For a while I was thinking of setting up a forum, but had little knowledge of such things and found the hole thing a little daunting.
I use proboards..it is easy to set up, gives you options and it's free
http://www.proboards.com/index.html
This is my board, by the way it could use a few posts..haha.
http://usmwf.proboards3.com/
Good luck
Old Maid