LAT1400 temperature & depth recorders and readers

***NOAA'S ACQUISITION & GRANTS OFFICE, WESTERN ACQUISITION DIVISION-BOULDER AND THE SOUTHEAST FISHERIES SCIENCE CENTER/FATES/GEAR RESEARCH BRANCH INTENDS TO NEGOTIATE, ON A SOLE SOURCE BASIS, UNDER AUTHORITY OF FAR 13.106-1(b)(1), WITH LOTEK WIRELESS OUT OF ONTARIO, CANADA FOR LAT1400 TEMPERATURE AND DEPTH RECORDERS.

***THE SOLE SOURCE DETERMINATION IS BASED ON THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION'S (NOAA) REQUIREMENT THAT LOTEK WIRELESS, INC IS THE SOLE PROVIDER OF THE SPECIFIC TEMPERATURE AND DEPTH RECORDERS NEEDED. LOTEK, TDRs HAVE BEEN USED BY NOAA FISHERIES FOR PELAGIC LONGLINE RESEARCH IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC, US ATLANTIC AND THE GULF OF MEXICO. THE COLLECTED DATA FROM ALL PELAGIC LONGLINE RESEARCH MUST BE CONSISTENT BETWEEN THE PROJECTS SO RESULTS MAY BE COMBINED AND COMPARED. IN ADDITION, LOTEK TDRs ARE ALREADY BEING DEPLOYED WITH THE CURRENT PROJECT. THE REQUESTED PURCHASE IS FOR ADDITIONAL TDRs. MARKET RESEARCH WAS UNSUCCESSFUL AT LOCATING ANOTHER VENDOR THAT CAN PRODUCE TDRs THAT WOULD BE COMPARABLE TO THE LAT 1400. SPECIFICALLY, TDRs PRODUCED BY OTHER MANUFACTURERES ARE LARGER AND HEAVIER. THE SIZE AND WEIGHT OF THE TDR WILL AFFECT THE FISHING DEPTH OF THE GEAR AND CAN BIAS RESULTS. THEREFORE, IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT WE PURCHASE LOTEK LAT1400 FOR THIS PROJECT, WHICH HAS A CONSISTENT SIZE AND WEIGHT OF THE TDRs THAT WE HAVE AND ARE CURRENTLY USING.

BECAUSE OF THE LARGE NUMBER OF TDRs THAT WE PLAN TO DEPLOY DURING THE EXPERIMENT, FISHERIES OBSERVERS WILL NOT HAVE TIME TO DOWNLOAD ALL OF THE TDRs AFTER EACH SET. LOTEK TDRs HAVE A UNIQUE TELESCOPING MEMORY FEATURE THAT IS NECESSARY FOR THIS PROJECT. TELESCOPING IS A MEANS OF “EXTENDING” MEMORY TO OPTIMIZE ITS ALLOCATION THROUGHOUT THE MISSION. THIS FEATURE IS WELL SUITED FOR APPLICATIONS WHEN THE DATE OF RECOVERY IS NOT KNOWN OR HARD TO PREDICT. ONCE THE MEMORY ALLOCATED TO THIS LOG HAS BEEN INITIALLY FILED, THE SAMPLING INTERVAL WILL DOUBLE AND THE TAG WILL BEGIN REARRANGING THE MOEMORY SO THAT EVERY OTHER RECORD WILL BE REMOVED AND SUSEQUENTLY THE MEMORY WILL BE REWRITTEN SO THAT ALL ODD BLOCKS ARE SITUATED IN THE MEMORRY SEQUENTIALLY (1-3-5) UNTIL THEY OCCYPY THE FIRST HALF OF IT. ONCE THE MEMORY HAS BEEN COMPLETELY FILLED AGAIN, EACH SAMPLE WILL SIMPLY BE A MULTIPLE OF THE SAMPLING INTERVAL IN THE TIME AWARY FROM THE FIRST DATA POINT. THE ALGORITHM CONTINUES TO REPEAT FOR THE DURATION OF THE TAG’S DEPLOYMENT. FINAL SAMPLING INTERVALS EQUALS THE STARTING INTERVAL MULTIPLIED BY 2 TO THE POWER OF N WHERE N IS THE NUMBER OF MEMORY REORGANIZATIONS. THE PRINCIPLE BENEFIT OF USING THIS FEATURE IN THIS APPLICATION IS THAT IT WILL ALLOW US TO DOWNLOAD DATA ON A FLEXIBLE SCHEDULE.

LOTEK WIRELESS, INC HAS CONFIRMED THAT THEY ARE THE ONLY AUTHORIZED PROVIDER/ DISTRIBUTOR FOR LAT1400 TEMPERATURE AND DEPTH RECORDERS IN THE WORLD. THEY HAVE NO AUTHORIZED PARTNERS/RESELLERS.

***THIS NOTICE OF INTENT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS AND NO SOLICITATION PACKAGE IS AVAILABLE. HOWEVER, FIRMS THAT BELIEVE THEY CAN FULLY MEET THE GOVERNMENT'S REQUIREMENTS MAY SUBMIT SUBSTANTIATING DOCUMENTATION IN WRITING TO THE IDENTIFIED POINT OF CONTACT WITHIN 15 DAYS AFTER PUBLICATION OF THIS SYNOPSIS. SUCH DOCUMENTATION WILL BE EVALUATED SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF DETERMINING WHETHER OR NOT TO CONDUCT THIS PROCUREMENT ON A COMPETITIVE BASIS. A DETERMINATION BY THE GOVERNMENT NOT TO CONDUCT A COMPETITIVE PROCUREMENT, BASED UPON RESPONSES TO THIS NOTICE, IS SOLELY WITHIN THE DISCRETION OF THE GOVERNMENT. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE IN RESPONSE TO THIS NOTICE.