B-145786, JUN. 20, 1961

B-145786, JUN. 20, 1961

TO ELECTRONIC ASSOCIATES, INC.:

FURTHER REFERENCE IS MADE TO YOUR TELEFAX MESSAGE OF MAY 5, 1961, PROTESTING THAT YOUR FIRM WAS NOT SOLICITED IN CONNECTION WITH THE NEGOTIATED PROCUREMENT OF CERTAIN ANALOG COMPUTERS COVERED BY REQUISITION 167/7699/61.

THE OFFICIAL RECORD SHOWS THAT THE PROJECT ON WHICH THE EQUIPMENT IS TO BE USED WAS TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION AND IT WAS DETERMINED ADMINISTRATIVELY THAT THE COMPUTERS SHOULD MEET REQUIREMENTS AS FOLLOWS:

"1. ELECTRONIC CONTROL OF REPETITIVE INTEGRATORS.

"2. ELECTRONIC OUTPUT OF COMPARATORS TO CONTROL INTEGRATORS.

"3. REPETITIVE OPERATION WITH SPEEDS ADJUSTABLE FROM 1/2 TO 2000 OPERATIONS PER SECOND WITH TWO INDEPENDENT OUTPUT FREQUENCIES AVAILABLE SIMULTANEOUSLY.

"4. ABILITY TO STORE DATE WITH 2.5 MICROSECOND OF CONTROL INSTRUCTION.

"5. ABILITY TO TRACK A 2000 CPS SIGNAL, 200 VOLTS PEAK TO PEAK WITH A MAXIMUM DYNAMIC ERROR OF 10 MILLIVOLTS.'

BEFORE IT WAS DECIDED THAT THE COMPUTERS WOULD BE PROCURED FROM COMPUTER SYSTEMS, INC., A DETAILED EXAMINATION WAS MADE OF THE VARIOUS CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COMPUTERS MANUFACTURED BY ELECTRONIC ASSOCIATES, INC., (EAI) AND COMPUTER SYSTEMS, INC., (CSI). THE FINDINGS OF THE EXAMINATION WERE STATED AS FOLLOWS:

"1. EAI COMPUTER WITH A MAXIMUM REP-OP RATE OF 50 CPS HAS ONLY A 2 1/2 RATIO BETWEEN ITS HIGHEST REP-OP-RATE AND A REP-OP RATE OF 20 CPS. A RATE OF 20 CPS IS ABOUT THE LOWEST THAT IS PRACTICAL FOR VISUAL OBSERVATIONS.

CSI COMPUTER WITH ITS 2000 REP-OP RATE HAS A RATIO OF 100 BETWEEN 2000 CPS AND 20 CPS.

"2. EAI AMPLIFIERS WHICH ARE CONTROLLED BY RELAYS OR MECHANICAL CHOPPERS WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO ADJUST, ARE APT TO BE UNREALIABLE AND ARE LIMITED TO LOW REP-OP RATES.

CSI AMPLIFIERS WHICH ARE CONTROLLED BY SOLID STATE ELECTRONIC SWITCHES ARE EASY TO ADJUST, ARE RELIABLE, AND CAN BE USED WITH HIGH REP-OP RATES OF OVER 2000 CPS. ALSO THEY CAN BE USED AS MEMORY UNITS AND ELECTRONIC SWITCHES.

"3. EAI RESET TIME OF 10 MILLISECONDS IS MUCH TOO LARGE A PERCENTAGE OF THE OPERATE RESET CYCLE AT LOW REP-OP RATES OF 20 TO 30 CPS.

CSI RESET TIME OF 0.2 MILLISECONDS IS A VERY SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THE OPERATE-RESET CYCLE AT LOW REP-OP RATES.

"4. EAI VARIATION OF 100 MICROSECONDS BETWEEN INTEGRATORS TO GO FROM RESET TO OPERATE IS OBJECTIONABLE. THIS IS EQUIVALENT TO A VARIATION OF 0.01 SECONDS OR 0.1 SECONDS IN NON-REPETITIVE OPERATION DEPENDING ON THE TIME SCALE CHANGE.

"5. EAI AMPLIFIER WHICH IS 3DB DOWN AT 30 KC IS NOT AS GOOD FOR HIGH FREQUENCY OPERATION.

CSI AMPLIFIER WHICH IS FLAT BEYOND 30 KC AND IS ONLY 3 DB DOWN AT 100 KC IS A BETTER AMPLIFIER FOR HIGH FREQUENCY APPLICATIONS.

"6. EAI CAN ONLY PLACE ABOUT 5 AMPLIFIERS IN LOOP WITHOUT OSCILLATION. THIS SHOWS EXCESSIVE PHASE SHIFT IN EACH AMPLIFIER.

CSI CAN PLACE OVER 20 AMPLIFIERS IN A LOOP. THIS SHOWS A MINIMUM OF PHASE SHIFT IN EACH AMPLIFIER.' AS A RESULT OF THIS TECHNICAL EVALUATION, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT ONLY CSI READILY POSSESSED STANDARD EQUIPMENT THAT WOULD MEET THE ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE PROJECT.

THUS, IT APPEARS THAT BEFORE ANY DETERMINATION WAS MADE TO PROCURE THE COMPUTERS FROM CSI, THE EQUIPMENT OF THAT FIRM AND YOURS WAS EVALUATED WITH REGARD TO THE USE REQUIREMENTS. IN THIS CONNECTION, THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR DETERMINING THE NEEDS OF THE GOVERNMENT, FOR DRAFTING SPECIFICATIONS WHICH REFLECT THOSE NEEDS, AND FOR EVALUATING EQUIPMENT TO ASCERTAIN WHETHER IT MEETS THE REQUIREMENTS RESTS PRIMARILY WITH THE ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES.

WE FIND NO EVIDENCE OF ARBITRARINESS IN THE SELECTION OF CSI EQUIPMENT. RATHER, IT APPEARS THAT THE DETERMINATION TO PROCURE THE EQUIPMENT FROM THEM WAS BASED UPON A GENUINE REGARD FOR THE USE TO WHICH THE EQUIPMENT WOULD BE APPLIED. ACCORDINGLY, NO FURTHER ACTION WILL BE TAKEN BY OUR OFFICE IN THIS MATTER.