Who to test with??

[RobertCasey]

To get up to speed, I suggest that you go to YouTube and search for "Genetic Genealogy Ireland 2016". The skill level required to absorb these presentations varies a lot, but these are the best presentations to get up to speed. You many have to watch them several times as your understanding increases, but these are best of breed presentations. For those who are Dal Cais (reside in Munster, Ireland), there are three presentations based on R-L226 (the largest haplogroup where 80 % reside in Munster, Ireland). The presentations by Dennis O'Brien, Dennis Wright and myself have a lot of information on southern Irish research (we are the three FTDNA admins for R-L226).

YouTube has a lot of presentations - but I only go with presentations at major conferences.

[Kimbrey]

stonechat

If you intend to do a Y test eventually then it would seem best to do the aut with ftDNA as once they have your sample (2 swabs) they can be used for several further tests as needed

If you use AncestryDNA you can transfer the Raw Data to ftDNA but not the sample.

Kim

[stonechat]

Well I will definitely get yDNA and maybe atDNA

Both parents are now deceased, Dad in 2012, and Mum last year

Will try and find enough time to do a bit of studying first

[DavidG02]

Is it correct that FTDNA have a Y-DNA sale in August? Exchange rate is a bit high at the moment and hoping the sale takes the edge off

Am looking to do a Y67 test

[Kimbrey]

The postings re ftDNA Y sale on the forums, seem to think the next discounts will be "in the fall" - pre Christmas-last year it was mid Nov until end Dec but no one really knows !!

Kim

[Billiegirl]

Robert, for the uninitiated, are you suggesting that Y37 is a waste of time and everyone should start at Y67?
Could you please explain a bit more because I thought people had pretty good results from Y37, now I'm confused.

Thanks

[RobertCasey]

12 and 25 marker tests are definitely a waste of funds since the false hit rates are just too high. There are exceptions - if you just want a yes/no/maybe answer, 25 markers is probably enough. 37 marker tests are still reasonable tests but still have around twice the false hit rate of 67 markers. However, the biggest issue is that 67 markers is really required for YSNP prediction and charting of haplotrees. Due to these two issues and the decreased false hit rate, 67 markers has become the gold standard in most analysis. 37 markers still remain viable test - but at this resolution, most serious analysis will not using these testers. 67 markers has become the standard for YSTR analysis.

111 markers is also oversold for its cost effectiveness. It does reduce the false hits some but unless you have a very large genetic cluster, 111 markers is just not as useful as other YSNP testing options. Also, the number of 67 marker tests far exceed 111 marker tests and sample size plays a major role in accuracy - more than a smaller sample size with more marker values. Also, within the next year or so, the read length of WGS tests will be long enough to read all 111 markers that FTDNA tests which will eliminate the need to test YSTRs at FTDNA. Once this resolution of testing becomes available, around 500 YSTRs will become available for analysis after a year or two and will create a new standard of resolution.

[Billiegirl]

Thanks Robert, very interesting.

[deledge]

I agree. Very informative. Based on that post next question that comes to mind is: should I wait to carry the test
Out if standards are going to improve so markedly over that time frame?