Custom Clustering from Ancestry

[jc26red]

Ancestry have had an outage today and is partly down... haven't been able to view my dna pages since early this morning and hints are not working either at the minute... At least they  finally acknowledged they have a problem

[Biggles50]

Well my Enhanced Custom arrived yesterday.

Have to say, totally unimpressed.

[Biggles50]

Custom
One match selected plus four others gives a number of different clusters with 4, 10, 11, 49 and 50 matches in each of the clusters.

This is a partial image of one of the larger clusters.

Considering that many of the DNA Matches that are in the cluster have no method of identifying them and have no tree or a minimal tree this is a practically useless feature.

[ikas]

Hi Biggles,

Is there any indication of how many matches have been dropped in the analysis? That is my main gripe with the Jan-Evert Blom clustering methodolgy that Anc seem to have used

[Josephine]

I'm much more of a newbie at the DNA stuff than some of the other folks here, so I might be approaching the Custom Clusters with lower expectations.

I had already solved my two big DNA mysteries. Using this tool has been a way of visually confirming my findings, rather than helping me to solve them.

But I'm also trying to help a friend with some of her DNA mysteries and had been attempting to use the Leeds Method in an Excel spreadsheet for some of her DNA matches. The Custom Clusters showed me that two separate colour groups actually belonged with a third (her biggest and strongest group of matches). (This might have been obvious if most matches had had trees, or big enough trees.)

Anyway, being able to fold those colour groups into one has shown me the two other distinct groups I should focus on. So it's been helpful in that regard.

For visualizing my own DNA matches, I start with the widest range of cMs: 20-1300, then do 50-1300. For me, seeing the results has been a confirmation that I'm on the right track with my DNA sleuthing. I'm only using the one primary, targeted match in any given cluster. I started by adding others but it wasn't helpful for my purposes.

[jc26red]

Custom
One match selected plus four others gives a number of different clusters with 4, 10, 11, 49 and 50 matches in each of the clusters.

This is a partial image of one of the larger clusters.

Considering that many of the DNA Matches that are in the cluster have no method of identifying them and have no tree or a minimal tree this is a practically useless feature.

I’m not impressed at all with the clusters tool for my names. very basic and not telling me anything that I don’t already know on my immediate family… my chart doesn’t look as impressive as your one.

[Biggles50]

I have had a further play around and thisnis what we have:-

We are trying to identify if an unknown Father’s has a descendent who has taken a DNA test.

This is what I have to work with, Grace gave birth to Bella out of wedlock, and Bella’s father has remained unknown.

Grace married and her great Granddaughter Babs took a DNA test, the person Grace married was only 9 at the time she conceived hence we can rule him or any of his family as he was the oldest of his siblings.

Bella married and three of her great grandchildren each took a DNA test an they are full Cousins to each other and Dave the son of a deceased Cousin has also taken a DNA test and he is a 1C1R to the other three.  Babs is a 1/2 2C1R with Jim, Dennis and Jen.

This is the amount of DNA each share with Babs:-

Jim shares 47cM with Babs

Dennis shares 29cM with Babs

Jen shares 0 cM with Babs

Dave shares 0cM with Babs

Yet
Jim and Babs only share 5 matches and apart from Dennis the other 4 all share less than 20cM so cannot be selected in the custom cluster.

The image is the bottom right of a 59x59 cluster and the Shared Matches between Jim and Babs is the small cluster very bottom right is the group who share most with Babs. 

There is one potential DNA match who might be of the Family we are looking for but they return the “less than 20cM” message that they are not considered.

There is no match to anyone that looks like it will help.

The wait continues

[ReadyDale]

Biggles,
You've been hugely helpful for me recently. So, sorry for another question...
What indicates that that snip in your last post is part of one big cluster?
I have a whole bunch of small (3x3 / 4x 4) clusters which I am treating a separate tiny entities. Which I am hoping will at some point in the future join up (although it is slow going at the moment, with so many matches having no tree at all / only a single person "private" tree / are in the US, Aus, Can, NZ so I can't check trees, I am having to resort to working from unchecked Anc trees to try to triangulate to a common ancestor).

[Biggles50]

My last three posts where I have included a screenshot of the clustering are each totally unrelated to each other.

The first image is from my Paternal DNA.
There should be a much larger cluster or clusters to work through.  Some sub 20cM people who are in the family tree and who could potentially have a bearing on research have not been included.

Second is from my Wife’s matches.
Inconclusive, it is a bit of an oddball.  Two 2C’s who are related to my Wife and to her Cousins Grandson do not show as matches to each other yet they should.  I had hoped that this cluster would help, but not so far.

The third is from a non biologically related family member where I am trying to find the unknown Father.
Initially inconclusive, however there may be a clue somewhere to help unlock the mystery, it will just take work, or I just wait until the tools get better.