Abstract: An ambulatory recorder which features a method of configuring the size of data subject to loss in volatile memory. The recorder of the present invention determines how many processor sampling cycles it will take to fill the memory buffer. As discussed above this will vary a great deal and will directly depend upon the programmed parameters, e.g. number of channels to be sampled and the various sampling frequencies. The device then determines the amount of time this number of processor sampling cycles will take. If this amount of time is greater than a pre-selected amount of time, then the number of sampling cycles is reduced to be less than the pre-selected amount of time. The recorder uses these calculations to thereby schedule the transfer of data from the volatile memory to the non volatile memory. Through such an operation the data in the memory buffer subject to loss is limited to only a pre determined amount of time, i.e.