In the early days of aviation, flying was done primarily during daylight by visual reference such as highways, railroad tracks and rivers. Communication was done by signal lights and wing waggling. 

As the reliability of aircraft improved, flying under all conditions became practical, creating demands for improved communications and navigation systems. However, during the early use of these systems, pilots quickly became aware of a form of severe radio interference, which hampered the performance of the existing navigation and communication systems. 

Experience showed a correlation between RF noise and flight through rain, snow and clouds. Hence, pilots became very concerned because the conditions which caused the most "precipitation static" (P-Stat) occurred when navigation and communication instruments needs were greatest.

During WW II, it was necessary to have navigation and communication systems that were reliable in all weather conditions. To address the interference problem the Naval Air Development Center (NADC) sponsored a program to develop methods to reduce noise created by P-Stat. As a result of this program, Dayton-Granger invented and patented the first static dischargers.

Continued research and development in the 1950's led to a static discharger which adopted a new concept that was far superior in noise suppression than anything else. This patented device, designed by Granger Associated (later to be part of Dayton-Granger) was the Nullified Discharger, which is still the industry standard today.