Corporate Jet Captain taking off to the south reports NMAC with a small single engine aircraft taking off to the north at PBG. Both pilots announced their intentions on UNICOM however neither aircraft heard the other. This anomaly had been experienced previously and may be due to terrain features in the area.

Narrative

After receiving the local AWOS; we made our UNICOM call that we were taxiing to Runway 17. The taxi time look approximately 2 minutes. When ready; we called that 'Aircraft X' was taking Runway 17 for departure. No other traffic was observed or heard on the frequency. We taxied into position; set power and released brakes. As the SIC called 'V1' and 'rotate;' I saw an aircraft just rising above the runway coming the opposite way. He was to his left of centerline so I banked to my left and we passed without incident. Both aircraft discussed what had just happened on UNICOM. The pilot of Aircraft Y said that he had made his calls on UNICOM; but we were not able to hear each other until airborne. The UNICOM operator stated he did hear our calls; but did not hear any other aircraft on the frequency. All our pilots are aware of an intermittent 'blank area' for radio on the south end of the airport. e.g.; taxiing to Runway 35. When we try to pick up our clearance from BTV; we may not have radio reception in that area. We will discuss this issue with airport management and try to come to a resolution i.e.; a 'repeater' or something similar.