is there anyway to monitor for any keyboard input via _KEYDOWN? or does it have to monitor for explicit key codes? 
as in;  Nul=_KEYDOWN(20480)
or is there an option I'm missing like; Nul = _KEYDOWN(*) 
where '*'=wildcard
something I could use it to processes an input handler when any key is held down,  When I use INKEY$ or _KEYHIT there is often a pause before the routine called by my _KEYDOWN line  does its thing. 
I am wondering if I could pull this code off:
so my program doesn't waste a lot of time looking for any keys down unless there is one to find. And without the pause that seem inherent when using either _KEYHIT or INKEY$ to watch for it.