabet, the letters E, M, and S are represented by the words:
  55. #55 What information must be included in a Distress message?
  56. #56 What are the highest priority communications from ships at sea?
  57. #57 What is a Distress communication?
  58. #58 What is the order of priority of radiotelephone communications in the maritime services?
  59. #59 The radiotelephone Distress call and message consists of:
  60. #60 What is Distress traffic?
  61. #61 What is a typical Urgency transmission?
  62. #62 What is the internationally recognized Urgency signal?
  63. #63 What is a Safety transmission?
  64. #64 The Urgency signal concerning the safety of a ship, aircraft or person shall be sent only on the authority of:
  65. #65 The Urgency signal has lower priority than:
  66. #66 What safety signal call word is spoken three times, followed by the station call letters spoken three times, to announce a storm warning, danger to na...
  67. #67 What is the fundamental concept of the GMDSS?
  68. #68 The primary purpose of the GMDSS is to:
  69. #69 What is the basic concept of GMDSS?
  70. #70 GMDSS is primarily a system based on?
  71. #71 What is the responsibility of vessels under GMDSS?
  72. #72 GMDSS is required for which of the following?
  73. #73 What is the purpose of the INT-USA control settings on a VHF?
  74. #74 VHF ship station transmitters must have the capability of reducing carrier power to:
  75. #75 The Dual Watch (DW) function is used to:
  76. #76 Which of the following statements best describes the correct setting for manual adjustment of the squelch control?
  77. #77 The “Scan” function is used to:
  78. #78 Why must all VHF Distress, Urgency and Safety communications (as well as VTS traffic calls) be performed in Simplex operating mode?
  79. #79 What channel must VHF-FM-equipped vessels monitor at all times when the vessel is at sea?
  80. #80 What is the aircraft frequency and emission used for distress communications?
  81. #81 Which VHF channel is used only for digital selective calling?
  82. #82 Which channel is utilized for the required bridge-to-bridge watch?
  83. #83 Which channel would most likely be used for routine ship-to-ship voice traffic?
  84. #84 What channel would you use to place a call to a shore telephone?
  85. #85 Which modes could be selected to receive vessel traffic lists from high seas shore stations?
  86. #86 Why must all MF-HF Distress, Urgency and Safety communications take place solely on the 6 assigned frequencies and in the simplex operating mode?
  87. #87 To set-up the MF/HF transceiver for a voice call to a coast station, the operator must:
  88. #88 MF/HF transceiver power levels should be set:
  89. #89 To set-up the MF/HF transceiver for a TELEX call to a coast station, the operator must:
  90. #90 What is the purpose of the Receiver Incremental Tuning (RIT) or “Clarifier” control?
  91. #91 On what frequency would a vessel normally call another ship station when using a radiotelephony emission?
  92. #92 What is the MF radiotelephony calling and Distress frequency?
  93. #93 For general communications purposes, paired frequencies are:
  94. #94 What emission must be used when operating on the MF distress and calling voice frequency?
  95. #95 Which of the following defines high frequency “ITU Channel 1212”?
  96. #96 For general communications purposes, simplex frequencies are:
  97. #97 What is the proper procedure for testing a radiotelephone installation?
  98. #98 When testing is conducted on 2182 kHz or Ch-16, testing should not continue for more than ______ in any 5-minute period.
  99. #99 Under GMDSS, a compulsory VHF-DSC radiotelephone installation must be tested at what minimum intervals at sea?
  100. #100 The best way to test the MF-HF NBDP system is?

Element 1 questions: what to expect

Q How many Element 1 questions are in the Marine Radio Operator Permit pool?

There are 144 Element 1 questions on this site, every one released by the U.S. Coast Guard or taken from the National Maritime Center's sample examinations, with its correct answer. The exam draws its Element 1 module from the same pool.

Q What score do I need to pass the Element 1 module?

Most USCG exam modules, including Element 1, require 70 percent to pass. Rules of the Road modules require 90 percent.

Q Are these the real USCG Element 1 exam questions?

Yes. They are the published U.S. Coast Guard questions, matched to the National Maritime Center's 2026 sample examinations. Answer any question to see the correct choice, the USCG reference and the illustration where the question uses one.

About the Marine Radio Operator Permit question pool

The complete FCC Element 1 question pool for the Marine Radio Operator Permit (MROP): basic radio law and operating practice every maritime radio operator must know. Element 1 is also the written element shared by the GMDSS Radio Operator and Maintainer licences.