  We initiated digitization of the Moscow collection of astronomical plates
using flatbed scanners. Techniques of photographic photometry of the digital
images were applied, enabling an effective search for new variable stars. Our
search for new variables among 140000 stars in the 10 x 5 degrees northern half
of the field centered at 66 Oph, photographed with the Sternberg Institute's
40-cm astrograph in 1976--1995, gave 274 new discoveries, among them: 2
probable Population II Cepheids; 81 eclipsing variables; 5 high-amplitude Delta
Scuti stars (HADSs); 82 RR Lyr stars; 62 red irregular variables and 41 red
semiregular stars; 1 slow irregular variable not red in color. Light elements
were determined for periodic variable stars. We detected about 30 variability
suspects for follow-up CCD observations, confirmed 11 stars from the New
Catalogue of Suspected Variable Stars, and derived new light elements for 2
stars already contained in the General Catalogue of Variable Stars.
