Yes, picking up an old thread... haven't been on in a couple of years (my excuse).

I ignored my kit's AD test for several years, relying upon Pool Calculator dot com or my own hybrid spreadsheet (calcs ripped from a perfectly good 2007 TFP post by chem geek, and bolstered by results generated by the Taylor watergram and industry LSI tables - I guess I'm what PoolDoc referred to as an "OCD" guy) to determine the right dose of MA.

Last year, I fashioned a hybrid test kit using a Taylor midget comparator (K-1285-2 phenol) and R-0853 ADR and leftover parts from old CYA (9193/4) and salt (K-1766) tests, and discovered that a drop or two of acid demand reagent helped me to validate my color-matching acumen. It's not always easy to tell 7.9 from 8.0 or 8.1 but the ADR drop took the color out of deep purple and into a range I could see without plugging in the daylight lamp.

So, my "vote" is with waterbear on this one; though I appreciate Carl and PoolDoc's (and waterbear's) concerns regarding newbie testing. If I continue to post here, I promise to attempt to answer new poster enquiries with consideration for what has already been discussed.