Announcement for Procurement of PLGR Equipment From: "Marti E Ikehara, Hydrologist, Sacramento, CA " Message-Id: <199608081932.TAA09907@s101pcasnd.wr.usgs.gov> Subject: Announcement for Procurement of PLGR Equipment To: "USGS Employees" Date: Thu, 8 Aug 1996 12:32:27 -0700 (PDT) X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL21] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Length: 5716 [Please distribute this message to any employees in your office who do not receive electronic mail and might be interested in the subject] To: All USGS Employees From: Marti Ikehara, USGS GPS-PPS Coordinator Water Resources Division, Sacramento, CA Subject: Procurement of Precision Lightweight GPS Receivers (PLGR) INTRODUCTION: The U.S. Geological Survey is one of the Federal agencies authorized by Department of Defense (DOD) to purchase the PLGR (Precise Lightweight GPS [Global Positioning System] Receiver). These receivers are capable (through encryption) of accessing the Precise Positioning Service (PPS) of the NAVSTAR GPS. The accuracies guaranteed by access to PPS are 16m horizontal and 29m vertical, in real-time, without differential corrections. Rockwell's PLGR now offers 4-6m horizontal accuracy real-time OR access to differential signals. This memo informs USGS employees about the opportunity to purchase GPS-PPS receivers, and includes information specifically about procuring the PLGR and associated hardware and software. Be advised that the Memorandum of Understanding with DOD allows only permanent or seasonal Federal employees to purchase AND USE GPS-PPS receivers. The PLGR, manufactured by Rockwell, can be purchased only during windows of opportunity scheduled by the Agency Coordinator. This memo announces the current open season for procurement. The next open season will most likely be 6 months from now, in Spring. The purchasing of accessories is also limited to these windows unless sufficient demand exists for interim procurements. Another GPS-PPS receiver, the Centurion manufactured by Trimble, is also available and does not have a specific window for ordering. Procurement would also be done through the USGS GPS-PPS Coordinator. Additionally, a request to purchase these units must be processed through DOD's Joint Program Office to obtain permission to procure them. The cost of the Trimble PPS receiver is $3500. This receiver may be the better choice for you if you already own and operate Trimble's Pathfinder-series GPS equipment. BACKGROUND: Thus far, 70 PLGRs have been purchased by employees in three USGS Divisions. Informal results by some users have indicated accuracies, relative to positions determined by geodetic measurements, as good as 2-4m (horizontal). The primary uses of the PLGR in USGS have been for mapping and navigation, both on land and on water. Up to 999 coordinates can be recorded in the PLGR by using the waypoint menu, and can be downloaded as an ASCII file. Some experiences have been reported in the netnews group called usgs.surveying. This is a bulletin board available to all USGS employees. The cryptographic key needed to access the PPS may be valid for as long as 1 year, but its expiration date is variable. There are three ways to lose the key: operator error, scheduled expiration, and emergency deactivation. The latter could occur if DOD has determined that the key (and/or GPS unit) has been obtained by forces unfriendly to the U.S. or its allies. In any of the cases, the unit must be shipped to the keying facility and rekeying must be done to access PPS. PROCESS: Please notify me via email if you are interested in procuring PLGRs; be sure to include your email address and phone number in the body of the message. All questions should be directed to: Marti Ikehara USGS GPS-PPS Coordinator Email: mikehara@usgs.gov Phone: (916) 979-2615 x384 FAX: (916) 979-2668 As the USGS GPS-PPS Coordinator, I will be accepting orders for PLGRs until COB Friday, August 30, 1996. Procurement requests must be submitted to me on a typed DI-1. Charge cards will not be accepted. The vendor name and address is Rockwell International Collins Avionics & Comm. Div. 350 Collins Rd, NE Cedar Rapids, IA 52498 EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE: At this time, the following is a current listing of available equipment, associated hardware and software, and pricing. NRCS is actively working on some additional functional capability about which they will be providing additional information. PLGR KIT $2091.00 The PLGR KIT includes: PLGR PPS Carrying Case (soft) Operator and Maintenance Manual Warranty, 3-year Field Checklist Memory Battery Power Adapter-AC/DC Primary Battery-AA Battery Holder Power Adapter-Cigarette lighter with Screw Lock Connector PLGR-PC Interface Cable Magnetic Mount Antenna Antenna Cable-3 meter ENCRYPTION SERVICE: Encryption service, mandatory $25.00 (Minimum total: $2116.) Additional items can be ordered at the following prices: ADDITIONAL ACCESSORIES: NiCad Primary Battery $57.00 NiCad Battery Recharging Station $172.00 Vehicle Installation Mount $11.00 PLGR-PLGR Interface Cable $14.00 SPARE ACCESSORIES: PLGR-PC Interface Cable $27.00 Magnetic Mount Antenna $82.00 Antenna Cable - 3 meter $30.00 Power Adapter-Cigarette Lighter $27.00 SOFTWARE OPTIONS: DOS Mission Planning Software for E-PLGR $100.00 Keyboard Menu Definition Editor (KMDE) $100.00 Geolink Mapping Companion for PLGR+ $1,695.00 I can provide further information about these items, or about the Trimble product to people who contact me, preferably via email initially, expressing their interest in procuring a PPS receiver. Thank you for your interest, Marti Ikehara Agency PPS Coordinator