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Equipment bids, are new generation devices with limited field experience, <br />and therefore do not meet City specifications. <br /> <br />• City bid specifications required a minimum of 100 milliwatts of output <br />power. The Itron 60 Watt radio device only has an output of 10 milliwatts <br />of power, and therefore does not meet City specifications. <br /> <br />• City bid specifications required a field replaceable battery. The Itron 60 <br />Watt radio device does not have a field replaceable battery. To replace the <br />battery, the entire unit must be replaced. Again, the Itron 60 Watt radio <br />device does not meet City specifications. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Reference check <br /> <br />Neptune R900 radio device <br /> <br />All of the cities that Staff was able to make contact with about the Neptune <br />R900 radio device gave positive reviews of the product. <br />1.) Several cities stated that they would install them on their hard to <br />read locations because they were always able to obtain meter <br />reads. <br />2.) The Neptune R900 was very user friendly, and didn’t require <br />cheat sheets on installation or meter reading. <br />3.) None of the cities contacted have had any battery issues to <br />date. <br /> <br />Itron 60 Watt radio device <br /> <br />None of the cities on the initial reference sheet supplied by Hydro Metering <br />Technologies as part of the original bid had the Itron 60 Watt radio device installed. <br />Therefore, no field experience from a city that had this system was obtained when <br />Staff tested the reading devices. Staff then contacted Hydro Metering <br />Technologies to discuss the lack of legitimate references. Hydro Metering <br />Technologies then provided a second list with just four references. Staff was <br />unable to contact the first reference. The second reference stated that they did not <br />have the Itron 60 Watt radio devices installed. The remaining two referenced were <br />Eldridge City, Iowa, and the City of Eden Prairie. Eden Prairie stated that they have <br />not experienced any major problems with the product, however they only been <br />using it for about one year. Eden Prairie stated that the main reasons they are <br />using this product is that “they have many different meter types, and need a radio <br />device that will read them all”, and “they get good customer service from Hydro <br />Metering Technologies”. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />