Opportunity: LPT-205 TRANSMITTERS OR EQUIVALENT

LPT-205 TRANSMITTERS OR EQUIVALENT This sources sought synopsis is for informational purposes only. This is not a request for bids. It does not constitute a solicitation and shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government. Responses in any form are not offers and the Government is under no obligation to award a contract as a result of this announcement. No funds are available to pay for preparation of responses to this announcement. Any information submitted by respondents to this technical description is strictly voluntary. The USGS, AOG Sacramento is searching for possible vendors who can supply a Telonics LPT-205 transmitters or equal. Any proposed unit must meet the following requirements: Satellite radio transmitters with saltwater and pressure transducer sensors suitable for remote deployment on walruses capable of producing behavioral chronology data consistent with previous USGS data collections. The tags must be capable of (1) Remote deployment on walruses without the use of immobilizing chemicals. (2) Enduring physical shocks of remote deployment and daily wear on free-ranging walruses inhabiting ice bearing waters and coastal haulouts. (3) Acquiring walrus haulout and foraging behavior records based on hourly on board processing of conductivity and pressure transducer sensor data as specified by USGS (hauled out= 1 if more than 90% of conductivity readings indicate a dry state; and forage= 1 if more than 50% of pressure readings indicate a depth of lOm or deeper) (4) Producing transmissions that may be relayed through the Argos satellite data collection system that encode a message containing 119 hours of accumulated behavior data, a low voltage indicator, and a check sum. (5) Producing a minimum transmission power of 0.5 watts. (6) Providing sufficient battery power to achieve a conservatively estimated functional longevity of 65 days, given with a daily duty cycle of 12 hours on, a 45 second transmission interval, and expected percentage of time underwater of 80%, and a average operating temperature of 0 degrees C. (7) Being fit with a mechanism that allows activation of the transmitter under arctic field conditions. To enable remote deployment of transmitters units shall not exceed 60g mass when fit with an anchoring mechanism weighing 24g and shall be configured to accept a deployment mechanism that may be propelled by a crossbow. To ensure secure attachment to target walruses, the units must be securely fit with a USGS approved walrus anchor. To ensure optimal battery reserves for each deployment, USGS requires that units be built in small batches within two months of the specified delivery dates.