New to turntables

[xneox]

I was talking to a coworker yesterday about getting into vinyl, and she said she had an old turntable that's been in a box for decades. Her first husband (RIP) bought it when he came back from Vietnam, I guess with a bunch of other equipment. Anyway, she gave it to me. I offered payment, but she said not to worry about it.

It's a Pioneer PL-50...came with a styrofoam caddy of extra parts. Looks like it has two ends (I seriously don't know what any of this is called)...one of them is empty, and the other has a cartridge in it that is gold in color and says 'Pickering XV 15'.

Anyone know anything about any of this equipment? Anything I should look for? I don't even know what's involved in hooking this stuff up. Should be a fun project! I was a little psyched when I saw that it was Pioneer, to match my other equipment.