I think what you are wanting to learn controls in part what tests you should have.  Another thing that plays a part in this is what your matches have done.    First, are you wanting to know about your recent Powell ancestors or do you want to know about their distant (1,000s of years ago) origin?  Second have your best matches tested more than you have?   Kit 259817 has tested to 67 markers, but his matches have only tested to 37 markers so upgrading to 111 probably wouldn't help.  He has had a backbone test, but none of his matches have had any SNP tests.   I don't understand why anyone would say a FREE backbone test was a waste of time.   Go to your myFTDNA website, click on the Y-DNA tab and then on the "Halpotree & SNPs" link.  Click on the "Your Match" arrow.  Scroll down until you see the 4 SNPs with the oragne back ground.  These are the SNPs FTDNA suggest you might try.  You can only test positive for one of these and I don't know enough about this group to make a suggestion.  I do know this.  As a results of the Geno 2.0 tests the Haplotree is going to change.  I don't know when or where, but it will be changing and I'll guess it will change before the end of the year.  I would wait to order SNP test.  What SNP(s) were suggested by the contact?   You might consider a Family Finder test the next time there is a sale.  It looks at all lines, but only goes back about five or six generations in most cases. Jim Barrett - Timpson, TX Powell Surname DNA Project http://jpbdna.com/powell-surname-dna-project.htm --- On Thu, 2/28/13, Lauri Anderson <ljander1@yahoo.com> wrote: From: Lauri Anderson <ljander1@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [POWELL-DNA] Our Website To: powell-dna@rootsweb.com Date: Thursday, February 28, 2013, 2:58 PM I had my relative, Steven Arthur Powell take a DNA test kit#259817 which you were talking about in the email earlier today. I do not understand a lot about the SNP's but if I need to do an SNP test, I will. I want to know if it would benefit me. Familytree DNA did a deep subclade test on his results because I guess they couldn't establish what they needed to establish without it. I got an email from a guy that said that was a waste of time and that I should be testing SNP's. However, when I tried to do what it said on the M223 project page, it gave me different SNP's. I really want some advice before I do another test and I would like to know what will be accomplished by doing this. Lauri Anderson ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to POWELL-DNA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message