Section one: Contracting authority/entity
one.1) Name and addresses
National Physical Laboratory
Hampton Road
Teddington
TW11 0LW
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UK - United Kingdom
Internet address(es)
Main address
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
one.5) Main activity
Other activity
Research
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Frequency Offset Generators
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 38000000 - Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)
two.1.3) Type of contract
Supplies
two.1.4) Short description
Provision of up to 12 Frequency Offset Generators to be used in RETSI at Sites 3 & 4, and for the provision of spares to support all sites.
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
Value excluding VAT: £600,000
two.2) Description
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - United Kingdom
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Provision of up to 12 Frequency Offset Generators to be used in RETSI at Sites 3 & 4, and for the provision of spares to support all sites.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Cost criterion - Name: Technical / Weighting: 80
Cost criterion - Name: Commercial / Weighting: 20
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: No
two.2.13) Information about European Union Funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the cases listed below
- The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the regulations
Explanation:
NPL requires a number of high-performance frequency offset generators under the National Timing Centre programme, one for use with each active hydrogen maser that will be purchased through the programme.
The frequency offset generator required should accept a reference sine wave signal at 10 MHz or 100 MHz, and generate similar output signals with a programmable fractional frequency offset from the input signal at 10 MHz and 100 MHz. A TTL output signal at 1 PPS is also highly desirable. A minimum of two outputs should be available for each signal type, and five would be preferred.
The primary performance requirement is that the output signals from the frequency offset generator should (as far as possible) not add any noise to the input signal. In other words, the phase noise of the output signals between 1 Hz and 10 kHz should match that of the signals produced by an active hydrogen maser with high-quality local oscillator (low phase noise option). Similarly, the instability of the output signals at averaging times from 1 s to 1 day should be no greater than the instability of the signals generated at that frequency by an active hydrogen maser.
The only commercially-available frequency offset generator identified by NPL that meets the requirements specified above is the model EOG-2020 produced by SKK Electronics.
A number of the units are already in use within the current NTC R&D programme, the same model should be used for continuity and seamless system integration – selection of a different unit type would create significant work to update baselined design documents and written software.
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
Section five. Award of contract/concession
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract/concession
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
13 March 2023
five.2.2) Information about tenders
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire
SpectraDynamics
1849 Cherry St, CO
Louisville
80027
Country
United States
NUTS code
- US - United States
The contractor/concessionaire is an SME
Yes
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot/concession (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot/concession: £600,000
five.2.5) Information about subcontracting
The contract/lot/concession is likely to be subcontracted
Section six. Complementary information
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
NPL Management Ltd
Hampton Road
Teddington
TW11 0LW
Country
United Kingdom
six.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures
NPL Management Ltd
Hampton Road
Teddington
TW11 0LW
Country
United Kingdom