Neutral hydrogen gas in 7 high-inclination spiral galaxies - I. The data

High-sensitivity interferometric H. line observations of a small sample of seven galaxies with limiting column densities of a few times 10(19) cm(-2) are presented. A tilted ring model fitting routine was used to determine some global characteristics of the H. distribution and kinematics in the galaxy disks. 4 of the 7 galaxies have low maximum rotation velocities of less than or similar to 125 km s(-1), indicating that they are low-mass systems. Visual inspection shows that at least one galaxy, NGC4700, exhibits signs of extraplanar H. emission. An in-depth search for H. gas in the galaxy halos and the determination of halo gas properties, based on three-dimensional modeling, will follow in a separate publication. Companion galaxies were detected in H. line emission near 3 of the 7 sample galaxies: NGC1511, NGC4565 and NGC4700. One of these, NGC1511, is found to be strongly interacting and is therefore not suitable for a study of the dependence of its halo properties on the level of star formation activity in the underlying disk. In the case of NGC 4700 the companion galaxy has no visible influence on its gas kinematics, while NGC 4565 might be affected by its interaction with two small companions.