Actually, this is an item that is supposed to be done at the end of the weekend runs on Sunday night. It is not written down, but fortunately most crews remember to connect the charger. Also, the Hostler crew will plug in the charger on Friday evening after Hostling if they think of it, and the weekend crew removes the charger Saturday morning. We have gone at least 2 weeks without charging and had no problems.
A short (~one foot) antenna is mounted on the top of the cab and very few people comment on it. I doubt they even notice it. The radio is mounted on the ceiling above the Engineer's seat, with a microphone attached via a coiled cable. The battery resides under the Engineer's seat. The engineer can easily see and adjust volume and channel.