Solar GPS Transmitters

Notice of Intent


This is a notice of intent to solicit from a single source.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), intends to award a purchase order to Vertebrate Systems, LLC, Chesterfield, MO, for solar GPS transmitters as described in the attached Salient Characteristics.

Award will be made in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.106-1(b) and the procedures at FAR Part 12 entitled, Acquisition of Commercial Items and FAR Part 13 entitled, Simplified Acquisition Procedures. Vertebrate Systems, LLC is, to the USGS' knowledge, the only source who can provide GPS transmitters with time-depth recorder (TDR) functionality which will collect data on diving duration and engineered to be functional to 300m depth.

The purpose of this notice is to satisfy the requirements of FAR Subpart 5.2. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotes. However, all responsible parties may submit a quotation by the closing date of this announcement which shall be considered by the agency. No solicitation will be issued. A determination not to compete this action based upon responses received is in the sole discretion of the Government.

The NAICS code for this action is 334519 Other Measuring & Controlling Device Manufacturers.

Responses or inquiries shall only be accepted through electronic mail addressed to dallan-loucks@usgs.gov and must be uploaded and received in their entirety no later than 06/11/2021 at 1500 ES. Responses submitted by hardcopy shall not be accepted or considered.

Salient Characteristics

* GPS transmitters with time-depth recorder (TDR) functionality which will collect data on diving duration with a time stamp of each event, diving depth (pressure), and water temperature
* Has a highly efficient solar charger that works well in low light conditions and the memory capacity to store up to 130,000 GPS positions
* Automatically switches into GPS interval every 6 hours and data transmission every 24 hours when the power drops below 3.8V and stop all activities when power drops further to prevent loss of data
* Enables maximum flexibility for data retrieval and programming
* When the units are within range of a handheld or fixed receiver, data are downloaded and stored on a computer
* When units are within range of telecommunications networks, data are transmitted via GSM to online control panel, email, or movebank.org account