Surprised I haven't seen it mentioned here, but I've had both the DuckyPad and recently backed the DuckyPad Pro and love them both!
https://github.com/dekuNukem/duckyPad
https://dekunukem.github.io/duckyPad-Pro/
I use it for a variety of shortcuts, Markdown notes, numpad for my Lily58, and it's compatible with Autohotkey!
$70 for a macropad? You can buy an entire kb for that price.
You're not wrong, but it's a small developer and an otherwise niche product. These things tend to get a bit more expensive as a result.
Totally worth it though!
This looks awesome - thanks! What's the all-in price?
DuckyPad: $100 Pro: $115
That's with cables, switches, and keycaps included.
Fun little customizable devices and purchases support the developer.
A rare case of a topic text opening with providing context on what it is talking about. Thank you! I love it.
I don't use one. I don't feel like I have conflicting keybindings, or a need for additional keys. When I do, I customize my bindings through settings.
I just had mine arrive yesterday!
I have one of these
I'm using ch57x-keyboard-tool to configure it, because I don't fancy running some random closed-source Chinese code (the manual links to a file on Google Drive). It also means I can move over my config when I switch to Linux.
I have two keys for switching between headphones and speakers, and some set up for shortcuts I forget (like ctrl-shift-e for the network monitor in Firefox). One key types "hello" just because I can.
I've got the large knob controlling volume, and I can click it to toggle mute. The other two are currently set to scroll, but I don't need that as my mouse has better ergonomics for scrolling.
I still have plenty of unused keys and it's got three layers so I won't be running out in the foreseeable future.
I’m using ch57x-keyboard-tool to configure it
Great! I've bought similar without the dials (I wish I didn't have to pay extra for the stupid LEDs) and was hoping there was something open sourcey to configure it with rather than their dodgy codebase for the same reasons you list!
It works great and the config is simple. It doesn't handle triggering things from those keypresses, but you've probably already got something running that does that.
I'm using Mate and it allows me to easily define custom shortcuts to open apps and so on. I suppose autoIt / the linux variants / custom script can add additional functionality to the keypad as well!
Also forgot to point out, you can buy keys with a transparent cover over the top on ali so you can shove a piece of paper underneath the transparent bit to use as labels.
I just have a 36 key split keyboard with layers and combo keys, don't need a separate macro pad when my main keyboard just is one
Which keyboard is that?
Sorry commented on a different comment down in this thread with the answer, but for other people to see it easier:
Not sure if your interest is specifically the programmable split keyboard or rather programmable in general but my Launch Heavy has this programmable layers feature. Its not split though.
I've got a couple keyboards with VIA/QMK and layers, I'm specifically interested in the 36 key split keyboard they mention.
It's called a chocofi https://github.com/pashutk/chocofi
It's based on a corne. I've got a bunch of bare pcbs available still if you want some, will just have to pay postage, I'm not really going to be doing anything with them.
I'd definitely be interested. What else would I need to build it?
There should be a parts list on that GitHub. You'd need two microcontrollers, two batteries, all of the switches and keycaps you want a bunch of resisters and hot swap sockets if you want hotswappable switches.
The keyboard is a modification of the corne so if you can't find a tutorial on this one specifically I'd you want to watch a video, a corne one would suffice.
Well, I can't see a parts list in that repo, but I did find others. If the offer's still open, I'll definitely take a couple PCBs. Where did you buy the rest of the parts from?
Ahh, having a quick look around looks like I may have followed a corne build guide but just made sure I had choc stuff instead. (Don't think there was an actual choc variant of the corne at the time).
I bought all of my parts here: https://mechboards.co.uk/
The machine pin socket was to hotswap the controller whilst also giving storage for the battery underneath. I think I followed a YouTube guide for that one. It's not something you need to do though. If you are thinking of that and can't find the video yourself I'll try and look around for you.
But yeah if you give me an address I'll try and see how much the postage will cost for you, and I'll try and find where I've put them too. So don't buy any of the extra parts until you know for certain I've sent pcbs your way. Just in case I don't find them. Slim chance, but you never know.
I'm in the US. I can send you my address if you have somewhere I can send it. I don't want to post it publicly for obvious reasons. :-)
You can give me a private message on here right?
I'm not a programmer but I want to share my experiences anyway. >:3
I have DOIO KB16 because I really needed something to allow me for scrolling and usage of shortcuts while using the drawing tablet. It has 4 layers and onboard memory so I can take it to a new pc and have all the same functionality. I disconnected my mouse and put it on a shelf due to wrist pain in favor of a game controller or drawing tablet + macropad combo for interacting with my pc. I ended up mostly using the macropad as a mouse/keyboard with shortcuts for manipulating webpages and so on. My favourite part about it is that it has 3 whooping knobs which I really wanted to have as many of as I could. By looking at the sellers discord support channel I was really lucky to actually have the macropad delivered at all because it's some chinese seller with lacking support. Here's the pic of it:
Edit: The post asked about how I feel about the size. My opinion is that I wish it had 1 (ideally 2) more vertical sets of keys because that would allow me to use my thumb for button pressing too. But overall I'm happy and I think it's my only real problem with it.
Edit: The post asked about how I feel about the size. My opinion is that I wish it had 1 (ideally 2) more vertical sets of keys because that would allow me to use my thumb for button pressing too. But overall I’m happy and I think it’s my only real problem with it.
Check aliexpress. You're going to find things that excite you including a kb that's very similar
EDIT: I thought I'd go searching, some ideas:
I already did so when looking for a macropad but didn't find anything that would fit my criteria. Macropads with a bigger amount of knobs are stupidly hard to find which is something I didn't expect when looking for one to buy.
Edit: Oh right, I just remembered that there was a bigger option that was out of stock and waaaaay out of my price range:
That's 145 USD +shipping. It's not something I can afford for a small keyboard. I think it may come without caps as well based on the pic included. lmao
Wow. I updated the post above with some cheapo alternatives that have mechanical keys.
There's also MIDI controllers like: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007444327683.html maybe more listed under DJ / mixing controllers
The first three have one too little horizontal row for a comfortable hand position. The last one is something I contemplated but with knobs instead and I failed to find something like that. I also get an impression that it would be uncomfortable to constantly move my hand between two keyboards but maybe I'm wrong as I never had two small keyboards to use. When hunting in the past I also read that a lot of this stuff has some shitty config apps and/or quality problems. I gave some thought making an ideal macropad myself but I'm too broke for an expensive hobby like that. I'm very happy with the macropad I managed to get because it was really hard to find something that would fit what I was looking for. It's my first macropad ever and my first mechanical keeb as well so I was very lucky to settle on something good despite my lack of knowledge on this stuff. The settings app, onboard memory, and layers with display are also very satisfactory. It feels so good to use that the macropad I sent above feels like the only thing that would fully satisfy my more advanced needs and I would be willing to buy it if I could afford it. The size is perfect as well, it has a lot of buttons and enough knobs while not taking up too much space to leave a lot of room on my desk for the drawing tablet.
Edit: Us constantly making edits makes it a bit confusing. I'm not sure if the midi thing was there when I started writing the message or if it was added during that time. lol
Anyway, I contemplated a midi board for knobs but midi boards have limited turn radius +that would require finding some special software to actually use it. Additionally there wouldn't be onboard memory which I'm enjoying a lot. Nothing will beat VIA/QMK programmable purpose specific keyboard.
I'm really happy that it works for you! Well done on doing the hard work to find it!
Looks nice. How much did it cost?
I use an old Stream Deck- not the Steam deck- from Elgato. It's essentially a small touchscreen with a transparent button pad laid over the top, making for a fully programmable macropad with fully customisable screen-per-key.
Not only can I have esoteric shortcuts, but I can also dynamically label them, depending on layer. I have a 'home' layer with icons representing each other layer. So, for example I can load up a video game, and press the corresponding icon on my macropad. It will then change the icons to match whatever command it does- various whistle commands in Ark, for example. I can then change programs into my CAD, and have the icons now be various shortcuts for modelling tools.
It sounds beautiful! It'd be really nice if there were transparent rubber keypads available that could be put over phone screens. Then you could fashion an old phone as a keyboard with infinite layers. A simple flutter app to set up the shortcuts and make them configurable and badda boom!
I have 6 programmable keys on my keyboard. I have macros for a few snippets that I have to type a lot and my email because my company has a stupid long name that I'm sick of typing out.
I have a large selection, but I rarely use them for anything other than media keys and teams call functions. Other stuff like windows management in sway are all done on higher layers on my (40%) keyboard.
My preference is for something with at least one knob as knobs are my preference for things like scrolling, volume control, and zoom.
If you can find latching switches, these are great for triggering layers so you can get more out of your pad. You can obviously do latching layer changes without such switches in QMK, but you really need to trigger leds to help you remember which layer you on otherwise.
Pad I use the most is a CapsUnlocked CU7 that I got just before they imploded as I love the weight of the knob.
No macro keyboard but I have a programmable mouse with 12 buttons which I assume is similar. You can have different modes with different key bindings so I made 4 modes = 48 buttons.
I don't have that many macros though, it's mostly control keys that are used a lot, arrow keys etc. For coding I have some bindings with ctrl-C, ctrl-V, ctrl-Z, ctrl-/ which work in most editors. Something that's a bit more interesting, I have a button that places the word "exit" in the clipboard, so you can then press the ctrl-V button to paste the word in a terminal, cause a lot of processes (like the ruby console) can't be closed with ctrl-C.
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