address reviewer comments

docs/parameter_files.rst

@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ Telescope Configuration
       - 2 is a Gaussian beam with sigma 0.03 radians (for the E-Field beam)
       - 3 is another Airy beam with diameter 12 m
       - 4 is a Gaussian with diameter 14 m
-      - 5 is a Gaussian with with diameter 12 m.
+      - 5 is a Gaussian with diameter 12 m.
       - 6 is a UVBeam (for the MWA) with some keywords specified to pass to UVBeam.read
 
     When specifying a shape parameter for a specific beam_id, the beam type

pyuvsim/simsetup.py

@@ -1013,9 +1013,11 @@ def _construct_beam_list(beam_ids, telconfig, freq_range=None, force_check=False
             beam_file = _check_uvbeam_file(beam_model)
 
             beam_list.append(beam_file)
-        elif "filename" in beam_model:
+        elif isinstance(beam_model, dict) and "filename" in beam_model:
             # this a UVBeam readable file with (possibly) some read kwargs
             beam_file = beam_model["filename"]
+            beam_file = beam_model.pop("filename")
+            read_kwargs = beam_model
             read_kwargs = {}
             for key, value in beam_model.items():
                 if key != "filename":
@@ -1038,7 +1040,7 @@ def _construct_beam_list(beam_ids, telconfig, freq_range=None, force_check=False
                 )
 
             if beam_type not in AnalyticBeam.supported_types:
-                raise ValueError("Undefined beam model type: {}".format(beam_type))
+                raise ValueError(f"Undefined beam model type: {beam_type}")
 
             this_beam_opts = {}
             if isinstance(beam_model, dict):
@@ -1160,7 +1162,7 @@ def parse_telescope_params(tele_params, config_path='', freq_range=None, force_b
         if not os.path.isdir(config_path):
             config_path = os.path.dirname(config_path)
             if not os.path.isdir(config_path):
-                raise ValueError('config_path {} is not a directory'.format(config_path))
+                raise ValueError(f'config_path {config_path} is not a directory')
         telescope_config_name = tele_params['telescope_config_name']
         if not os.path.exists(telescope_config_name):
             telescope_config_name = os.path.join(config_path, telescope_config_name)
@@ -1207,7 +1209,8 @@ def parse_telescope_params(tele_params, config_path='', freq_range=None, force_b
                 layout_csv = os.path.join(config_path, layout_csv)
                 if not os.path.exists(layout_csv):
                     raise ValueError(
-                        'layout_csv file {} from yaml does not exist'.format(layout_csv))
+                        f'layout_csv file {layout_csv} from yaml does not exist'
+                    )
             ant_layout = _parse_layout_csv(layout_csv)
             E, N, U = ant_layout['e'], ant_layout['n'], ant_layout['u']
             antnames = ant_layout['name']
@@ -1478,7 +1481,7 @@ def parse_time_params(time_params):
                     atol=dayspersec):  # To nearest second
                 raise ValueError(
                     "Calculated time array is not consistent with set integration_time."
-                    "\nInput parameters are: {}".format(str(init_time_params)))
+                    f"\nInput parameters are: {init_time_params}")
 
     return_dict['integration_time'] = time_params['integration_time']
     return_dict['time_array'] = time_arr
@@ -2157,7 +2160,7 @@ def uvdata_to_telescope_config(
         telescope_config_path = \
             check_file_exists_and_increment(
                 os.path.join(
-                    path_out, 'telescope_config_{}.yaml'.format(uvdata_in.telescope_name)
+                    path_out, 'telescope_config_{uvdata_in.telescope_name}.yaml'
                 )
             )
         telescope_config_name = os.path.basename(telescope_config_path)
@@ -2185,8 +2188,8 @@ def uvdata_to_telescope_config(
     with open(os.path.join(path_out, telescope_config_name), 'w+') as yfile:
         yaml.dump(yaml_dict, yfile, default_flow_style=False)
 
-    logger.info('Path: {}, telescope_config: {}, layout: {}'.format(
-        path_out, telescope_config_name, layout_csv_name)
+    logger.info(
+        f'Path: {path_out}, telescope_config: {telescope_config_name}, layout: {layout_csv_name}'
     )
 
     if return_names:

pyuvsim/telescope.py

@@ -115,8 +115,8 @@ def __init__(
         self,
         beam_list=None,
         uvb_params=None,
-        uvb_read_kwargs: dict[str: tuple[float, float]] = None,
-        select_params: dict[str: tuple[float, float]] = None,
+        uvb_read_kwargs: dict[str: tuple[float, float]] | None = None,
+        select_params: dict[str: tuple[float, float]] | None = None,
         spline_interp_opts: dict[str: int] | None = None,
         freq_interp_kind: str = "cubic",
         check: bool = True,
@@ -507,43 +507,16 @@ def _str_to_obj(self, beam_id, beam_model, use_shared_mem=False):
 
         path = beam_model  # beam_model = path to UVBeam readable file
         uvb = UVBeam()
-        read_kwargs = {}
-        if len(self.select_params) > 0:
-            read_kwargs = self.select_params
-        if len(self.uvb_read_kwargs) > 0 and beam_id in self.uvb_read_kwargs:
-            # do this after select_params to ensure these overwrite select_params
-            read_kwargs.update(self.uvb_read_kwargs[beam_id])
+        read_kwargs = {**self.select_params, **self.uvb_read_kwargs.get(beam_id, {})}
 
         # always use future shapes
         read_kwargs["use_future_array_shapes"] = True
 
-        if self.select_params is not None:
-            for key, value in self.select_params.items():
-                if key not in read_kwargs:
-                    read_kwargs[key] = value
-
-        if use_shared_mem and (mpi.world_comm is not None):
-            if mpi.rank == 0:
-                try:
-                    uvb.read(path, **read_kwargs)
-                except ValueError:
-                    # If file type is not recognized, assume beamfits,
-                    # which was originally the only option.
-                    uvb.read_beamfits(path, **read_kwargs)
-                    warnings.warn(
-                        weird_beamfits_extension_warning,
-                        DeprecationWarning,
-                    )
-                uvb.peak_normalize()
-            for key, attr in uvb.__dict__.items():
-                if not isinstance(attr, parameter.UVParameter):
-                    continue
-                if key == '_data_array':
-                    uvb.__dict__[key].value = mpi.shared_mem_bcast(attr.value, root=0)
-                else:
-                    uvb.__dict__[key].value = mpi.world_comm.bcast(attr.value, root=0)
-            mpi.world_comm.Barrier()
-        else:
+        if (
+            (mpi.world_comm is not None and use_shared_mem and mpi.rank == 0)
+            or not use_shared_mem
+            or mpi.world_comm is None
+        ):
             try:
                 uvb.read(path, **read_kwargs)
             except ValueError:
@@ -554,6 +527,17 @@ def _str_to_obj(self, beam_id, beam_model, use_shared_mem=False):
                     weird_beamfits_extension_warning,
                     DeprecationWarning,
                 )
+            uvb.peak_normalize()
+
+        if use_shared_mem and (mpi.world_comm is not None):
+            for key, attr in uvb.__dict__.items():
+                if not isinstance(attr, parameter.UVParameter):
+                    continue
+                if key == '_data_array':
+                    uvb.__dict__[key].value = mpi.shared_mem_bcast(attr.value, root=0)
+                else:
+                    uvb.__dict__[key].value = mpi.world_comm.bcast(attr.value, root=0)
+            mpi.world_comm.Barrier()
         for key, val in self.uvb_params.items():
             setattr(uvb, key, val)
         uvb.extra_keywords['beam_path'] = path

pyuvsim/tests/test_telescope.py

@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ def beam_objs_main():
     uvb.use_future_array_shapes()
     uvb.extra_keywords['beam_path'] = herabeam_default
 
+    # beams are always peak normalized inside BeamList
+    uvb.peak_normalize()
+
     uvb2 = uvb.copy()
 
     beams = [uvb, uvb2]