Special Character Keyboard

[Maximilian D. (ddkus)]

Hi,

I have a question. Is there a Keyboard/Keypad out there for special 
Charaters for programming and/or Engeneering.

Or is there a good thread for a DIY solution. I already found a USB to 
USB converter but that one is too expensive for me.

And I found a remapper with an Arduino Nano. That is a cool project but 
I want to know if there is a other solution out there.
Thanks

[TR.0LL (Gast)]

https://www.arduino.cc/reference/en/language/functions/usb/keyboard/

[Maximilian D. (ddkus)]

Thanks, thats good. I am going to have a look at it. But I was wandering 
if there is a finished product.

[Matthias L. (limbachnet)]

There IS a finished Product:

https://www.amazon.de/Expertkeys-EK-20-frei-programmierbare-Tastatur/dp/B00JR4WVMA

I know, it's quite expensive...

You may as well look after a used Keyboard of a cashier's desk, these 
are normally programmable, too.

[Hannes J. (Firma: _⌨_) (pnuebergang)]

Get a cheap numpad keyboard or one of these cheap single-hand gaming 
keyboards like https://de.aliexpress.com/item/33057396509.html Or even a 
second normal keyboard should work.

Then get a free software called LuaMacros 
http://www.hidmacros.eu/download.php. Then curse for some time about the 
abomination of a scripting language it uses. Here is some tutorial to 
get started 
https://wtp-web.com/blog/installing-and-using-luamacros-for-your-2nd-keyboard/

An alternative would be to use a software for Android which turns your 
phone into a programmable keyboard 
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.suchbyte.macrodeckclient

[Maximilian D. (ddkus)]

Hi, thanks for the tips. That is what i am doing right now. 
(AutoHotkey). My Problem is that i can´t use it on other Computers 
without installing the program and transvering my macro skript.

I was wandering if someone knows a solution that can just work by being 
plugged in. And i can build something myself (usb to usb converter) but 
i was wandering if there is something to buy like that.

[Maximilian D. (ddkus)]

ok maybe i have to refrase my post. What are you guys using when you 
need special Characters like Omega. Lamda, squareroute, integral or 
something like this.

[Matthias L. (limbachnet)]

Maximilian D. schrieb:
> I was wandering if someone knows a solution that can just work by being
> plugged in.

Yes. The additional keyboard posted above ist to be programmed once and 
can afterwards be used at any other computer without additional 
coftware.

[Ralf D. (doeblitz)]

Maximilian D. schrieb:
> ok maybe i have to refrase my post. What are you guys using when you
> need special Characters like Omega. Lamda, squareroute, integral or
> something like this.

I just type C-x 8 RET to call insert-char and then type the unicode code 
point in hex or the unicode character name. Emacs rulez ?

[Hannes J. (Firma: _⌨_) (pnuebergang)]

Maximilian D. schrieb:
> ok maybe i have to refrase my post. What are you guys using when you
> need special Characters like Omega. Lamda, squareroute, integral or
> something like this.

For one or two characters I press Win+; (Win+. on some keyboards) to 
start the character picker, select the symbol category and select the 
character I need. Ωλ√∫₯₲φʭ℗‱♪※↯↸↪?✔

Older versions of Windows had the character map which was a PITA.

If I need to write a longer section, and if it isn't top-secret, I write 
a skeleton with https://math.typeit.org/ and copy-paste.

[sid (Gast)]

Any keyboard with any number of extra keys can be used really..

you only need a macro that takes the input of one of those special keys 
and converts it to your predefined special character;
usually the bundled software can do that..
else even a simple script (like autoIT) can take care of that for you.

I once had tool that remapped my keyboard when caps lock was engaged,
(to not switch case but remap the numpad to predefined keys)
but since it's a third party tool that constantly checks the keypresses 
it somewhere in the early 2000 was masked as keylogger by my antivirus 
software and well that was more trouble than use to make it work again.

Talking of which... dedicated gaming keypads are usually configurable
beyond expectations
so that you can map almost anything you want (from special characters up 
to full char sequences)

and I bet they're not too expensive either ;)

'sid

[Uwe S. (lzmr)]

Take a look at programmable Keyboards for POS Systems.
A PrehKeyTec Keyboard with 64 free programmable keys can be
as low as 20€ at eBay. The benefit is: you can change the caps
of the keys and the mapping is storred in the Keyboard Flash
you will need no Special Driver and the Software to map the keys
to any Charakter is free.

[Maximilian D. (ddkus)]

Cool thanks. That one look good. I´m going to try and work with that. 
Thanks to all for now. I will update you if I find something else.