PhosphorSWL

PhosphorSWL is a shortwave broadcast schedule browser and numbers station reference, rendered through the green phosphor glow of a Cold War signals intelligence console. Your phone becomes a monitoring station — a frequency dial, a schedule grid, a station database, and a curated dossier of every numbers station still whispering into the void.

BROADCAST SCHEDULES

Browse over 10,000 shortwave broadcast entries from the EiBi database — the most comprehensive freely-licensed shortwave schedule resource in existence. Filter by frequency band, time, language, and target area. See what's on air right now. Search for stations by name, country, or frequency. Every broadcast entry includes transmission times, languages, target areas, transmitter sites, and signal path maps showing the great circle route from transmitter to target.

Schedule data refreshes automatically from EiBi, keeping your listings current through seasonal schedule changes.

NUMBERS STATIONS

The centrepiece. A personally curated database of known numbers stations — active, historic, and legendary. ENIGMA designators, frequencies, schedules, operators, signal characteristics, and full station profiles assembled from publicly observable facts.

From E06 "Russian Man" still counting for the GRU, to the ghost of E03 "The Lincolnshire Poacher" — the most iconic numbers station ever recorded, silenced in 2008 after decades broadcasting from RAF Akrotiri. The Buzzer on 4625 kHz. The Pip. The Squeaky Wheel. Cuban DGI digital modes. Chinese military networks. Polish intelligence. Every station for which sufficient factual data exists.

This is not a decoder. It is a field manual for the darkest inhabitants of the radio spectrum.

SCANNER

Scroll the entire shortwave spectrum from VLF submarine communications through every broadcasting band. Band headers mark the boundaries. Tap any entry for full details and signal path mapping.

HF PROPAGATION

Live HF propagation conditions from NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, derived from the planetary K-index. Band-aware — lower frequencies are more resilient to geomagnetic disturbance than upper HF. The status bar tells you whether the ionosphere is cooperating before you tune in.

THE INTERFACE

Three phosphor colour modes: green (default), amber, and red. Red mode preserves scotopic dark adaptation for night-time listening — the same principle used in military operations rooms, submarine control rooms, and observatory domes.

CRT scanlines. Phosphor glow. A frequency readout rendered in segmented digits. Function key tabs. A UTC clock. No bright colours, no rounded corners, no friendly illustrations. This is a monitoring console, not a lifestyle app.

FAVOURITES

Bookmark any broadcast or numbers station for quick access. Your listening post, organised.

DATA SOURCES

Broadcast schedules: EiBi Shortwave Schedule Database (eibispace.de), freely licensed for third-party use.
Numbers station data: curated from Priyom.org, ENIGMA 2000, Numbers & Oddities, and the Signal Identification Wiki.
Propagation data: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (public domain).
All station observations are factual records of publicly receivable radio transmissions.

No subscriptions. No in-app purchases. No ads. No tracking. One price. The ether is full of ghosts. This is a ghost detector.