Narrative:

I was departing vgt on an IFR flight. I often fly this route and therefore know the routing quite well. The weather was marginal on the ground with moderate rain and low uneven ceilings. I received my IFR clearance and was cleared to taxi and hold short of 25. I was given a frequency for las vegas departure; but while taxing the tower changed the frequency. I was to fly the northtown 2 departure and climb and maintain 7000. On takeoff and initial climb the tower told me to contact las vegas departure. I already had the frequency dialed into the #2 comm; so I switched comms and tried to contact departure. I recieved no answer while climbing through 3000 heading 250. I again tried to call with no answer while climbing on a heading of 250 and quickly approaching the cloud deck. I tried a third time at about 3850 ft with no answer. The time to make a right turn outbound from the las VOR was seconds away as the needle was starting to swing and I was to intercept it. But a right climbing turn would have resulted in immediately going IMC. Going IMC with a communication problem was the last thing that sounded reasonable. My instinct was to turn left back to the airport where I could stay visual and not interfere with bravo traffic. It would also give me time to diagnose the problem; use my handheld radio and get on the ground if need be. As I turned back I decided to try the other radio. If no luck I was planning to try north las vegas tower. On the second attempt to departure I made contact and was quickly reprimanded and told I made the wrong turn on the departure and to call a phone number for a possible pilot deviation. I was given no chance to make an explanation of the situation at hand. When I called they understood the event but said I was 200 feet too low for some sort of vectoring altitude. Later on the main supervisor for the controllers called me from his home and gave me some good advice and also told me to look into filing this report. I have had this issue before though quite rare; where I can't get hold of las vegas approach. This is the first for this area though. In the past I have had problems around the whigg intersection between 110 and 090 while approaching las vegas. This area is less critical than initial climb and seems to only last a few minutes; and has never happened to me while IMC. I have never had a problem such as this in the los angeles area or anywhere else but the las vegas area.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Pilot reports deviating from the NOTWN2 departure from VGT when communication with Departure cannot be established prior to entering IMC.

Narrative: I was departing VGT on an IFR flight. I often fly this route and therefore know the routing quite well. The weather was marginal on the ground with moderate rain and low uneven ceilings. I received my IFR clearance and was cleared to taxi and hold short of 25. I was given a frequency for Las Vegas Departure; but while taxing the Tower changed the frequency. I was to fly the Northtown 2 departure and climb and maintain 7000. On takeoff and initial climb the Tower told me to contact Las Vegas Departure. I already had the frequency dialed into the #2 comm; so I switched comms and tried to contact Departure. I recieved no answer while climbing through 3000 heading 250. I again tried to call with no answer while climbing on a heading of 250 and quickly approaching the cloud deck. I tried a third time at about 3850 ft with no answer. The time to make a right turn outbound from the LAS VOR was seconds away as the needle was starting to swing and I was to intercept it. But a right climbing turn would have resulted in immediately going IMC. Going IMC with a communication problem was the last thing that sounded reasonable. My instinct was to turn left back to the airport where I could stay visual and not interfere with Bravo traffic. It would also give me time to diagnose the problem; use my handheld radio and get on the ground if need be. As I turned back I decided to try the other radio. If no luck I was planning to try North Las Vegas Tower. On the second attempt to Departure I made contact and was quickly reprimanded and told I made the wrong turn on the departure and to call a phone number for a possible pilot deviation. I was given no chance to make an explanation of the situation at hand. When I called they understood the event but said I was 200 feet too low for some sort of vectoring altitude. Later on the Main Supervisor for the controllers called me from his home and gave me some good advice and also told me to look into filing this report. I have had this issue before though quite rare; where I can't get hold of Las Vegas Approach. This is the first for this area though. In the past I have had problems around the WHIGG intersection between 110 and 090 while approaching Las Vegas. This area is less critical than initial climb and seems to only last a few minutes; and has never happened to me while IMC. I have never had a problem such as this in the Los Angeles area or anywhere else but the Las Vegas area.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.