Light curves of 261 nearby pulsating M giants

The data are supplemented with independent photoelectric observations of 34 of the brightest stars, including 11 that were not part of the CCD survey, and a previously unpublished long time- series of VZ Cam. Pulsation periods and amplitudes are established for 247 of these stars, the majority of which have not been determined before.

All M giants with sufficient observations for period determination are found to be variable, with 87 per cent of the sample (at a signal-to-noise ratio of >=7.5) exhibiting multiperiodic behaviour. The period ratios of local SRVs are in excellent agreement with those in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Apparent K-band magnitudes are extracted from multiple near-infrared catalogues and analysed to determine the most reliable values.