Over the last 18 years or so a large-scale monitoring programme has been undertaken with the UK 1.2 m Schmidt telescope in field 287 at 21h 28m, −45 deg. Plates have been taken over all timescales from 1 hour to 17 years in red and blue passbands, and large numbers of plates have also been taken in other passbands to give deep coverage in U, B, V, R and I. The field is calibrated with some 200 CCD and photoelectric standards, and covers approximately 25 square degrees.