redacted-Limiting-Competition-under-SAT_ACC-Rev1.pdf

Control No:

Version – February 2017

Memorandum for Record – Limiting Competition at or below the Simplified Acquisition Threshold

1. Contracting Activity: Army Contracting Command - Aberdeen Proving Ground, Huachuca Division, 2133 Cushing Street, Building 61801, Fort Huachuca, Arizona 85613-

2. Description of Action: Fort Huachuca, Information Systems Engineering Command (ISEC) requests a new Firm Fixed Price Brand Name purchase order for four (4) C2.0 Commissioning kits NTi XL2 Analyzer. The Government project award by 15 April 2021 using Fiscal Year 2021 (FY 21) Other Procurement Army (OPA) Funds will be used.

3. Description of Services or Supplies:

The C2.0 Deluxe Commissioning kit is fabricated by AQAV, a non-profit corporation. It is a completed set of collective test meters, customized cables, related adaptors and connectors. The set is capable of performing quality assurance test and System Acceptance test for most audiovisual systems IAW AV 9000 and InfoComm standards. It is convenience compacted in a FAA approved case for transportation to test sites.

The kit possesses critical salient characteristics to test, evaluate, and determine performance factors of AV systems such as Signal to Noise Ratio (S/N), Total Harmonic Distortion (THD), Projection Contrast Ratio, Audio balancing, Speech Intelligibility (STIPA), and Reverberation Time. It proved to fully support the ISEC QA process in compliant with ANSI/INFOCOMM standards as well as AV9000 standards.

The kit consists of major components below

- A Kill-a-Watt meter capable of monitoring the electricity usage of the AV equipment.

- Two (2) sets of customized cables and adaptors capable of connecting of test equipment to most of inputs/outputs of AV systems.

- A DVD/Blu-Ray (G-Rated) set capable of generating the audio and motion images for AV tests.

- An Electric Receptacle Tester capable of testing ground faults at the work area receptacles.

- A FAA approved Pelican 1510 compartmentalized case capable of secured holding the meters, cables, connectors for air/ground transportation to test locations.

- A Fluke 115 Digital Multimeter capable of testing ground resistance and ground current levels.

- A Fluke 61 Infrared Thermometer capable of measuring temperature inside equipment rooms / racks / credenzas.

- A Marshall 4K Signal Generator capable of Generating 4K video testing signal.

- A NTi Audio MR-PRO Minirator Audio Signal Generator for generating a wide range of audio test signals for the calibration, maintenance and repair of professional audio systems including testing of uniform audio coverage in a conference room. The generator is completely compatible with the NTi XL2 Analyzer and M4261 Microphone.

- NTi STIPA Option, a software package for generating and measuring STIPA signal.

- A NTi XL2 Analyzer and M4261 Microphone capable of measuring and monitoring conference room sound pressure levels, environmental noise, Signal to Noise ratio (S/N), and Total Harmonic Distortion (THD), and speech intelligent (STIPA) of an audio system.

- A RDL Audio Tester capable of generating and monitoring audio signals.

- Sekonic i-346 Light Meter capable of measuring the brightness of each setting of the lighting plan for each room.

- A NTi TalkBox with a power adaptor capable of generating audio signals for audio testing especially for speech intelligibility measurements in evacuation and announcement systems, as well as for level alignment of teleconference or any audio system.

Four (4) C2.0 Commissioning kits are required for this purchase.

The total cost for these 4 kits is $

4. Authority: FAR 13.106-1(b)(1): For purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold (SAT), only one source reasonably available, urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, brand name, or industrial mobilization.

5. Reasons for Authority Cited: The AQAV is a nonprofit corporation specializes in improvement of audiovisual systems. It authored the AV9000 standards. The AQAV is the only corporation that provides a collective C2.0 Deluxe Commissioning kit. The kit possesses critical salient characteristics that are capable of performing the complete tests on most new and existing audiovisual systems in according with the AV9000 standards and InfoComm standards. The Quality Assurance team of the US Information Systems Engineering Command has used the kit for all HSMCC QA duties in last three years.

USAISEC is providing Quality Assurance services to all Home Station Mission Command Centers (HSMCC) audiovisual systems. The QA process required inspection, testing, and evaluating the operation/ performance of the systems.

The timing of these tasks are critical to the continued support of the HSMCC systems for the mission command headquarters. Failure to acquire these four kits will further delay the systems commissioning and complicate the efforts to sustain the Mission Command AV system capabilities.

6. Publicizing Contract Actions: For FAR Part 13 actions, the public display and synopsis requirements of FAR 5.101 and FAR 5.203 does apply due to the dollar threshold. Action is a brand name restriction and is under $150K, but over $25K and will be redacted and posted with the solicitation.

7. Market Research: The Quality Assurance team of the US Information Systems Engineering Command had tried to get a CHESS quote for the required test equipment but none was available on the CHESS. The team then extended the market research to the internet and found most of the equipment needed on many web sites including Amazon site. Only one item, the C2.0 Deluxe Commissioning kit, could only be found from a sole source, the AQAV.org site.

The Quality Assurance team of the US Information Systems Engineering Command had been conversant with the C2.0 Deluxe Commissioning kit. The team has been trained using the similar kit. The team has also used the kit for all HSMCC QA duties in last three years. Therefore no additional and expensive training time on the kit is required.

8. Other Facts: N/A

9. Technical/Requirements Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

10 Contracting Officer Certification/Approval: I hereby determine that the anticipated cost or price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable. I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief, and that completing this purchase as a brand name requirement and is in the best interest of the Government. Additional I approve this justification to limit competition subject to the availability of funds and provided that the services or supplies herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.