@biochem_fan You've got me there. My idea of what to use as IMAGE_PEDESTAL changed over time. After the publication there were people asking about the choice. I don't have a best answer there. Nor them. This is just a suggested value that worked for us.
@RubinsteinJohn @IsraelF96135088@WimJHH The most recent event when the beam intensity on camera and recover turned out to be a ground loop. Ground loop problem does not show symptom until a new current-drawing device is added to the loop, so it is not immediate.
@RubinsteinJohn @IsraelF96135088@WimJHH We have not seen a genuine tip terracing for a few years now since XFEG. I don't recall gun current fluctuation in those cases. It is more like a loss in beam focus. You would see, the focused beam split at high mag during the event which changes the intensity into the column.