H--GPS/Iridium satellite collars and repair of TGW-4577-X GPS/Iridium collars

The U.S. Geological Survey, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, Bozman, MT intends to issue a non-competitive Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) award to Telonics, Inc. of Mesa, AZ. The requirement is the purchase of GPS/Iridium satellite collars and repair of TGW-4577-X GPS/Iridium satellite collars that were previously deployed on grizzly bears and have been recovered from the field. Telonics, Inc. is the only known source capable of providing GPS/Iridium satellite collars with the following unique features required to meet Government minimum needs. 1) As required by the USGS Animal Care and Use Committee protocols, USGS cannot use belting materials that may result in injuries to the animal; therefore, collars must be built with the collar material and sizing as per specifications provided as follows: Belting thickness must be composed of two layers of butyl belting (1/16" brown butyl) over (1/8" white butyl) with a thickness no greater than 3/16". Belting width must be no greater than 2 inches and no less than 2 inches in order to prevent neck injuries. 2) Collar size adjustment where cotton space must be integrated into the collar itself. 3) The ability to use a remote release mechanism that uses the Iridium satellite network to allow collar release at any time (i.e., not pre-programmed). This remote release mechanism must have a programmable backup release mechanism in case of 2-way communication failure 4) Metal housing necessary to withstand substantial forces exerted on the units due to unique grizzly bear behaviors and interactions with conspecifics and other wildlife. 5) Collars with drop-off mechanism and adjustable belting must not exceed 900 grams while also meeting the minimum life-span requirements of at least 5 years. 6) Collars must allow on-demand downloading, where attempts to download data are user defined rather than automatically preset 7) Collars must contain a secondary battery to provide additional VHF operation without impacting overall weight/size of the collar. 8) Collars must allow for user-upgrading of firmware updates without sending units back to the manufacturer. 9) GPS/Iridium antenna housings should have rounded edges and protrude no more than 3/4" from the top of the collar belting to prevent shearing of antenna during rubbing behaviors. These dimensions is critical to assess the risk of antennae failure due to typical grizzly bears behaviors, specifically rubbing behaviors that affect the collar where the antennae are located. Grizzly bears frequently rub against trees and sharp edges and corners provide more opportunity for antenna to catch during this behavior. Furthermore, the farther an antenna housing protrudes from the collar housing, the more torque can be applied to the antenna attachment points during rubbing behavior. Shearing/damage of antenna housings during rubbing is a serious concern for collar performance and longevity. The accuracy of the clock on board the unit must provide breakaway time accuracy of +/- 6 minutes per year at 25 C typical and +/- 30 minutes per year for -20 to +40 C. The North American Industry Classification (NAICS) Code is 334220 - Radio and Television Broadcasting and Wireless Communications Equipment Manufacturing, size standards 1,250 employees. The USGS intends to make a non-competitive award to Telonics, Inc. The Government intends to award this requirement noncompetitively in accordance with FAR 13.106-1(b) (1), and FAR 16.5. The anticipated contract will be firm fixed price 5-year IDIQ award. A vendor must be registered at http://www.sam.gov to be awarded the contract. All responsible sources may submit a quotation, which shall be considered by the agency. Quotations shall only be accepted through electronic mail addressed to [email protected]. All documents required by this notice must be uploaded and received in their entirety no later than April 9, 2018 at 1700 ET. Quotations submitted by hardcopy or the Fed Connect web portal or Fed Connect Message Center shall not be accepted or considered.