Sorry if this has been discussed. I am wondering how people are using the Chromosome Browser? I have made a spreadsheet and note the major matches on it so I can see who to check against. I use the last name of the match and when I think I know the Surname in common, I put that in Caps. Is anyone else doing something like this? If I see a match between one Surname on one section of the Chromosome, I am guessing this is the likely Name for that segment. Just wondering if I am understanding the chromosome browser. :) Chris

Dear Chris, What I do is download the comparison data for the matches for my parents, my wife's parents, my wife, and me periodically. You do this from the chromosome browser web page, then select 5 people, and then click on "Download to Excel" in the right lower corner of the web page. You can unfortunately download the data for 5 people at a time. The first time you do this you have to do it for all of your matches. Subsequently, you only have to do this for new matches. You then have to merge all of the downloaded data files into a single file for each person you have an account for (in my case 6 people). I then sort each of these files by the number of cMs in the matching segment and discard all matching segments less than 3.5 cMs. My belief is that a relatively low portion of the matching segments (HIRs) less than 3.5 cMs will be identical by descent (IBD) and that most will be false matches (identical by state). Thus for now I choose not to keep track of HIRs that are less than 3.5 cMs. A significant portion of the matching segments between 3.5 and 9 cMs will be false matches as well, but I don't worry about that, at least for now. I then add a column in the files for my parents that indicates whether or not I also match the person on the segment in question. I do the same for my wife's parents. I then merge this data with all of the data I have in similar files for all of the matches at 23andMe for my parents, my wife's parents, my wife, and me. I then sort the files for my parents and my wife's parents first by chromosome, then by whether or not my wife or I match the person in question, and then by start position. I also add correspondence in this file. See http://dl.dropbox.com/u/21841126/23andMe%20and%20FF%20matches%20for%20Betty% 20Janzen%20(public).xls for this file for my mother (minus the names of the matches and minus the correspondence). I would suggest you create a similar file for yourself and the other people whose account you manage at either 23andMe or on a FTDNA Family Finder account. I use these files in conjunction with the chromosome maps I am creating for my parents. See http://dl.dropbox.com/u/21841126/phased%20genome%20of%20Robert%20and%20Betty %20Janzen.zip for a relatively recent chromosome map for my mother. I also request pedigree charts or GEDCOM files showing the ancestries of all of the matches for my parents and my wife's parents. I keep all of those pedigree charts on file for reference and then I compare the pedigree charts if the people in question have segments that overlap with other matches on the same chromosome at the same position. Sincerely, Tim Janzen -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Christina Hunt Sent: Monday, June 18, 2012 5:00 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [AUTOSOMAL-DNA] Chromosome Browser on FTDNA Sorry if this has been discussed. I am wondering how people are using the Chromosome Browser? I have made a spreadsheet and note the major matches on it so I can see who to check against. I use the last name of the match and when I think I know the Surname in common, I put that in Caps. Is anyone else doing something like this? If I see a match between one Surname on one section of the Chromosome, I am guessing this is the likely Name for that segment. Just wondering if I am understanding the chromosome browser. :) Chris