UPB/Light Switch

Hello,
 
I am trying to dim or even turn off the backlighting of a few leviton 4-scene switches in our bedroom that provide too much light at night.  Do I need Upstart config software to do this?  If so, if someone could direct me to what other hardware I need, that would be great (another cable, USB to serial..??).  It seems some have had luck with some configs and not others.  I have an omnipro II system with a HAI PIM connected to it.  I have a MBP and run PCAccess through bootcamp on it without problems, so I am guessing, Upstart will work also.
 
Thanks very much for your help.

Yes those keypads are bright.  You can adjust backlighting and brightness.  You need a PC, UpStart software (free here http://www.pcslighting.com/ when you register) and a computer interface.  There are PCS or Simply Automated PC interfaces, but since you have Gen 2+ switches, PCS is probably best. Oh and a serial or USB cable. Many of these computer interfaces are serial, so you may need a USB to serial adapter. 
 
Leave the Leviton PC interface alone.  Yes technically you can connect that to a PC its really a big pain. So get a new one to connect to a PC.
 
Now having said all this,  I will tell you even the lowest brightness setting is still pretty bright in a dark room. And blue is the worst color.  So if a little dimmer is all you need you can do it, but if you need a lot dimmer,  you may need to find another solution, like a cover. But you can completely turn off the light.
 
Once I tried to take apart a console in the bedroom to make it stay on REALLY dim, but those blue LEDs are just so bright, it wasn't possible.

Thanks ano,
 
It looks like PCS has a PIM-USB that I'll get.  Glad you mentioned to leave the HAI PIM alone, I was thinking of using that.  Hard to believe that there isn't some functionality at the switch itself to change intensity or color. 

hurricne said:

Thanks ano,
 
It looks like PCS has a PIM-USB that I'll get.  Glad you mentioned to leave the HAI PIM alone, I was thinking of using that.  Hard to believe that there isn't some functionality at the switch itself to change intensity or color. 

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You can change the intensity, but its just a matter if it works the way you want. There is a setting for "faint" but that is still pretty bright. For color, you can have any as long as its blue.

Follow-up question:  I have the PIM-U working and can "read-in" all of my UPB switches except it is not finding the two that I would like to modify in our bedroom.  When I put them into setup-mode, Upstart indicates that they are "not on the network."  Is there something simple I can do to register the switches onto my network?  They are Leviton 6-switch controllers.  They light up and there is "buzzing" when a button is pushed.  They don't control anything as of now (the fixture that they controlled may have been removed when we moved in, I don't recall).  Ideally, I'd like to change the LED and have it start controlling the bedroom light scenes if possible. 
 
Thanks,

If you are using HCL where the panel programs the switches, I would just have the panel program them and then use UPStart to read them. I'm not sure how much you know about HCL but there is a device position for these room controllers for each room. You can program everything with UpStart, (even in HCL) but there is a learning curve there.
 
So check PC Access and see if your switches are set to UPB mode or HCL mode. If HCL then add the controllers to the correct unit slot position (the first unit for each room) then have the panel program them. (you have to put the room controller in setup mode) Then use UpStart to read them and change the brightness.
 
UpStart can add them to your network, but unless they are added in the way the Omni expects them, they won't do a whole lot.