We present the first results from the CHANG-ES survey , a new survey of 35 edge-on galaxies to search for both in-disk as well as extra-planar radio continuum emission .
CHANG-ES is exploiting the new wide-band , multi-channel capabilities of the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array ( i.e .
the Expanded Very Large Array , or EVLA ) with observations in two bands centered at 1.5 and 6 GHz in a variety of array configurations with full polarization .
The motivation and science case for the survey are presented in a companion paper ( Paper I ) .
These first results are based on C-array test observations in both observing bands of the well-known radio halo galaxy , NGC 4631 .
In this paper , we outline the observations and the data reduction steps that are required for wide-band calibration and mapping of EVLA data , including polarization .

With modest on-source observing times ( 30 minutes at 1.5 GHz and 75 minutes at 6 GHz for the test data ) we have achieved best rms noise levels of 22 and 3.5 \mu Jy beam ^ { -1 } at 1.5 GHz and 6 GHz , respectively .
New disk-halo features have been detected , among them two at 1.5 GHz that appear as loops in projection .

We present the first 1.5 GHz spectral index map of NGC 4631 to be formed from a single wide-band observation in a single array configuration .
This map represents tangent slopes to the intensities within the band centered at 1.5 GHz , rather than fits across widely separated frequencies as has been done in the past and is also the highest spatial resolution spectral index map yet presented for this galaxy .
The average spectral index in the disk is \bar { \alpha } _ { 1.5 GHz } = -0.84 \pm 0.05 indicating that the emission is largely non-thermal , but a small global thermal contribution is sufficient to explain a positive curvature term in the spectral index over the band .
Two specific star forming regions have spectral indices that are consistent with thermal emission .

Polarization results ( uncorrected for internal Faraday rotation ) are consistent with previous observations and also reveal some new features .
On broad scales , we find strong support for the notion that magnetic fields constrain the X-ray emitting hot gas .