Notice of intent to award a sole source
Closed Special Notice Posted
This opportunity was awarded. See the award notice from .
- Solicitation number
- DOIFFBO260105
- Agency
- Fish and Wildlife Service Department of the Interior
- Responses due
- Set-aside
- No set-aside
Opportunity facts
- NAICS code
- 334220 Radio and Television Broadcasting and Wireless Communications Equipment Manufacturing
- Points of contact
-
- John Skogen jack_skogen@fws.gov (612) 713-5210
Notice details come from SAM.gov. Updated .
About this opportunity
The Fish and Wildlife Service intends to award a sole source purchase order to Vertebrate Systems LLC for GPS/GSM transmitters (Ornitela OrniTrack-6 and OrniTrack-10 models) on or before June 10, 2026, with no competitive solicitation to follow. The notice carries a sole-source intent and does not solicit proposals.
The Service requires 10 transmitters (4 six-gram units and 6 ten-gram units) for a long-term demographic study of Cooper's hawks in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with deployment scheduled for July 2026 and 2027. The transmitters must weigh less than 3% of the hawk's body weight to minimize impact and must provide reliable battery life and connectivity for international data transfer, as some hawks migrate to Mexico. Market research identified Ornitela as the sole capable source; alternative manufacturers (CTT and Lotek) were evaluated but proved unsuitable due to past connectivity failures when birds traveled to Mexico and lack of comparable transmission capabilities for the study species. Ornitela offers competitive pricing and includes data transfer credits expected to cover costs for the transmitter lifespan. The sole source justification was certified by Program Officer Emily Bjerre on May 8, 2026, and approved by Contracting Officer John Skogen on June 3, 2026. Objections to this intent to award must be submitted by June 10, 2026.
Notice text
NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD A SOLE SOURCE
This Notice of Intent is not a request for competitive proposals. This is not a solicitation or request for offers. No solicitation package is available and telephone requests will not be honored. Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.
FWS DIV OF MGRTRY BIRD MGMT intends to award a sole source purchase order to Vertebrate Systems LLC to furnish: GPS/GSM transmitters for small raptors
Name of Item: GPS/GSM transmitters for small raptors
Manufacturer: Ornitela
Model Number: OrniTrack-6 and OrniTrack-10 or approved equal
Salient Characteristics:
¿ Housing: backpack design, aerodynamic, strong and waterproof, color options available (to blend in with different feather coloration)
¿ OrniTrack 6: One external flexible whip antenna, 10 cm long
OrniTrack 10: No external antennas
¿ Size: OrniTrack 6: weight 6.0 - 6.5 grams, dimensions 34×19×9 mm
OrniTrack 10: weight 10-12 grams, dimensions 47×18×12 mm
¿ GPS receiver: high sensitivity 72 channel module
¿ GSM/4G transceiver working on LTE Cat-M1 protocol (also called LTE-M)
¿ Internal battery: Lithium-Polymer with under- and over-charge protection
¿ Fully charged battery is sufficient for logging about 300 positions without additional recharge (under optimal GPS satellite view and good GSM network coverage, GPS intervals - 5 minutes, GSM intervals - 12 hours)
¿ Solar charger: high efficiency multi-junction solar panel
¿ GPS logging intervals: from 1 second to 48 hours (user selectable)
¿ Data storage: 128 MB capable of storing about 2,000,000 records
¿ Data upload: via GSM network using 4G LTE Cat-M1 protocol
¿ GSM connection interval: from 10 minutes to 192 hours (user selectable)
¿ Logged data are stored in memory if GSM network is unavailable
¿ Geofences: 2 zones with separate sets of parameters. Zones defined by user by multiple rectangles (up to 10 per zone)
¿ High frequency (up to 50 Hz) sensor (accelerometer, magnetometer, temperature) data collection on a separate schedule
¿ Day & night mode
¿ Operational temperature: from -10 to +60 °C
¿ Control: user remotely controls GPS & GSM schedules, day & night mode settings, sensor data recording settings and geofence settings via online control panel.
¿ Main data record includes: UTC date & time, GPS position, GPS altitude, speed, direction, HDOP, battery voltage, battery charging current, instant acceleration (3 axes), temperature, magnetic field strength (3 axes)
¿ Transmitter firmware update over the air (OTA)
¿ Included post-deployment data is sufficient to cover data need of the project, so effectively, there are no post-deployment data charges.
¿ Configured for backpack mounting
The North American Industry Classification System Code (NAICS) for this requirement is 334220 with the size standard of 1250 employees. The Federal Supply Code (FSC) / Product Service Code (PSC) procurement is 5820.
This purchase will be made utilizing Simplified Acquisition Procedures in accordance with:
¿ Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13.106-1(b) for purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold of $250,000.
Interested parties may identify their interests and capability to respond to this requirement within three (3) calendar days of the publication of this notice. Any response to this notice must show clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct a competitive procurement. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed purchase order based upon response to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. No reimbursement for any cost connected with providing capability information will be provided.
The point of contact is: Jack Skogen, email: john_skogen@ios.doi.gov
Please reference this Notice of Intent number on your correspondence and in the ¿Subject¿ line of your email.
This notice will close on: 6/10/2026 at 5:00pm, Central Time.
Attachments
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| A16_SSJ_Ornitela_FY26_signed_1.pdf |
Notice history
| Notice | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| 7G--VA-DIV of MIG bird-telemetry transmitter | Award Notice | |
| Notice of intent to award a sole source | Special Notice |
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