We give a progress report on a programme of observations to obtain flux densities at 8.4 GHz for a large sample of radio sources selected from the Parkes 2700 MHz Survey. So far, about 1000 flux measurements have been made with a typical accuracy of 10%.

We report on a new method of determining radio source positions with the Parkes radio telescope. The method is appreciably quicker than, but has a comparable accuracy to, established methods such as orthogonal scanning. It has been particularly useful during 1989 in tracking the Voyager II spacecraft as it approaches Neptune; a method of accurately pointing at the source of the radio signal was required without the signal degradation which is introduced by moving appreciably off source.

During the second half of 1986 tests were made of a new Q-band (43 GHz) receiver designed for the Parkes radio telescope. As part of the trial observation program 12 symbiotic stars were examined for SiO maser emission. No significant new emission was detected from any of the candidates, although several previously known SiO sources (including one symbiotic star) were confirmed. We conclude that potential SiO maser action near the Mira star in most symbiotic systems is prevented by the presence of the hot companion star.