The Westerbork Northern Sky Survey (WENSS), I. A 570 square degree Mini-Survey around the North Ecliptic Pole

The Westerbork Northern Sky Survey (WENSS) is a low-frequency radio survey that will cover the whole sky north of \delta=30^\circ at a wavelength of 92 cm to a limiting flux density of approximately 18 mJy (5 sigma_rms). This survey has a resolution of 54" X 54" cosec delta and a positional accuracy for strong sources of 1.5". Here we present a source list comprising 11,299 sources and maps of 120 extended sources for a 570 square degree region around the north ecliptic pole, the so-called mini-survey. We discuss the errors and reliability of the source parameters and the completeness of the survey.