noob smoker in socal

Hey guys. Im a new smoker. Been wanting to get into smoking for a while and finally got a smoker. A charbroil Jr offset. Lol super noob I know :p. Got it last weekend, read a ton of threads on here, tried smoking a pig shoulder last week, wasn't bad, but definitely overdone. Lol. I think my smoker temp Guage is higher than it says, or I have a pos digital thermometer that wasn't accurately telling me the internal temp of the pig. . I know, I'll get the maverick on amazon soon enough. I'm 23, lower enlisted in the Marines with a just turned 13 month baby. Unfortunately it's not about me anymore. I was reluctant to even get this smoker. Lol. But literally right now I'm smoking some Johnsonville brats. I'm thinking I went too big doing a pig roast for my first smoke. Should've start small with these brats first. But I have them on at what my not so accurate Guage reads, 250. But I'm monitoring it and I'll check in an hour if it's too hot and they split. If I end up screwing them up real bad, I'm sure I can just fix it on the grill. Lol