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![[Newest 2023] Five Star Outdoor HDTV Antenna up to 200 Mile Long Range, Attic or Roof Mount, Digital OTA Antenna for 4K 1080P VHF UHF Supports 4 TVs Installation Kit & J Mount](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41xURAbh8HL._AC_.jpg)
I live in a suburb quite far from the city and many of the broadcast station antennas. I purchased the GE 29884 antenna a couple of weeks ago from Amazon. Along with the antenna, I purchased a PCT 4 Port Cable TV/HDTV/Internet amplifier (model PCT-MA2-4P) just in case I need it. I have been trying to "cut the cable" and stop paying expensive cable TV fees for even local basic television stations. In addition to the fees, my cable company switched to a system requiring cable TV boxes that you rent from them for $6/month per box. I have tried other powered indoor antennas and have had miserable experiences with them. Few channels could be scanned and the picture quality was dismal, or heavily pixelated, especially in the daytime hours. The few stations that I could pick up were often unwatchable. So back to cable I went.
I decided to try the GE 29884 antenna based on the reviews I read on Amazon. The antenna comes in a fairly small box labelled as Pro Outdoor/Attic Mount Antenna. The installation booklet is small with tiny "mice" type. So you might need to scan in the booklet in order to be able to zoom in on the text and illustrations. All the parts are nicely packaged and are easily identified in the instruction manual. A count of each part type is also given, Prior to installation it helps to layout all the parts including the nuts and screws, the reflector rods, dipole antenna parts, main mast, mounting parts, etc. The installation can be a bit tricky, if you follow the manual. However is you do a search on "GE 29884 antenna assembly", YouTube videos can be found that simplify the assembly process a great deal. It took me about a half an hour to assemble the antenna. One nice thing is that rubber end caps were provided to cap off the dipole rods. The antenna definitely seems to be a quality product.
I mounted the antenna in the attic, as high as possible using the provided J-mount mounting hardware and supplied M5 bolts and nuts. I disconnected the coaxial cable from the cable TV provider, and connected it to the antenna's connector located on the main mast. Using a bedroom TV, I then selected "antenna" as the input, and performed a channel scan. A total of 106 channels scanned. Most were crystal clear. Perhaps 3 or 4 were pixelated. Sure many of the channels are trash or of no interest to me (shopping channels, religious, languages I don't speak, etc) but many great channels came in beautifully including all the local channels and sub-channels, movie channels, retro, public, etc. A few audio-only channels were picked up. And I didn't have the amplifier connected.
I did wire up the amplifier simply because a signal splitter attenuates the signal from the antenna as you feed the signal to multiple TVs. The 4-port amplifier boosts the signal going to each TV.
So far, I've had the antenna for a week and I have not been disappointed. All I can say is "bye bye cable TV company". It is time to cut the cable. The antenna and amplifier will pay for itself in a month or two.
Update: 6 weeks later: This antenna works like a charm. I have cut the cord, get no more monthly cable bills, and could not be happier.
| Brand Name | GE |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 3 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 3.5 x 16.6 x 5.84 inches |
| Country of Origin | China |
| Item model number | 29884-PK1 |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Color Name | Grey/White |
| Special Features | Long Range, Full HD, Low Profile, Broadcast, Low Loss |
| Impedance | 75 Ohm |
