SteveShannon

I don’t know about the GM15 but one difference I see between my Wouxun radios and my Baofeng radios is the Wouxun radios have a last call indicator icon to let you know when you are monitoring two channels/frequencies which one received a signal last. This is helpful to know which one to respond to when you’re not watching the screen. 

Unless I am mistaken, the Wouxon has receiver circuitry that is potentially more sensitive.
A mouse trap with a better latch bar axis may or may not catch and retain more vermin than one with the cheapest construction, but if the cheaper one rids your premises of all of them, the money is well spent.
 

Your family trip sounds like a perfect opportunity to see for yourself.  I have several different radios.  Personally, my favorite certified GMRS radio is the Garmin Rhino 750. Most of us in my local rocket club have the same radio, just differing by model as they’ve been purchased over several years. It’s durable, easy to use, has built in maps and a screen that’s always easy to see and actually gets easier to see when in direct sunshine, and shares its location with other Garmin Rhinos. It’s a radio meant to be used to communicate.  It is not a radio that can be opened up to hear every frequency there is.  It’s not a radio a ham would choose for amateur use or to listen to public service radios. We all share a single frequency and tone: channel 7 tone 6. It’s super easy to change GMRS channels and tones from the front panel within GMRS channels.  It absolutely shines at keeping track of other Garmin users when we’re doing our activities. And it’s expensive.  
Next in ease of use GMRS would be the Wouxun, Midland, or Motorola certified GMRS radios.  Again, they are super easy to change channels and tones from the front panel and work just fine for GMRS activities.  They are designed to be easy to use from the front panel.  They are not amateur radio useful radios and not intended to be.
Then there are all of my amateur radios.  Some are very inexpensive and some are expensive.  But if all you want to do is talk to someone, they work exactly like the Garmin, Motorola, or Midland and talk just as far.  They don’t come programmed with GMRS channels and after playing with doing that I decided not to (except for channel 7, tone 6 just in case).  For the most part they do nothing but transmit and receive and without using a computer they would be inconvenient to program often, but not impossible.  The chief difference between the inexpensive Yaesu ft65 and the even less expensive Baofeng UV5R is the ability to withstand nearby transmissions without desensing.  I can use two of my name brand ham radio handhelds on the same table and transmit using one and hear it just fine using the other. With two Baofeng radios, transmitting on one temporarily deafens the other. But so what?  That’s not what they’re intended to do anyway.
The real question is what do you intend to do with these radios after your family trip?  Will they just get packed away in the RV or do you see them becoming part of a larger radio hobby?  My Garmin did very little to lure me into amateur radio.  It’s a purpose built appliance and a very good one, but it is limited to that purpose.  My Baofeng UV5R required a much higher amount of fiddling around and programming to make it work on GMRS.  That re-ignited an interest in ham radio that I had resisted for decades.
So, yes, there are differences between expensive and inexpensive radios but whether they’re meaningful to you depends entirely upon how you use them. 
 

https://www.buytwowayradios.com/specials.html

Hopefully I’m not duplicating what someone else has done.  I’ll start the topic by adding a deal:
The Radioddity DB20G is on sale on Amazon for under $75.  Radioddity DB20-G GMRS Mobile Radio for Car Vehicle, 20W Long Range Two Way Radio with Cigarette Lighter Plug, 500 Channels, VOX, Display Sync, for Off Road Overlanding 4x4 https://a.co/d/8dMKP74

If by chance someone is using your call sign with their own email you should contact @rdunajewski at https://mygmrs.com/contact. It's his site so he's the one person that can sort it out for you. 

Yep, two years ago someone using your license last logged in.  Their username was ifndk.  Try to log in under username “ifndk” and ask it to send you a link to reset your password.  Then watch your email for the link.
 

I had about the same output as you at 42 watts which would slide down to 38 pretty quickly.  That's past the duplexer of course.  I had one of the original units that came with defective duplexers and they replace that and I had to swap it out.
One of the times I swapped out the duplexer for some reason I started to get a bit more than 50 watts out of the rear connector.  They say the amp puts out about 65 watts, mine puts out about 72 and I get a bit more out the back since I've switched up to a 100 watt duplexer because I think they are taxing the 50 watt duplexer with too much power.
As for sensitivity with my 1st duplexer it was pathetic.  With the second it was much better.  I think it could be better though.  I might try a preamp between the duplexer and receiver and see what that might do.  It's not all that expensive and since I'm already into it for the repeater, coax, tower and antenna I don't think I'm going to worry about throwing a small amount of money at it.
You can always put a regular radio on your antenna system and see if it has a better receive profile than the repeater does.  Just remember you do lose about 1.3dB through the duplexer and if both receivers are .25µV the repeater will be less sensitive because of the duplexer in line.  Typically .29 to .31µV

@SteveShannon gave good examples and how each works.
Now for a small rant. Gettin the answer of "it depends" is not always helpful for a new person and could lead to even more confusion or information overload. A better answer would be "give us more information first"
I have a variety of hand held radios from Baofeng, Icom, and Wouxun. Some are actually Part 95 certified GMRS radios while others are either amateur band only or have been unlocked. They all have positives and negatives and each has its place.
I have no experience with the lower priced Wouxun radios or how they compare to lower priced Baofeng radios. Now once you step up to the higher priced radios with more features then I will recommend Wouxun.
@Cloudbuster If you want to keep things super simple for the people using the radios then one of the Wouxun radios without all of the buttons will work. Less chance of someone messing up the settings by playing with the buttons.
If you trust everyone not to go messing with the settings then I will suggest getting the Baofeng UV-5R Mini GMRS radios. They are currently $40 for two on Amazon. So you can get 4 radios for $80. I suggest the GMRS only versions so that you don't have to worry about anyone accidentally transmitting on the amateur bands.
Now if you want all of the bells and whistles in a GMRS only radio then I will recommend the Wouxun KG-935G Plus.
If you are unsure of what you want as far as features go then get the UV-5R Mini GMRS radios. Use them for a while and then decide if a more expensive radio with more features is what you want.
Another thing to remember is that not all people are radio nerds, they just want a simple to use radio. Sometimes simple is best. This is where some of the Wouxun radios that do not have a keypad are better.
Take our suggestions and then go with what best suits your needs. 

Your family trip sounds like a perfect opportunity to see for yourself.  I have several different radios.  Personally, my favorite certified GMRS radio is the Garmin Rhino 750. Most of us in my local rocket club have the same radio, just differing by model as they’ve been purchased over several years. It’s durable, easy to use, has built in maps and a screen that’s always easy to see and actually gets easier to see when in direct sunshine, and shares its location with other Garmin Rhinos. It’s a radio meant to be used to communicate.  It is not a radio that can be opened up to hear every frequency there is.  It’s not a radio a ham would choose for amateur use or to listen to public service radios. We all share a single frequency and tone: channel 7 tone 6. It’s super easy to change GMRS channels and tones from the front panel within GMRS channels.  It absolutely shines at keeping track of other Garmin users when we’re doing our activities. And it’s expensive.  
Next in ease of use GMRS would be the Wouxun, Midland, or Motorola certified GMRS radios.  Again, they are super easy to change channels and tones from the front panel and work just fine for GMRS activities.  They are designed to be easy to use from the front panel.  They are not amateur radio useful radios and not intended to be.
Then there are all of my amateur radios.  Some are very inexpensive and some are expensive.  But if all you want to do is talk to someone, they work exactly like the Garmin, Motorola, or Midland and talk just as far.  They don’t come programmed with GMRS channels and after playing with doing that I decided not to (except for channel 7, tone 6 just in case).  For the most part they do nothing but transmit and receive and without using a computer they would be inconvenient to program often, but not impossible.  The chief difference between the inexpensive Yaesu ft65 and the even less expensive Baofeng UV5R is the ability to withstand nearby transmissions without desensing.  I can use two of my name brand ham radio handhelds on the same table and transmit using one and hear it just fine using the other. With two Baofeng radios, transmitting on one temporarily deafens the other. But so what?  That’s not what they’re intended to do anyway.
The real question is what do you intend to do with these radios after your family trip?  Will they just get packed away in the RV or do you see them becoming part of a larger radio hobby?  My Garmin did very little to lure me into amateur radio.  It’s a purpose built appliance and a very good one, but it is limited to that purpose.  My Baofeng UV5R required a much higher amount of fiddling around and programming to make it work on GMRS.  That re-ignited an interest in ham radio that I had resisted for decades.
So, yes, there are differences between expensive and inexpensive radios but whether they’re meaningful to you depends entirely upon how you use them. 
 

Your family trip sounds like a perfect opportunity to see for yourself.  I have several different radios.  Personally, my favorite certified GMRS radio is the Garmin Rhino 750. Most of us in my local rocket club have the same radio, just differing by model as they’ve been purchased over several years. It’s durable, easy to use, has built in maps and a screen that’s always easy to see and actually gets easier to see when in direct sunshine, and shares its location with other Garmin Rhinos. It’s a radio meant to be used to communicate.  It is not a radio that can be opened up to hear every frequency there is.  It’s not a radio a ham would choose for amateur use or to listen to public service radios. We all share a single frequency and tone: channel 7 tone 6. It’s super easy to change GMRS channels and tones from the front panel within GMRS channels.  It absolutely shines at keeping track of other Garmin users when we’re doing our activities. And it’s expensive.  
Next in ease of use GMRS would be the Wouxun, Midland, or Motorola certified GMRS radios.  Again, they are super easy to change channels and tones from the front panel and work just fine for GMRS activities.  They are designed to be easy to use from the front panel.  They are not amateur radio useful radios and not intended to be.
Then there are all of my amateur radios.  Some are very inexpensive and some are expensive.  But if all you want to do is talk to someone, they work exactly like the Garmin, Motorola, or Midland and talk just as far.  They don’t come programmed with GMRS channels and after playing with doing that I decided not to (except for channel 7, tone 6 just in case).  For the most part they do nothing but transmit and receive and without using a computer they would be inconvenient to program often, but not impossible.  The chief difference between the inexpensive Yaesu ft65 and the even less expensive Baofeng UV5R is the ability to withstand nearby transmissions without desensing.  I can use two of my name brand ham radio handhelds on the same table and transmit using one and hear it just fine using the other. With two Baofeng radios, transmitting on one temporarily deafens the other. But so what?  That’s not what they’re intended to do anyway.
The real question is what do you intend to do with these radios after your family trip?  Will they just get packed away in the RV or do you see them becoming part of a larger radio hobby?  My Garmin did very little to lure me into amateur radio.  It’s a purpose built appliance and a very good one, but it is limited to that purpose.  My Baofeng UV5R required a much higher amount of fiddling around and programming to make it work on GMRS.  That re-ignited an interest in ham radio that I had resisted for decades.
So, yes, there are differences between expensive and inexpensive radios but whether they’re meaningful to you depends entirely upon how you use them. 
 

They have their place. If I'm handing one to a family member to use in a car during a road trip, or to someone crewing for me at the track, it's the nice ones. They're just nicer. Cleaner sound, feel better, easier controls, simpler.
If I'm handing them out to the family where we're hiking and they'll probably get dropped in a stream? $20 radios all day long. Also the cheap ones tend to be a lot lighter, which is a nice bonus when you're carrying them all day.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and have a Blessed Day.

There are multiple manufacturers of UART chips. Each requires its own driver. You need the FTDI driver if you have the FTDI chip and you need the Prolific driver if you have the Prolific chip, etc. 
Just make sure you use the chip that has a driver for your operating system. 

Ok everyone. just wanted to follow up. Replaced my Coax with LMR400 and tried moving the antenna up a bit  was still having some problems suddenly it got even worse. Grabbed my hand held and hooked it back up. Got good results right away. Clearly the radio was slowly failing and today just as a test i hooked back up and got nothing on  receive. So now I get to shop the black friday deals. Thank you all. 

Gregg,
I don’t know about the antenna but Happy Thanksgiving! 

Send him a message and he will eventually reply to you.  He uses it to talk to his kids mostly.  There are a handful of us that have the correct tones for it.  The coverage has changed also as he changed antennas a few months ago.  You will hear MDC and Fleet Sync on it typically.  I do not recall the Rx tone but if you monitor it carrier squelch you will hear the id come across it.  

Honestly only you can decide that.  There are pros and cons to them all.  Look at them side by side and determine what will meet your needs the best.  I had a Baofeng and bought the Wouxon UV9GX+ and the 935+ shortly afterwards.  They all have different features and so forth.  
Things to consider:
Availability of batteries, OEM and aftermarket.  Some aftermarkets are worse than OEM, do your research.
Battery charging?  USB-C/ cradle or both.  If you use it a lot and need to charge on the go, having to carry a cradle around can be a challenge.
Accessories that will benefit your use. I.e. lapel mic, programming cables etc.
 
 

Put up a mast for your tv antenna (my understanding is they can’t stop that) and mount a GMRS Yagi to it pointing at the repeater you want to use. 

Just to add to the knowledge of wait times, since I just got my tech:
Tested Friday early afternoon (Nov 21st) (33/35 score)
I got the "gib me moneys" email from the FCC on Monday around noon, and I paid immediately.
My call sign was issued around 3:30 am this morning. I got an email from Ham Study almost immediately after it was issued, but I didn't get an email from the FCC until about four hours later.
 
Yesterday afternoon I figured since it was a holiday today I'd be stuck waiting until Monday, but I guess the computers at the FCC don't get to take holidays off.
Also Ham Study was great. I went into this having been wanting to do it for over a decade so I didn't need to do much studying to begin with, but Ham Study made me go from hoping I would pass to going into it knowing that I would. Clearing out the room enough to satisfy the examiners over Zoom was more stressful than answering the questions. I should have asked them which two questions I missed though..

A lot of dual band radios only come from the factory with two channels configured, one for VHF and one for UHF. Nothing surprising about a factory reset taking it back to two channels. If it works on two channels it’s not bricked.  You’ll get it figured out.

Wish you all a Happy Safe Thanksgiving Day.   Enjoy your Family, Friends, Turkey and most important, Football..    

Channels 1-14 will not interfere with local repeaters.  Channels 15-22 transmit and receive on the same frequencies the repeaters transmit on.  Repeaters receive on higher frequencies.
So, just stay on 1-7 (if you want to use five watts) or 8-14 if you want to keep your power very low. Your radios should automatically adjust the power output.
 

I sent a set to my grandson and his wife in Washington State. They ski and hike alot and I figured MURS would work better for them than FRS. Way less "chatter" and VHF seems to work better in the out of doors.
I wanted a set because I think it'll be easier for my non-technical wife to use, plus when we go shooting in the desert they should work well enough.

Keep in mind, NO ONE is required by Law or by Rule to list a Gmrs repeater on Mygmrs.com, so "Mystery repeaters" require YOUR curiosity and equipment to determine the Owner, Location, Tone, legality and purpose for being on the air !  😎