Bright extragalactic radio sources at 2.7 GHz - I. The northern hemisphere catalogue

This paper presents a complete sample of 168 radio sources, defined at 2.7 GHz and comprising the brightest sources from the high-frequency surveys made at ANRAO/Parkes, NRAO/Greenbank and MPIfR/Bonn. The sample is complete to S_2.7 = 1.5 Jy over an area of 4.05 sr for which $$\delta\gt10^\circ$$ and $$|b|\gt10^\circ$$. All members of the sample have been observed with the Cambridge 5-km telescope. The sample contains similar numbers of resolved and unresolved sources; the latter are usually the ‘flat-spectrum’ objects which are poorly represented in low-frequency surveys. Of the 168 members, 156 (93 per cent) have optical identifications, while 108 (64 per cent) have measured redshifts. Brief discussions of morphologies, spectra, luminosities, and source counts are given.