About YB Tracking
YB Tracking, then known as Yellowbrick, started life in 2010 as an Offshore Yacht Race tracking service. Over the last decade, YB has grown to become the world leader in remote location sports tracking offshore, offroad and in the air!
YB Tracking holds a rental fleet of over 1500 military-grade, waterproof and portable Iridium powered satellite trackers. We provide tracking to over 200 events, school trips and expeditions each year and have a broad depth of experience in helping our customers get the most out of our service.
While some of our events only last a couple of days, others can go on for weeks and even months. This is where our high capacity battery shines, we're able to transmit GPS positions every 6 hours from anywhere on the planet for over a year on a single battery. This incredible uptime and the exceptional reliability of the Iridium network combined makes YB Tracking the first choice for the worlds greatest extreme events.
YB Tracking is also Ground Control's consumer/leisure user brand and our trackers are available to purchase. Individual tracker users can bring their tracked journey to life by adding stories and images using the YBlog, it's a lot more than just dots on a map!
YB Tracking Rental
The rental fleet is comprised of what we refer to as 'YB3 Mk3' Trackers. This is the 3rd iteration of the 3rd generation of our portable tracking device. We've learned a lot over the years and the Mk3 unit has been designed with reference to the demands placed on our hardware by both YB's sporting events and Rock7's platform users.
The YB3 Mk3 (Rental and Consumer)
Alongside the YB3 handheld tracker, YB also offers the fixed-type tracker known as the YB3i which is ideal for long term installation on boats and other vehicles.
The YB3i Professional (Consumer Product)
YB Tracking Documentation
It is important to understand that the YB Products are rebranded Rock7 hardware which means that the majority of our documentation serves both brands.
The table below shows the YB and Rock7 name for the same products.
| YB Tracking | Ground Control |
|---|---|
| YB3 Rental Tracker | (No Equivalent) |
| YB3 Basic / Standard / Professional | RockSTAR Professional / Corporate |
| YB3i Professional | RockFLEET |
For most YB users the Rock7 documentation will go into detail that may be too in-depth for their needs or refers to parts of the system which is not accessible to YB Customers. If you are ever in any doubt or have any questions please come to us directly through [email protected] or call us in the office at +44 (0) 2380 00 2029 (UK 9am - 5pm).
For common features and basic tracking documentation CLICK HERE
For YB3 Documentation CLICK HERE
For YB3i Documentation CLICK HERE
For YBlog Documentation CLICK HERE\
YB3 / RockSTAR, YB3i / RockFLEET nomenclature...
Here at Ground Control we produce hardware for a wide range of applications and industries.
Throughout the documentation on this website you will find our handheld tracker referred to as a RockSTAR/YB3 and the mounted tracker referred to as a RockFLEET/YB3i.The main difference between the RockSTARs and YB3s is the colour of the plastic, RockSTARs are blue while YB3s are yellow! RockSTARs have one or two options more, but if you can't see them on your tracker then you can safely ignore them in the documentation.
The main differences between a RockFLEET and YB3i are the intended market and a few configurable options such as GPRS connectivity and external data logging. RockFLEETs are aimed at fleets of vessels while the YB3i is aimed at individual users such as blue water cruisers!
In most cases, both handheld and fixed trackers are functionally the same, regardless of what we've called them!
Legacy YB Devices
Over 10+ years, the YB Trackers have been through some major changes, with each new generation elevating the robustness, reliability and reputation of our trackers.
Early editions of the yellowbrick. Circa 2009-2012 (ish)
Had it still been around after the 2014 rebrand this device would have been known as the YB3 Mk1. It is the first device that resembles the contemporary handheld units we sell today.
There are still a few of these out in the wild, but they're very rare!
Still sporting the old 'yellowbrick' brand, the YB3 Mk2 looks nearly identical to the later Mk3 model.
However, looks can be deceiving as the Mk3 received completely new electronics including a Bluetooth LE radio.
Manual for YB3 mk1 (up to Firmware 1.9.7) - CLICK HERE
Manual for YB3 mk2 (up to Firmware 2.10.0) - CLICK HERE
The Bluetooth companion app 'YB Messenger' is no longer supported. If you have an older device and wish to use Bluetooth messaging then please get in touch with our support/sales team for further options.
If you own any of these older devices and need support with them please contact us directly - [email protected]
YB Branding and Press Images
In November 2014 'Yellowbrick Tracking' rebranded to 'YB Tracking'. While the term yellowbrick has remained synonymous with off-shore tracking and has even found its way into the vernacular of the US 4x4 trophy truck scene, (for boring legal reasons) we do ask customers and service users to try and use our correct brand name when broadcasting or posting online!
| Company Name | YB Tracking Ltd. |
| Preferred nouns | YB Tracker(s) YB(s) |
| Website | http://ybtracking.com |
| Press Pack (includes product images and high-resolution logos) | http://ybtracking.com/press_pack.zip |
| Social Media | https://www.facebook.com/ybtracking/ https://twitter.com/ybtracking https://www.linkedin.com/company/yb-tracking-ltd/ |
Updated 6 months ago