Onscreen configurable keypad on second monitor?

[tonyswash]

I currently have a hardware programmable multi-button USB keypad set up so I can operate the Flaming Cliffs A10A. It has nice labelled buttons and it make operating the aircraft systems very easy. The problem is that I also want to fly other aircraft in Flaming Cliffs and my A10A dedicated USB keypad is not set up for other aircraft and changing keys codes and labels on a hardware keypad everytime I want fly a different plane is way too complicated.

 

What I would ideally like to do is buy a cheap second monitor (probably touch screen) and use it to display a fully configurable dedicated on-screen key pad with specific sets of commands for each aircraft. Just to be clear DCS would run on one monitor and the second monitor would be used to just display, on the Windows desktop, a keypad I could use as a keyboard substitute for sending key commands to DCS aircraft.

 

So what I am looking for is a piece of software that would allow me to do the following:

 

Have an on screen configurable key pad that could run macros that would be understood by DCS as key commands.

 

Is heavily customisable so I can design the layout and appearance of the keys to suit.

 

Can easily switch between different key layouts so I can switch layouts for each different aircraft I fly.

 

Any suggestions?

[cichlidfan]

Helios

[tonyswash]

I didn't realise that you could use Helios to create your own key pad for any DCS plane. I have found tutorials for how to use Helios to create a screen for controlling A10C but I have not found any tutorials for using it to create your own keypad to control other planes via macros - any pointers to such tutorials would be very handy

[RightStuff]

Maybe Xpadder or HiDmacros (http://www.hidmacros.eu/whatisit.php) will help you?