  Before and after every 12 hour synthesis observation, the Molonglo
Observatory Synthesis Telescope (MOST) measures the flux densities of ~5
compact extragalactic radio sources, chosen from a list of 55 calibrators. From
1984 to 1996, the MOST made some 58 000 such measurements. We have developed an
algorithm to process this dataset to produce a light curve for each source
spanning this thirteen year period. We find that 18 of the 55 calibrators are
variable, on time scales between one and ten years. There is the tendency for
sources closer to the Galactic Plane to be more likely to vary, which suggests
that the variability is a result of refractive scintillation in the Galactic
interstellar medium. The sources with the flattest radio spectra show the
highest levels of variability, an effect possibly resulting from differing
orientations of the radio axes to the line of sight.
