LOSS OF COM FREQ.

Narrative

OFFSIDE TUNING RADIO PANELS CAN BE A PROBLEM. MANY NEW ACFT USE A RADIO TUNING PANEL WHERE YOU FIRST SELECT ONE OF SEVERAL RADIOS; THEN DIAL IN FREQS FOR THAT PARTICULAR RADIO ON A SINGLE READOUT. IT IS VERY EASY TO SET A NEW FREQ IN THE WRONG RADIO. HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED TO US ON DSCNT INTO DCA ON AN ACR FLT. I WAS ACTING AS PIC AND THE PF AN MLG GLASS COCKPIT ACFT. WE WERE DSNDING DOWN TO FL210 AFTER A HDOF TO ZDC. THE FO SELECTED RADIO #2 TO GET THE ATIS AND CALL ACR OPS. HE DID NOT NOTICE THE RADIO TUNING PANEL WAS STILL ON RADIO #1; MEANING; WE LOST THE ZDC FREQ. IT TOOK US ABOUT 5-10 MINS TO RE- ESTABLISH CONTACT WITH ZDC. THIS WAS DURING A TIME WHEN WE WERE ENTERING THE NORMAL E COAST HIGH DENSITY; HURRY UP AND GET DOWN TFC FLOW. AS FAR AS WE KNOW; THIS ERROR DID NOT CAUSE ANY TFC PROBLEMS; BUT THE POTENTIAL WAS THERE. I'VE USED THE NEW AND OLD STYLE RADIOS; AND I'VE SEEN THIS OFFSIDE TUNING PROBLEM BEFORE WITH THE NEW TUNING PANELS. I'M A PROPONENT OF PROGRESS AND COCKPIT AUTOMATION; BUT I BELIEVE NEW ACFT SHOULD HAVE 1 TUNING PANEL PER RADIO! IT'S SAFER!