Radio patrol of the northern Milky Way - A survey for variable sources

Repeated observations of the entire northern galactic plane are being carried out at a wavelength of 6 cm and resolution of 2.7 arcmin in a survey for variable radio sources with the NRAO 91-m transit telescope. Details of the patrol program are described together with results on the first five variable sources discovered, including one periodic variable with a period of 26.52 days. Accurate radio positions for four of the sources have been obtained with the Very Large Array, and possible optical counterparts are discussed. The survey data base is also being used to generate a very sensitive differential map of the galactic plane, and a new map of the supernova remnant G127+0.5 is presented. The central source in G127+0.5 was found to be constant on time scales of a few days to one year.