Narrative:

Aircraft was on the ground at keyw. The pilot had contacted tower and received taxi instructions and a transponder squawk code for departure as well as a departure frequency. The air traffic controller in the tower went off-duty while the aircraft was taxiing and was unreachable to issue a cleared-for-takeoff response when requested. The pilot continually attempted to contact departure control with no success. Other aircraft in the air responded to the pilot's request as well as center less than 50 miles away. The issue appeared to be with reception on the frequency at departure control. After several hours of unsuccessful attempts to contact departure control; the pilot called wxbrief via cell phone and explained the situation. Flight service station spent approximately 45 minutes coordinating with center and departure control to receive a new squawk code; weather brief and takeoff instructions. Aircraft X departed while in radio contact with center as instructed by both flight service and miami center. While departing; the pilot continued attempts to contact departure control without success until these actions presented an unnecessary safety hazard. The pilot remained in contact with the center for the remainder of the flight without any incidents.in summary; departure operations; while the tower is not in operation; need to be able to receive general aviation radio transmission to safely provide takeoff and landing services.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: GA pilot reported being unable contact the appropriate Departure Control to obtain a departure release from the airport after the tower closed.

Narrative: Aircraft was on the ground at KEYW. The pilot had contacted Tower and received taxi instructions and a transponder squawk code for departure as well as a Departure frequency. The Air Traffic Controller in the Tower went off-duty while the aircraft was taxiing and was unreachable to issue a cleared-for-takeoff response when requested. The pilot continually attempted to contact Departure Control with no success. Other aircraft in the air responded to the pilot's request as well as Center less than 50 miles away. The issue appeared to be with reception on the frequency at Departure Control. After several hours of unsuccessful attempts to contact Departure Control; the pilot called WXBRIEF via cell phone and explained the situation. Flight Service Station spent approximately 45 minutes coordinating with Center and Departure Control to receive a new squawk code; weather brief and takeoff instructions. Aircraft X departed while in radio contact with Center as instructed by both Flight Service and Miami Center. While departing; the pilot continued attempts to contact Departure Control without success until these actions presented an unnecessary safety hazard. The pilot remained in contact with the Center for the remainder of the flight without any incidents.In summary; Departure operations; while the Tower is not in operation; need to be able to receive general aviation radio transmission to safely provide takeoff and landing services.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.