should come with instructions on how to callibrate... simply push a button, dipin a baseline solution or 3 and it's good to go.
keep track of what you mix... you dont have to pH test every time. Spot checkign is good though, or when you see symptoms is also a good time to check.. when everything is going well, not much reason.
In 4 ytears, my tap water changed drastically 1 time.. it killed 75% of seeds sowed bc i was adjusting pH of tap water down to 6, or so i thought. my tap shifted from 8.4 to 7.0. So, as long as the inputs don't change, pH will be consistent based on the products you use.. if it needs 3mL or acid or base to correct pH, it will always need that amount.. .until one of the inputs change. then, you need to make sure it's still properly affecting pH.
soil slurries and runoff are not a precise indicator of substrate pH... runoff is likely higher than what is in the put, for example. soil slurries will give you inconsistent information if you use differinve volumes of water.. the water you add should be a known pH so you can guesstiate a weighted-average for slurries. The more runoff that drains away and more that comes out will be closer to what is in substrate but still lagging or leading depending on context.