Sole Source Notice: RVP10 Intermediate Frequency Digital Receiver (IFDR10)

The US Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Eastern Acquisition Division (EAD) intends to award, on a sole source basis, a contract to Vaisala, Inc. for two (2) RVP10 Intermediate Frequency Digital Receiver (IFDR10) units.

The Government intends to utilize Simplified Acquisition Procedures in accordance with FAR Part 13.501(a), only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required. This Special Notice is not a request for competitive offers and no solicitation package is available. However, firms that believe they can provide this service may submit substantiating documentation within five days of this notice.

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 award 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.

Sole Source Justification

In the early 2000’s a digital receiver, RVP9, was incorporated into the NEXRAD system through an open competition. The RVP9 will reach the end of life and vendor support by FY 28. The digital receiver receives returns from scatterers and converts them to digitized baseband I/Q data. It also serves as the main trigger generator for developing the high-power pulse that is used to interrogate potential scatterers. The RVP10 performs these functions and must be purchased now to begin engineering development and testing in order to incorporate new hardware and document software changes to deploy this new unit for the NEXRAD system. Vaisala, Inc. (Vaisala) is capable of providing the equipment required at the level of quality because the equipment is unique or highly specialized. Incorporating Vaisala’s RVP10 (IFDR 10), for which Vaisala is the original manufacturer and holds the rights to the proprietary information on the design, manufacturing and repair processes to support this product, is the lowest risk option and best value for the government for the following reasons:

1. Relatively minor system changes to implement.


2. Vaisala software is used to operate the WSR-88D Pedestal and would not be available if a different manufacturer is selected as the digital receiver.


3. Software changes are expected regardless of the vendor chosen; however, incorporating changes associated with Vaisala’s RVP10 digital receiver will be confined to segments of the code that deal with the interface between the WSR-88D and the RVP10 digital receiver.


4. Algorithm development, testing, and validation will be required if any other manufacturer besides Vaisala is chosen.

All contractors doing business with this Contracting Office (Eastern Acquisition Division) must be registered with a valid Unique Entity Identification number with the System for Award Management (SAM) website. Vendors can register with SAM at the following website: https://www.sam.gov.