THE RADIO PROPERTIES OF HIGH-REDSHIFT QUASARS .1. DUAL-FREQUENCY OBSERVATIONS OF 79 STEEP-SPECTRUM QUASARS AT Z-GREATER-THAN-1.5

We have made sensitive VLA observations of virtually all known high-re dshift (z > 1.5) radio-loud QSOs with extended radio morphologies. The resulting images (at 6 and 2 cm wavelength, including linear polariza tion) have angular resolutions of typically 0.''4 and 0.''15 and are c ompiled here. This compilation of maps will permit the extraction of n umerous radio source parameters, constituting a data base for comprehe nsive statistical analyses to be explored in subsequent papers. The da ta base is particularly useful for statistical studies. The key charac teristics of the sample are the narrow redshift range, the narrow dist ribution in linear resolutions of the maps, the narrow distribution of map sensitivity to emitting regions of standard physical characterist ics, and the relatively narrow range of source luminosities. As a resu lt of these properties, the sample enjoys relative freedom from the ef fects of parameter correlations with redshift and luminosity. A brief discussion of the sample characteristics and some elaboration of the p articular advantages of this sample are presented. Some clear trends i n the data are discussed briefly.