Q:

Trouble communicating between Baofeng and Midland walkies

I'm very new to walkies and radios, and I know next to nothing. My friends and I bought a box of Baofeng 888s radios (which apparently also go by quite a few other names and manufacturers) and I'm having trouble getting them to communicate with my walkie of another brand (Midland LXT650, specifically). The problem is, when they're on the same channel, neither one picks up any chatter from the other. The Baofeng works with the other ones of its model, and the midland one works with every run of the mill department store radios I've tried it with in the past. After researching, I found out about CTCSS and DCS; I'm pretty sure the privacy is the issue. Perhaps it's the default privacy for the baofeng models? 
Sometimes, I can get the radios to receive odd sound from each other, but no voice. 
I realize this must be pretty vague, but if there is any advice or hint you can give me, I'd really appreciate it! Also, if I left out any important info, please let me know. Thanks!

A:

The BF-888S radios have a 16-channel knob on the top and no LCD display nor a number keypad.  The BF-888S is marketed all over the world for use mostly in licensed commercial operation or licensed Amateur Radio.  The BF-888S can be programmed to use frequencies in the range of 400 to 470MHz which nicely permits programming the radios for the 70cm Amateur band.
Being a "world" radio you should not expect them to come from the factory with the USA's FRS and GMRS frequencies pre-programmed.  They come programmed from the factory with some default frequencies that do not match any FRS and GMRS channel frequencies. The Midland radios you mention are marketed in the USA for the un-licensed FRS frequencies and licensed GMRS frequencies.  Find details in the manual for the Midland LTX650 explaining which channels require the GMRS license (most consumers sadly ignore the GMRS license requirement).
The BF-888S can be programmed to receive FRS and GMRS frequencies.  The BF-888S is not legal for transmitting on FRS (having a removable antenna and up to 2 Watts of power) and not legal on GMRS (simply not type-certified by the USA FCC for GMRS use).
Good advice in the USA is to get a HAM technician license.  It is a matter of taking a very simple 35 question test which would cost you up to $15 to take.  The license lasts for ten years and can be renewed for free.  Then take the BF-888S radios and program them for your available HAM repeater frequencies and you will be very happy with the BF-888S radios.  The BF-888S radios have very simple operation with no controls other than the 16-channel knob and the volume knob and a push-to-talk button, making them an amazingly good value to use on the 70cm Amateur Radio Band and capable of 2 Watt power.

