RFI Responses 6APR2022.pdf

1. When would be a good day/time to have my technician on site for a survey? I see that you mention in the SOW’s that you would like to coordinate so any interested party can do their survey on the same day.

- Site visit coordination starts with the customer.

- Site visit access will need to be coordinated for each site visited.

- Site visit must be conducted during normal working hours 0800-1600HST

- Site visit request should be made at least 2 weeks in advance for key control purpose and or escort requirements.

2. Can you please provide coordinates for the tower locations?

- Humuula

- Latitude: 19° 43 ' 6.6 " N

- Longitude: 155° 27 ' 13.0 " W

- Elevation: 7530.0 ft

- Azimuth: 212.60°

- Mauna Loa

- 19° 32 ' 12.2 " N

- 155° 34 ' 34.3 " W

- 11110.0 ft

- 32.56°

- PTA

- 19° 45 ' 21.1 " N

- 155° 32 ' 5.8 " W

- 6375.0 ft

- 190.12°

3. Please clarify the "ACCEPTABLE QUALITY LEVEL" requirement of "Fully functional microwave link installed 100%, within 120 days of award."

a. Is this standard language that can be updated to reflect the issues of supply chain in the wake of COVID? There are supply chain delays across every industry due to variables such as logistics, shipping, chip production, worker shortages, etc.

- The customer is willing to work with the providers to adjust the time for reasonable delays.

4. The solicitation now requires both AES 256 encryption and FIPS 140-2 certification:

a. On 2/11,Christopher Doyle informed us that AES 256 is acceptable with FIPS 140-2 certification on a roadmap. Has this changed?

- FIPS 140-2 certification required.

5. The solicitation also indicates a requirement of 99% uptime. This would be approximately 3.5 days of unscheduled downtime. Please verify that 99% is correct.

- The reliability requirement is 99.999% (.999 should not have been omitted)

6. In reference to Section 2.1 of both documents:

a. “e) Any antenna replacements shall be mounted on their respective towers in a manner that they will remain correctly pointed through a category 3 hurricane or stronger.”

Is this statement transposed? Should it read “… category 3 or less”?

- No the scope of the language is correct the antenna(s) must remain correctly pointed throughout a category 3 hurricane at a minimum.

b. “h) Transfer existing circuits to new microwave link and de-install existing microwave link.” What availability is required during the transition from the old system to the new?

Is it acceptable to have a scheduled system outage during the transition? If so, what is the allowable outage window?

- This is a good question, taking into consideration that the potential antenna replacements will use the same antenna footprint at PTA and Humuula. The customer anticipates approximately 3 days to install, activate, configure, test, and cut over each link.

c. Would you like us to recommend a redundant solution for high availability and reliability, such as a 1+1 or 2+0 radio configuration?

- You are free to recommend solution, for customer’s consideration.

6. Is the vendor responsible for FCC licensing?

- This requirement falls under NTIA License spectrum (7.125– 8.500 GHz);

existing spectrum will be used for this requirement.

7. Will a JSC study required? If so, is the vendor responsible for coordinating?

- No, spectrum has already been assigned for requirement.

8. In attachment 1.1 (Attachment 1.1 LMR-HI Microwave Upgrade PWS PTA (Big Island)

10Feb22) section 2.1.b it is stated: Link throughput shall provide data availability of 99% reliability. In order to calculate this we will need exact coordinates and heights of all the dishes in the system. 99% doesn't meet any governmental requirements. Typically the requirements are

99.99% or 99.999% reliability for path performance. 99% would allow for up to 864 seconds of outage per day which we believe to be totally unacceptable.

- The reliability requirement is 99.999% (.999 should not have been omitted)

9. In attachment 1.1 section 2.1.d it is stated: Antenna reuses at PTA highly recommended if physical wear and tear supports reuse. If the antenna is to be replaced we will need to know the exact make and model of the existing dish. If unknown on the model we will need to know at a minimum the connector type that is on the rear of the dish. It is assumed that the existing dishes are fed via elliptical waveguide - True?

- Yes elliptical wave guide (7.125-8500GHz). (Part# EW77)

- Pre-tuned conn. for ew77 cpr112g flange 7.725-8.50 (Part# 177SE)

10. In attachment 1.1 section 2.1.e it is stated: Any antenna replacements shall be mounted on their respective towers in a manner that they will remain correctly pointed through a category 3 hurricane or stronger. No antenna manufacturer has specification for operational wind higher than

118 m.p.h and category 3 hurricane wind is up to 129 m.p.h.. All manufacturer do offer antennas with survivability rating up to and higher than 129 m.p.h. Is this acceptable?

- 129Mph or higher is acceptable.

11. In attachment 1.1 section 2.1.h it is stated: Transfer existing circuits to new microwave link and de-install existing microwave link. Nowhere in any of the documents provided is it stated as to what the exiting circuits are. Are they DS1's, DS3's, OC3's? We will need a definition of what the exiting circuits are.

- The existing circuits are T1s. We will transition too 10Mb at a later date.

12. In the Salient Characteristics attachment it is stated in the microwave radio section: Support IP throughput Virtually all new microwave equipment from every manufacturer supports IP.

Specifically is the IP traffic Vlan tagged, untagged or a combination. Also is there a minimum IP rate throughput minimum required?

- Minimum throughput requirement per circuit is 10Mb.

13. In the Salient Characteristics attachment it is stated in the microwave radio section: Reliability

99% Is this reliability of the equipment or the path performance? If it is the path performance then 99% doesn't meet any governmental requirements. Typically the requirements are 99.99% or 99.999% reliability for predicted path performance. This will require a better definition.

- The reliability requirement is 99.999% (.999 should not have been omitted)

14. In the Salient Characteristics attachment it is stated in the microwave radio section: Eclipse Radio

ODU 600, 7 Ghz Split Mount Application or equal. This leads to a multiple part question. First -is there a particular reason for specifying the Eclips ODU600? Second - will the radio be required to be a split mount - being split mount leaves the high wind vulnerability even higher than all indoor.

- There is no specific reason other than historical data from other sites.

- The customer requires a microwave replacement “solution” that fits in the current microwave footprint and “meets” the salient characteristics requirements.

15. In the Salient Characteristics attachment it is stated in the microwave radio section: Alarm I/O

Card Will contact closures be the only alarm interface? Will there also be any SNMP managers to interface with?

- No.

- The customer requires a microwave replacement “solution” that fits in the current microwave footprint and “meets” the salient characteristics requirements.

16. In the Salient Characteristics attachment it is stated in the microwave radio section: Fit Existing

Antennas. We will need to know the exact make and model number of the existing antennas. At a minimum we will need the dish sizes and connector type. Photos would also be helpful

- TRuepoint 4 foot (1.2 meter) Valuline High Performance - Wide Band -Single

Polarized Antenna (Detachable) (Part# HP6-71W-P3A/C)

- TRuepoint 6 foot (1.8 meter) High Performance - Wide Band – Single

Polarized Antenna (Part# 101-903005-702)

17. Are we responsible for any backend work or are we just connecting directly to a GFE switch / ethernet drop?

- Just connect to the Ethernet drop.

18. Is there room available for storage of equipment once it is staged and shipped?

- Storage space is at your risk.

- Storage space is limited by capacity and time.

- There is enough storage space to support rack mountable equipment.

- There is “not” enough storage space to support antennas, mounting hardware and/or cabling.

- Storage time is limit to weeks “not” months (as it would consume work area floor space).

19. What is the condition of grounding on the towers / shelters ETC?

- PTA has an earth ground tower/facility

- Huumula has an earth ground tower/facility

- MLO has an electronic ground tower/shelter

20. Where will the indoor equipment be mounted? Racks inside of buildings / shelters?

- Indoor equipment will mount in existing racks inside building/shelters.

Site Information

Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) to Mauna Loa Observatory (MLO).

21. Please provide coordinates for PTA tower location

- 19° 45 ' 21.1 " N

- 155° 32 ' 5.8 " W

- 6375.0 ft

- 190.12°

22. Please provide coordinates for MLO tower location

- 19° 32 ' 12.2 " N

- 155° 34 ' 34.3 "

- W 11110.0 ft

- 32.56°

23. How high is the tower at PTA?

a. How far above ground level are the antennas currently mounted?

- Antenna(s) centerline: 20ft

b. What height options are available?

- Any new antenna solution “must” fit in the existing footprint without negatively impacting any other RF requirements on the monopole.

24. How high is the tower at MLO?

a. How far above ground level are the antennas currently mounted?

- Antenna(s) centerline: 19ft.

b. What height options are available?

- Any new antenna solution “must” fit in the existing footprint without negatively impacting any other RF requirements on the monopole.

25. The RFQ states 99% reliability, though 99.999% is the industry standard – is there a reason for the decreased reliability?

- The reliability requirement is 99.999% (.999 should not have been omitted)

26. What is the current length of the cable runs for the antennas at PTA and MOL?

- PTA Transmission line length: 325ft

- MLO Transmission line length: 330ft

27. What equipment (manu, model) is currently installed for the link that will be removed?

- TRuepoint 5207 Radio v1, MHSB Unequal split (1+1) configuration

28. What is the expected link throughput? Min? max?

- Minimum throughput is 100Mbps

29. Are there any site access restrictions?

- Yes

- Site visit coordination starts with the customer.

- Site visit access will need to be coordinated for each site visited.

- Site visit must be conducted during normal working hours 0800-1600HST

- Site visit request should be made at least 2 weeks in advance for key control purpose and or escort requirements

Mauna Loa Observatory (MLO) to Humuula.

30. Please provide coordinates for Hamuula tower location

- Latitude: 19° 43 ' 6.6 " N

- Longitude: 155° 27 ' 13.0 " W

- Elevation: 7530.0 ft

- Azimuth: 212.60°

31. How high is the tower at Hamuula?

a. How far above ground level are the antennas currently mounted?

- Antenna(s) centerline: 15ft

b. What height options are available?

- Any new antenna solution “must” fit in the existing footprint without negatively impacting any other RF requirements on the monopole.

32. The RFQ states 99% reliability, though 99.999% is the industry standard – is there a reason for the decreased reliability?

- The reliability requirement is 99.999% (.999 should not have been omitted)

33. What is the current length of the cable runs for the antenna at Hamuula?

- Transmission line length: 46ft

34. What equipment (manu, model) is currently installed for the link that will be removed?

- TRuepoint 5207 Radio v1, MHSB Unequal split (1+1) configuration

35. What is the expected link throughput? Min? max?

- Minimum throughput is 100Mbps

36. Are there any site access restrictions?

- Yes

- Site visit coordination starts with the customer.

- Site visit access will need to be coordinated for each site visited.

- Site visit must be conducted during normal working hours 0800-1600HST

- Site visit request should be made at least 2 weeks in advance for key control purpose and or escort requirements.

37. Can you give the coordinates or address for the microwave sites?

- Yes

- Humuula

- Latitude: 19° 43 ' 6.6 " N

- Longitude: 155° 27 ' 13.0 " W

- Elevation: 7530.0 ft

- Azimuth: 212.60°

- Mauna Loa

- 19° 32 ' 12.2 " N

- 155° 34 ' 34.3 " W

- 11110.0 ft

- 32.56°

- PTA

- 19° 45 ' 21.1 " N

- 155° 32 ' 5.8 "

- W 6375.0 ft

- 190.12°

38. Can you please tell me if the Land Mobile Radio project is required to be bid at Davis Bacon, or prevailing wage rates?

- Davis Bacon is not required for this requirement. You may use prevailing wage rates.

39. Will there be consideration for extra time to quote the project?

- All proposals are due no later than 1600HST on 04/15/22 (Friday)