Can I design and build a homemade RFID tracking system, tracking multiple ID chips?

Question

I am at a business camp and RFIDs came into the picture. I want to put chips on certain items and use a reader/tracker that I made myself (complete with an LCD screen maybe??) and track those items from 100ft away. Is it possible to make such a unit for less than, say, $100??

Answer 1

No, and certainly not for the budget you propose.  RFID chips don't have any built-in power.  They get the necessary power from the reader when it gets close enough.  And even if you could read the RFID chip from 100 feet, you still wouldn't have any location information.  The chip doesn't support that.  You'd need multiple antennas to triangulate the it.