Ham Radio 101 – What the heck is a balun?

Baluns. We see em in a variety of amateur radio applications. They help turn a couple of long pieces of wire into a tool that a coaxial cable can feed with radio frequency energy. But what are they? Why do we need them? And how do they work? This 1985 article by W7EL takes the mystery out of baluns and shows you how you can make one.